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WILLIAMSTOWN, MA--The Williams men's basketball team (16-7, 3-5)
ended their losing streak with a 60-56 victory over Connecticut
College (16-7, 3-5) Friday. The Ephs trailed for the majority
of the game, but hit shots when it counted to steal the
win.
The Ephs won the tip and scored the first bucket, but the Camels
would respond with a 9-0 run. Weisbrot would get Williams
back on the board with a nice offensive rebound and put-back with
just under 15 minutes to go in the half, but by the midway mark of
the half the Camels lead 17-8.
Kevin Snyder brought the Ephs roaring back with a three-pointer
at just under the nine minute mark to make it 19-11. After
some great ball movement Snyder would hit another just moments
later as Williams pulled to within three.
With 1:18 to go in the half, Eph big man Matt Weisbrot grabbed
an offensive rebound and put it back to bring Williams to within
one, 28-27. The score would stand through halftime.
The Ephs shot just 33% from the field in the first half but kept
themselves in the game with some great glasswork, out-rebounding
the Camels 22-13 with a whopping 9-0 advantage in offensive
rebounds.
Shooter Billy Karis paced the Camels with a couple big
three-pointers and finished the half with 8 points. For the
Ephs it was Snyder leading the way with 11.
Karis would start the Camels off on the right hoof to start the
half with a driving three-point play. Geoghegan would answer
for the Ephs to make it 32-29, but a 9-2 Connecticut run would give
the Camels their second-biggest lead of the game at 41-31.
Again Snyder would start the Ephs along the comeback trail, this
time with a hard drive to the hoop for a lay-up and the foul.
Snyder would miss the free throw but get fouled on the next Eph
possession and make both to pull Williams to within six.
As they did almost all game, the Camels would respond, as senior
Jeff Young laid one in just before the shot-clock expired to put
Connecticut back up by eight, 43-35.
The Ephs would hang tough though, scratching and clawing to stay
within striking distance until a Chris Shalvoy three narrowed the
gap to just one, 50-49. Williams would feed off the momentum
of the shot and draw an offensive foul on the other end, and on the
ensuing Eph possession Shalvoy would hit a floater to give Williams
their first lead since the opening possession of the game, 51-50.
Said Eph coach Dave Paulsen, "Shalvoy really struggled the whole
game, but then he hits two big shots down the stretch which is what
we've come to expect from him."
The Camels regained the lead briefly on a Christian Mosley
basket, but a Joe Geoghegan tip-in would put the Ephs back up by
one. A defensive stop and clutch free throws from Snyder,
Shalvoy, and Weisbrot would finally lock up the victory for the
Ephs.
Said Paulsen, "That was a great character win...truthfully I
told our guys maybe we needed to win that way more than coming out
and shooting the lights out...we proved to ourselves that we could
struggle, we could be behind, and still get a win."
Connecticut shot 48% from the field on the game, as a Camel
offensive laden with backdoor cuts gave Williams problems
throughout the game. In the lead for Connecticut was speedy
point guard Christian Mosley, who finished the game with 15 points
and single-handedly kept the Camels in the game during the final
minutes of the game.
Williams finished the game as they finished the half, shooting
just 33%. The Ephs, however, beat the Camels on the offensive
glass 19-1 and scored 19 second-chance points to Connecticut's
none. Leading the way on the glass for Williams was Joe
Geoghegan, who grabbed nine offensive rebounds en route to a 23
point, 15 rebound performance.
Coach Paulsen expects the Ephs, who had lost their last five in
a row before Friday, to build momentum from the win:
"It's like a guy in baseball who's in a hitting slump and keeps
making outs hitting line drives, and then he hits a Texas-leaguer
and all of a sudden he's out of his slump...you could probably call
tonight a Texas-leaguer, but we'll take it."
The Ephs will take on Wesleyan at home tomorrow. The two
teams met earlier in the season for a non-conference match-up which
Williams won. Game time is set for 3:00 pm.
EPH NOTES:
Amherst, Bowdoin, Middlebury, and Trinity have all clinched
quarterfinal home games for the upcoming NESCAC Tournament.
Amherst has already clinched the #1 seed. Seeding for
Bowdoin, Middlebury, and Trinity has yet to be decided, but Bates
has secured the #5 seed. If Williams wins tomorrow they will
secure the #6 seed; with a loss and a Connecticut College win
Williams will get the #7 seed.
