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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - It was a fitting end to
the career at Chandler Gymnasium for seven seniors tonight, as
Williams men's basketball defeated Brandeis 71-57 to advance
to Final Four in Salem, Virginia next Friday. Senior co-captain,
NESCAC Player of the Year, and Josten's Trophy winner Blake
Schultz led the way for the Ephs with 29 points and 7 rebounds, as
the team pushed its record to 29-1 on the season and its already
record breaking in-season win streak to 20 games.
It is only the third time that the Ephs have won 29 games in a
season, and it is fifth trip to the Final Four in the team's
history – the most of any team in the country. The Ephs are
5-3 in their history at the Final Four in Salem; the team came in
third in 1997 and 1998, claimed the NCAA title in 2003 and came in
second in 2004. The team is now 29-9 in NCAA tournament play.
Williams shot 46 percent from the field for the game. James Wang
was the Ephs' second leading scorer with 18 points, while
Troy Whittington came up huge for the Ephs, scoring 14 points and
grabbing 10 boards for his first double-double of the season while
also blocking a game-high 4 shots. Wang and Schultz, with 518 and
570 points, respectively, are the first pair of Ephs both to score
more than 500 points in a season since Micha
el Nogelo '98 (599) and Matt Hunt '99 (530) in 1998.
The Ephs were able to hold Brandeis to 35 percent shooting from
the field. Anthony Roberson and Kenny Small led the Judges'
offense with 14 and 11 points, respectively, and Terrel Hollins
scored nine points and pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.
The team will take on Guilford next Friday at 5:00 PM.
The teams traded baskets as the game began, but Brandeis soon
pulled ahead, taking a 21-12 lead with 11:11 to play in the half as
Williams could only find the basket on five of thirteen early
attempts. The nine-point deficit was the largest the Ephs had faced
in the post-season, including the NESCAC tournament.
Then the Ephs started to find their offensive rhythm and fought
their way back into the game, as the team went on a 14-4 run and
took its first lead of the game with 4:41 to play after Nate
Robertson knocked down two free throws to make the score 26-25 in
favor the Ephs. Wang capped the Eph run with a jumper in the lane
to make the score 28-25, and the teams traded baskets the rest of
the way; Williams entered the break with a 35-32 lead.
Williams barely outshot Brandeis in the firsthalf, 46 percent to
44 percent. Wang and Schultz scored 12 and 10 apiece for the
Ephs as Schultz shot a perfect 4-4 from the field. All seven Judges
that saw the floor scored for Brandeis, with Tyrone Hughes leading
the way with 8 points.
“They gave us punch early – they were a good team
and they came out strong,” said Schultz. “We stepped up
on defense and our post offense was huge. That's really what
helped us come back.”
It looked as though the game would go down to the wire as the
second twenty minutes opened. Brandeis retook the lead 41-39 on a
Hollins layup 4:41 into the half. The Judges stretched their lead
to three, 44-41, with 13:33 to play in the game after Roberson was
fouled making a layup and hit the follow-free throw, before the
Ephs retook the lead, 46-44 on a three from Schultz and a layup
from Wang with 11 minutes to play. Kenny Small then came down and
hit a three for the Judges to make the score 47-46.
It was the last time the Judges would lead in the game, as a tip
in, layup, and free throw from Whittington in quick succession gave
Williams a 51-47 lead with 8:23 to play. Schultz free throws
soon stretched the Eph lead to 53-47, but Brandeis was able to come
back to within one, 53-52, with 5:30 left on the clock.
The teams then traded a basket each, before Wang came down and
finished a traditional-three point play to make the score 58-54
with 3:31 to play. The Eph defense then stepped up, holding the
Judges to three points over the final 3:30; the Ephs iced the game
behind Schultz, who scored 8 of the team's final 14 points
and went 6-6 from the line for Williams to claim the 71-57 victory.
Hollins scored 7 of his 9 points in the second half for the
Judges, and Roberson had 8 in the half.
Williams kept up its 46 percent shooting in the second, but held
Brandeis to a spectacular 27 percent shooting from the field.
Schultz scored 17 of his points in the second, and finished the
game 10-10 from the line and 8-13 from the field. Whittington was
the Ephs' second leading scorer in the half with 9 points.
“We were able to pull away because of our defensive
intensity and because we paid attention to the scouting
report,” said Schultz. “We struggled with that
sometimes this season, and I think we really stepped up at the end
of the floor. It's a testament to how hard and gritty we can
play.”
For the seven seniors on the team, the game was particularly
emotional. That group includes Schultz, as well as co-captain Joe
Geoghegan, Alex Rubin, Ethan Timmins-Schiffman, Will Hardy, Mike
Moorestein, and Charlie Cates. Geoghegan had 4 points and 7
rebounds on the game, and Timmins-Schiffman also had a bucket.
“We were all sitting around talking about it after
practice – these were our last games in Chandler this
weekend,” said Schultz. “It was unbelievable to play in
front of such a great crowd of friends and family. We've had
a lot of great moments in this gym, but this was by far the best.
It's unbelievable to go out with that feeling.”
“Obviously I couldn't be prouder for all of our kids
in our program and for the institution; we're really excited
about representing it down Salem,” said Williams head coach
Mike Maker. “We genuinely appreciate the community support,
and particularly the support of the student body. And once again, I
couldn't be prouder of our senior class – their talent,
leadership and character has carried us all season.”
