Boxscore
New London, CT
- Williams men's basketball's offense may
have cooled down a little on its three-game road trip, but its
defense has stepped up; the team dropped Conn. College 69-57 today
in New London, and the Ephs held the Camels to 37% shooting from
the floor while outrebounding the Camels 37-31 en route to the
victory.
Troy Whittington led four Ephs in double figures with 19. The
victory gave the Ephs their eighth straight win, a 17-1 overall
record, and a 4-0 record in the NESCAC. The 17 wins equal
Williams' victories from all of last season, when the Ephs
went 17-9 in head coach Mike Maker's first year at the helm.
The Ephs and the Camels battled throughout the
first 20 minutes as neither team seemed to be able to find its
offensive groove. Going into the break, the two teams were tied
29-29. Williams shot 9-23 and made three threes in the half, while
Conn. shot 11-26 and made four threes. Although they made fewer
field goals, the Ephs were able to keep the game close by getting
to the line, going 8-12 from the charity stripe compared to the
Camels' 3-4.
In the second half, the Ephs buckled down on
defense and returned to form offensively, holding the Camels to 32%
shooting from the field in the half while making 50% of its own
shots. The result was a 40-26 second half advantage, leading to the
69-57 victory.
“We got in a better rhythm defensively
in the second half,” said Maker. “We didn't allow
many easy ones – we made them earn them, and as a result we
were able to get out and run a little bit more and get a little bit
of a cushion on the road.”
Whittington was a force for the Ephs in the
game, grabbing 7 boards and blocking 2 shots while scoring his 19
points on 8-10 shooting from the field. For the weekend,
Whittington averaged 18 points, 7.5 boards and 2.5 blocks.
“Troy had a monster weekend,” said
Maker. “He has continued his development and maturity as
basketball player and young man, and he is a wonderful teammate. He
is a very talented weapon for us and a highly intelligent
basketball player with the athleticism to get his own shot around
the goal … I thought he was absolutely phenomenal
[today].”
Joining Whittington in double figures were
Alex Rubin with 10, Blake Schultz with 15, and James Wang with 13,
the same trio as the previous night against Wesleyan. All three
played excellent all-around games as well, as Rubin posted 3 boards
and 4 assists, Schultz ended with 6 boards and 3 steals, and Wang
ended with 7 boards and a game-high 6 assists.
“For us to win three consecutive road
games in a week shows the toughness and togetherness of our
basketball team,” said Maker. “I thought fatigue had
set in a little bit, but we had the mindset and mentality that we
weren't going to be a denied. It was a terrific win against a
team well-prepared to play us.”
Williams now awaits an away game at Hamilton
on Tuesday at 8 p.m.
