North Adams, MA - After
a tough first half, Williams men's basketball were able to
defeat the MCLA Trailblazers 83-62. It was the team's first
away game of the season; the victory put the Ephs at 4-0.
While Williams finished with a definitive
victory, the Trailblazers challenged the Ephs for much of the game,
and led 38-34 at the half. Playing physically and often picking up
man-to-man in the full-court, MCLA forced the Ephs into 10 first
half turnovers and held the normally prolific Williams offense to
41.4% shooting.
The MCLA was keyed in the first half by junior
center Jon Greenberg, who posted 10 points and 13 rebounds after 20
minutes. Sophomore forward Chris Harris added nine points in the
first half for the Trailblazers, while freshman guard Bilal Shibaz
picked up eight. While MCLA was only able to shoot 42.1% from the
field in the half, the turnovers allowed the Trailblazers to shoot
38 shots to the Ephs' 29.
Williams might have been in more trouble after
the first were it not for the shooting of Harlan Dodson – the
junior forward went 4-6 from three in the first half for 12 points
while no other Eph scored more than six. Senior forward Will Hardy
was also instrumental in holding down the fort for the Ephs,
scoring all four of his points and snagging each of his seven
rebounds in the first half.
Head coach Mike Maker was frustrated with his
team's first half performance. “I gave them a
tongue-lashing at half time because I wasn't pleased with our
effort, our toughness, and our resolve, particularly defensively,
nor was I pleased with how we were running the offense against
pressure,” said Maker. “That wasn't the Williams
team that we want to put on the court. They played more physical,
with more energy, and they were controlling the style of play in
the first half, [which is] something I think most people who have
seen our team play would say we usually do.”
The second half was a different story for
Williams. Playing with more composure, the Ephs were able to jump
out to a six-point lead by the 16-minute mark of the half. The team
never looked back, stretching its advantage to 11 with 12 minutes
left to play and 21 by the end of the game.
The Ephs improved in every facet of the game
in the final twenty minutes. The team shot 57.1% from the field
while forcing MCLA to shoot only 30%, turned the ball over only
four times, and outrebounded MCLA by 13 after only grabbing only
four more boards in the first.
Several Ephs contributed significantly to the
offense in the second half. Sophomore guard James Wang led the way
with 13 second-half points for a total of 19 on the game.
Meanwhile, senior co-captains Blake Schultz and Joe Geoghegan
scored five and eight second half points for totals of 11 and 10
while snagging seven and 11 total rebounds, respectively. Dodson
ended the game with 19 points, and junior center Troy Whittington
scored nine, with five coming in the second half.
“I am very proud of how we responded in
the second half to an adverse situation. It's tough to win on
the road, and MCLA plays with a lot of energy and plays tough
minded basketball. This was a good test for us, but we needed it. I
thought we limited our turnovers in the second half, got better
shots, and defensively we were pretty good. I wasn't a happy
coach at half time, and our players weren't happy. For us to
respond like that on the road was [great], because any road win is
a good win and MCLA was ready to play.”
Williams will now prepare to take on Salem
State on Tuesday at 7:30 at home.
