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Williamstown, MA - First-seeded Williams
men's basketball defeated eighth-seeded Wesleyan 77-62
tonight to advance to the semi-finals of the NESCAC tournament.
Williams, the second-ranked team in the country, improved its
record to 24-1 with the victory, which was also the team's
15th straight. The Cardinals fell to 11-14 with the loss.
James Wang led the way for the Ephs with a career-high 30 points
on 9-15 shooting (5-8 from three); Blake Schultz and Harlan Dodson
were the only two other Ephs in double figures with 13 and 11
points, respectively. The Ephs shot 52% from the floor for the
game.
Sasha Brown keyed the Wesleyan attack with a 21-point, 6-assist
effort, while Derick Beresford scored 13 and Mike Callaghan added
11. Williams held the Cardinals to 40% shooting for the game.
The first twenty minutes proved to be a physical, as the teams
committed a combined 19 fouls in the half and Williams entered the
bonus only 9:24 into the half. The two teams' offenses
started slowly: the Ephs and Cardinals opened 0-5 and 0-6 from the
field, respectively. The Cardinals scored a minute in on two Brown
free throws, and the Ephs did not score until 3:52 into the game on
a tip in by Dodson.
The offenses picked up after the first four minutes, as the
Cardinals shot 10-21 the rest of the half, and the Ephs shot 10-16,
including Dodson's tip in. The final 16 minutes were back and
forth, as no team led by more than 3 for the entirety of the half
until Wesleyan went up 22-17 on a layup by David Maltz with 5:49
remaining in the half.
However, Williams responded to the five point deficit
immediately, as Schultz knocked down two three throws on the next
Eph possession. Williams took a 23-22 lead with 4:14 to play after
Joe Geoghegan hit two free throws; the teams then traded baskets
for the next 2:42, and Williams led 29-28 with 1:32 remaining in
the half after Mike Callaghan made a layup for the Cardinals.
Then the momentum began to turn in favor of the Ephs, as Dodson
hit a three with 1:07 remaining. Beresford responded with a three
of his own, but Dodson then hit a three that proved the last bucket
of the half with 24 seconds remaining to make the score 35-31
Williams headed into the break.
“I thought we played tight in the first half – it
was not reminiscent of the way we have played all year,” said
Mike Maker, head coach of the Ephs. “I think top seeds ten to
feel the pressure at home because they don't want to
disappoint people.”
Brown led the way for the Cardinals in the first half with 12,
while Beresford added 7. Wang and Schultz scored 9 each in the half
for Williams, and Dodson pitched in 8. Williams shot 46% from the
floor in the half while the Cardinals made 39% of their shots,
though both teams hit 10 field goals. Williams' 4-point
advantage came from the free throw line, as the Ephs shot 12-14
compared to the Cardinals' 8-8.
The Ephs, led by Wang, took control of the game once the second
half began. The Cardinals scored the first 5 points of the half to
take a 36-35 lead, but then Wang found his groove: the Eph point
guard scored or assisted on each of the Ephs next 13 points,
spearheading a 13-2 Williams run that gave the home team a 48-38
advantage with 14:03 to play in the half.
The next offensive possession for Williams gave the Ephs
momentum for the next five minutes. Troy Whittington picked up a
loose ball at the top of the key, took a step, and exploded to the
rim; he was fouled on the way up, but dunked the ball through the
contact to give the Ephs a 50-38 lead. Building off the momentum of
the dunk, the Ephs continued their run, and had opened up a 67-46
lead with 7:15 to play in the game.
Wesleyan was able to fight back over the game's final
minutes, and the Cardinals cut Williams' lead to 11, 73-62,
with 2:23 to play. However, Wesleyan's final push was not
enough, and the Ephs held the Cardinals without a point over the
last 2:23, ultimately claiming the 77-62 victory.
Williams' offense made the difference in the second half.
While the Cardinals shot 41% from the field (11-27), the Ephs
knocked down 59% of their shots (13-22) and 60% of their threes
(6-10). The Ephs also went 10-13 from the line in the half to
better the Cardinals' 5-5 effort.
Geoghegan ended the night with 8 rebounds and 6 points, while
Whittington finished with 8 rebound, 4 points, 3 blocks, and a
team-leading 3 assists. Alex Rubin added 7 points for the Ephs,
while Nate Robertson pitched in 4 and Will Hardy finished with two.
“As proud as we are of what we have accomplished, we
can't live in the past, and we certainly can't look to
the future,” said Maker. “You have to take care of
business in the here and now, and I thought we did that in the
second half. Wesleyan had dictated the tempo in the first, but in
the second half I thought we were a different team. We played with
the energy and passion that we have all season.” Maker also
noted the play of Wang and Dodson, in particular, and complimented
the teamwork that the Ephs displayed in the second 20 minutes.
Williams will now host the semi-finals and finals of the NESCAC
tournament next weekend. The Ephs will take on fourth-seeded Bates
on Saturday at 2 p.m., followed by a showdown between second-seed
Middlebury and third-seeded Colby at 4 p.m.
“We earned the right to host the tournament,” said
Maker. “We feel comfortable on the home and on the road, but
we would obviously rather play at home. We can't rely on the
crowd, though; we have to draw energy from within ourselves and
play with the passion, spirit, and togetherness we played with in
the second half tonight.”
