Box Score
Box Score
HIGHLIGHTS
from Ch. 22 (WWLP) Springfield, MA)
AMHERST, MA-For the first time since the 1995-96 season, the
Williams men's basketball team (16-7, 6-2) won the Little Three
title outright, defeating rival Amherst (18-5, 6-2) Friday night
89-78.
Senior co-captain Kevin Snyder (Littleton, CO) matched a
career-high for the Ephs with 30 points, 16 coming in the second
half.
The majority of the first half was back-and-forth, but the Ephs
went on a 6-0 run to take a 33-29 lead at the 2:40 mark and
finished the half up 40-35. From there the Ephs kept their
foot on the gas as Snyder scored 7 of Williams' first 9 points in
the second half to put the visitors up 49-41 on a three with 17:19
to go in the game.
In addition to Snyder the Ephs were lead by freshman James
Wang's (Sydney, Australia) virtuoso performance in the second
half. The first-year point guard scored 15 of his 19 points
in the second half, and was crucial during some key stretches for
Williams.
Williams took a 60-47 lead on a Troy Whittington (Brooklyn, NY)
lay up, forcing the Lord Jeffs to call a timeout with just over ten
minutes to play. Out of the play stoppage Wang found junior
Alex Rubin (Chevy Chase, MD) for a backdoor lay-up along the
baseline. On the other end Jeff shooter Taylor Barrisse
missed a quick three, prompting a Whittington rebound and great
outlet to Wang who pushed the ball coast-to-coast and drew a
foul. Amidst chants of "He's a freshman!" from the Williams
faithful making the trip, Wang drilled both freebies for a 64-47
Williams lead. After a block on the other end by 6'9" forward
Harlan Dodson (Nashville, TN), Wang made a circus reverse lay-up
for Williams biggest lead of the night at 19 points. When the
dust settled the Ephs had rattled off an 11-0 run spanning nearly
three-and-a-half minutes and leaving them up 66-47 with just over 8
minutes to play.
Amherst point-guard and leading scorer on the game, Connor
Meehan, did his best to keep the Jeffs in it, scoring a slew of
points down the stretch as the home team tried frantically to get
back in the game. Williams, however, had an answer for
everything and never lead by less than ten the rest of the way and
sinking 19 of 26 free throws in the second half as the Lord Jeffs
had to foul near the end.
Meehan led Amherst with 23 points while guard/forward Brian
Baskauskas and guard Marcus Bradley combined for 26 more. The
Jeffs didn't shoot too poorly on the night, their 45% just a tad
lower than Williams 47% clip, however Williams dominated on the
glass - out rebounding Amherst 44 to 33. The sophomore
Whittington was crucial in this regard, especially with big man Joe
Geoghegan out of the lineup. Whittington grabbed ten boards,
blocked two shots, and added nine points on an efficient four of
five from the field.
Williams will travel to Trinity tomorrow for a 3:00 pm
game.
