Boxscore
Middletown, CT - Williams men's basketball
increased its win streak to seven games, dropping NESCAC and Little
Three rival Wesleyan 79-63 in Middletown. Four Ephs scored in
double figures in the victory, which was a very different contest
than the teams' earlier meeting this season, which Williams won
106-91. The Ephs are now 16-1 overall, 3-0 in the NESCAC, and 3-0
in the Little Three.
The Ephs are now 3-0 on the year in Little Three play and have
assured themselves of at least a tie for the 2010 title.
The Ephs started off slowly in the first half, falling behind
6-0 4:48 into the game before going on a 14-0 run over the next six
minutes to take a 14-6 lead with 11:01 to play in the half. The
Ephs slowly stretched their lead, and were leading 21-9 with 7:05
remaining in the half.
Then Wesleyan's Sasha Brown got hot. Brown scored Wesleyan's
next 15 points, making the score 29-24 on a three pointer with 1:10
to play. The Ephs came down the floor and could not score, then
another Cardinal made a layup with 20 seconds remaining to make the
score 29-26. Williams point guard James Wang responded, hitting a
three just before time expired for his ninth point of the half,
making the score 32-26 headed into the break.
The Ephs outshot the Cardinals 44% to 38% in the first half. No
Eph went over double digits in the first half, while Brown was the
only Cardinal in double digits with 15.
Williams head coach was not surprised that Brown was able to
score, but said that the team didn't make any adjustments at half
time to stop Brown. "We didn't change our defense at all coming
into the second half," said Maker. "You aren't going to stop Sasha
- he's very talented and he's going to get his points. We just try
to make him earn the points.
"We played very well for 15 minutes in the first half," Maker
continued. "They got momentum over the last five minutes behind a
strong home crowd."
The Cardinals seemed to still have the momentum coming into the
second twenty minutes, cutting the Eph lead to two, 34-32, three
minutes into the half. The Ephs seemed to be in even greater
trouble when co-captain and starting center Joe Geoghegan was
forced to leave the game with a cut on his forhead with 16:05 to
play.
But then Williams found its groove on both ends of the floor,
going on a 9-0 run capped by a dunk from Eph center Troy
Whittington, making the score 43-32 with 14:58 remaining in the
game.
Williams stretched its lead to 12 twice over the next five
minutes before Wesleyan made a comeback starting at the 10 minute
mark, and Williams' lead was only six, 59-53, with 8:31 to play
after Brown made a fast break lay up. It was at that point that the
Ephs began to put the game out of reach for the Cardinals. Williams
stretched its lead to 11 within two minutes of Brown's layup, and
did not lead by fewer than 10 points the rest of the way. The
Cardinals began to foul with 2:19 remaining and the score 71-59,
allowing the Ephs to ultimately win by 16, 79-63.
The Ephs shot below their season average of 52% for the second
consecutive game, making 50% of their shots in the second half and
47% overall for the game. However, the Ephs stepped up on defense,
holding the Cardinals to 43% shooting for the game. Williams'
opponents are now shooting only 40% from the field for the season.
The biggest statistical difference in tonight's game came in
three point shooting and free throws. The Ephs made nine threes to
the Cardinals' six while going 20-24 from the line. In comparison,
the Cardinals were only 3-8 from the charity stripe.
Co-captain Blake Schultz, Alex Rubin, Wang, and Whittington all
scored in double digits; Rubin led the way with 18 points on 7-11
shooting, Whittington and Wang both finished with 17, and Schultz
scored 13 while pulling down a team-high eight rebounds. Brown
scored only five second-half points for the Cardinals to finish
with 20 and was the only Cardinal in double digits.
"For us to win by a 13-point margin against a Little Three rival
on the road in a league game, in our fourth game in 11 days, was
great," said Maker. "We had a lot of people step up. It was a total
team effort; our defense was fantastic compared to last time we
played them, when they scored 91 points in our building. We guarded
them very well with great defensive discipline, and we were very
efficient on offense, with four guys in double digits and only
turning over 7 times. I was very pleased with overall effort and we
are looking forward to challenge of playing [Conn. College] away
from home."
Williams will take on Conn. College tomorrow at 4 p.m. in
Connecticut in their third straight road game.
