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Williamstown, MA - On the day
that men's basketball climbed to a #20 ranking in the country
in Div. III, the team stretched its season-opening win streak to
seven tonight against Framingham State, 88-50. It marked the fifth
consecutive game that the Ephs had beaten their opponents by more
than 20 points. Notably, the Ephs' scoring average will go
down after tonight's impressive performance, as they had been
scoring 95 per game before tonight's battle with the Rams.
The Ephs took control of the game from the
beginning behind hot-shooting and excellent defense, jumping out to
a 15-0 lead less than five minutes into the first half.
The Rams tried to slow the game down on the
offensive end, walking up the ball and not running plays until late
in the shot clock, but it was to no avail. Framingham finally
scored 5:11 into the half, but they could not make a dent the
Williams' lead.
With 5:21 left in the half, the Ephs'
led 38-8. The Rams then started to find the basket, scoring 15
points in the half's final minutes, but they could only drop
the Ephs lead down to 26; Williams led 49-23 going into the half.
The Ephs held the Rams to 30% shooting in the
first half while snagging 22 rebounds to the Rams' 12.
Meanwhile, the men shot 64% from the floor for the second
consecutive half following their effort Saturday against Vassar.
Co-captain Blake Schultz, who was named ECAC-New England and NESCAC
Player of the Week this week, led the way for the Ephs with 13
first-half points, and Troy Whittington added 10.
The second 20 minutes began in ugly fashion,
with both teams struggling to score; the teams had only scored 12
points combined in the first five minutes of the half.
Nevertheless, the Ephs continued to extend their lead, ahead 66-33
with 9:13 to go.
Many of the players that log the most minutes
for the Ephs left the game with eight minutes to go, giving some
different people a chance on the court. Schultz, who had left the
game with 12 minutes to go, finished with 18 points and five
rebounds on the game, and Whittington finished with 15 and 4. James
Wang chipped in 10 points and four assists.
The new Ephs, including James Klemm, Jordan
Mickens, Charlie Cates, Mike Moorestein, and Parker McClelland,
took advantage. That group, poured in 20 points in the game's
final minutes and playing excellent defense. The men led by as many
as 42, and game ended in the Ephs' 38 points victory.
The Ephs held the Rams to 30 percent shooting
on the night, and no Framingham player scored more than 12. The
Ephs also outrebounded the Rams 47-29; co-captain Joe Geoghegan was
excellent on the boards for the Ephs in his 12 minutes, snagging a
game-high 10.
“I think our defense is getting
better,” said head coach Mike Maker. “I think the
better our defense gets, the more fast-break opportunities …
we will get, and I thought this game was all about defense. We
didn't extend any body with unnecessary minutes and got out
to a comfortable lead … The thing I am pleased with is that
we aren't settling for threes, and we are looking for
high-percentage shots. We are being efficient offensively and with
pride defensively, so I was very happy with our performance
overall.”
While improving for the Ephs might seem
difficult, as they are utterly controlling the games the play,
Maker believes there are still things that can be done. “We
focus on us and how can we get better every day. There were
opportunities today for some people to get some much-needed playing
time and to get more balance on our scoring, which I was pleased
with.
“We don't worry about
results,” he continued. “We worry about what we did
today to improve as a basketball team and as a program.”
Maker's modesty about his team stretches
to the Ephs' new status as the #20 team in the country; the
Ephs had been unranked at the beginning of the season.
“It's nice to be recognized nationally, but we are more
concerned about our development as a team and that we put a product
on the floor that everybody at Williams can be proud of. It is nice
for our kids to be recognized, but rankings don't mean a lot.
It is how we perform, and I think we performed well today.”
The team will now prepare to take on
Springfield this Saturday in Chandler Gymnasium at 4 p.m.
