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WILLIAMSTOWN, MA--The Williams men's basketball team (15-2, 2-1)
pulled away from the Bantams of Trinity College (13-3, 2-1) in the
second half for a 65-48 win Friday night. Tough defense
sealed the deal for Williams, as the Ephs held the Bantams to just
29% shooting on the night.
"That was definitely our best defensive effort all year," said
Coach Paulsen.
Williams maintained an uncomfortable single-digit lead for most
of the game, relying on big plays such as junior Tommas Golia's
NBA-range three (putting the Ephs up by nine) at the end of the
first half to keep the Bantams from overtaking them.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half - in large
part because both teams played such tight man-to-man defense all
game, neither allowing the other to get in a rhythm. The
Ephs, however, were able to turn it around in the second half while
the Bantams went in the opposite direction, as the Bantams hit on
only 28% of their shots in the second half to the Ephs 41%.
Senior point guard and captain Chris Shalvoy made some clutch
shots down the stretch and finished with 15 points to tie with
co-captain Chris Rose for the game high. Shalvoy shared time
with Golia for much of the game due to intense ball pressure from
the Bantams, who hounded Shalvoy the length of the court.
Said Paulsen:
"They really got after him and forced him to make some plays
down the stretch, although he probably would have anyway because
that's the kind of kid he is."
For the Bantams it was senior and second-leading scorer Robert
Taylor who kept Trinity in the game in the first half, scoring 11
points to pick up the slack for leading scorer Russ Martin who went
scoreless in the first 20 minutes. Martin would respond early
in the second half with a three-point play and some big offensive
rebounds to help the Bantams pull within two, 34-32. It
wouldn't be enough though, as the Ephs snapped out of their
offensive stupor with a couple of timely threes from Rose and
Snyder. Snyder had 10 points on just 3 of 10 shooting, but
showed good offensive assertiveness and signs of his tremendous
potential.
Also playing large roles in the win were freshmen Troy
Whittington and Harlan Dodsen, who came off the bench with clutch
relief of starters Blake Shultz and Joe Geoghegan who battled foul
trouble all game.
"Harlan Dodsen and Troy Whittington gave us huge contributions
off the bench, which was key because we had some guys in foul
trouble and that was a very good team," said Paulsen.
The 65-48 score was certainly misleading, as the Bantams played
tough physical defense all game and withstood many early Eph
attempts to run away with the game. But without being able to
find a shooting touch they finally wore down, giving the Ephs
perhaps their best win of the season thus far.
Williams will try to retain their momentum for a home match-up
with rival Amherst. The Lord Jeffs won the first meeting this
season with the Ephs, 87-80 in Amherst. Game time is set for
4:00 pm.
