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WILLIAMSTOWN, MA--Williams (12-5) capped off a great home
weekend Saturday with a 76-61 thumping of Bates (8-7). The
Ephs played excellent defense and responded to a physical Bobcat
lineup by getting to the free throw line for 28 points on the game.
Williams made up for a sub-par shooting percentage in the first
half (just 41%) by getting a lot of "hustle-points". The Ephs
scored 8 points off turnovers in the first half to just four from
Bates while putting up another 8 points on second-chance baskets
(Bates had none in the first half).
Early in the game, though, everything seemed to be going the
Bobcats way. After a driving fadeaway from swingman Ben
Thayer put Bates up 17-12, Williams responded with a tenacious
defensive effort on the Bobcats' next possession, but as the
shot-clock was winding down Thayer managed to get off a desperation
17-footer, swishing it through the net for a 19-13 lead.
Williams would respond. With 7:31 remaining in the half
Eph leading scorer Blake Schultz (Atherton, CA) made an incredible
spinning move on the left-side to pull the Ephs within one.
Schultz spun to shake one Bates defender before going up and
getting fouled by 6'7" Bates forward Sean Wirth. Schultz made
the basket and converted the free throw, leaving the Ephs down just
21-20. The play was part of a 22-9 run that gave Williams a
35-28 lead heading into the half.
In the first half the Ephs couldn't seem to pull away.
After every big Williams play, Bobcat guards Neil Creahan or Thayer
responded with one of their own to keep it close.
In the second half, Williams came out determined to put the game
away. The Ephs opened up the half on a 17-4 run, culminating
in a Kevin Snyder (co-captain, Littleton, CO) three-pointer and a
52-34 Williams lead. During the run freshman James Wang
(Sydney, Australia) found big-man Joe Geoghegan (Cape Elizabeth,
ME) for a two-handed jam that nearly brought the house down and
forced a Bobcat timeout.
Out of the timeout Williams kept the pressure on, and though the
Bobcats were able to pull within ten at one point, a 21-11 run left
Williams up 22 points - a margin that would prove insurmountable as
the Ephs held on for a 76-61 victory.
"They started picking us up full and what we do is we attack
pressure to try to get easy baskets," said Eph coach Mike Maker, "I
thought we did a great job of that in the second half."
The immovable object Geoghegan led the way for Williams on the
game, scoring 21 points on 13 of 17 from the free throw line and
pulling down 9 rebounds.
"They didn't double Joe," said Maker, "and we think Joe's good
enough to go one on one with anybody in the league so we threw it
in there."
The Bobcats struggled from the field, especially in the second
half, and finished shooting just 42% from the field. Chris
Wilson led all scorers for Bates with 11 points, and Creahan and
Ellis followed him with 10 each.
Williams was barely better from the field at 43%, but made up
for it from the line. The Ephs and Bobcats were tied for tops
in the league in FT percentage going into the game (both at 74.8%),
however the Ephs used their prowess from the charity stripe to a
far greater advantage, getting to the line a whopping 39 times and
converting 28 of those.
"Every game's different," reflected Coach Maker, "Tufts doesn't
deny or play as physical as this team - Bates denies and they play
very physical. In response to that we're not going to have as
much offensive flow but we're going to isolate and run plays more,
and hopefully shoot more free throws like we did today."
The usual suspects showed up as well for Williams, as Snyder and
Schultz scored 13 and 14 points respectively. In addition
Snyder pulled down 9 rebounds and made some crucial shots during
the Ephs second-half run.
Maker was proud of his team's effort this weekend:
"I think that's a very good team (Bates), they're going to beat
some teams this year. This was a great home weekend for us."
The Ephs will travel to Wesleyan on January 23rd for
a rematch with the Cardinals. Williams won the previous
meeting this season. Game time is set for 7:30 pm.
