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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Blake Schultz,
James Wang and Alex Rubin combined for 66 points in front of a
packed Chandler Gymnasium to lead Williams men's basketball
past University of Maine-Farmington 83-64 in the second round of
the NCAA tournament. The victory pushes the Ephs' record to
27-1 and marked the team's 18th straight win, which ties
Williams' all time record for consecutive in-season wins set
in 2003-2004. UMF finished the season with a 15-12 record; the NCAA
tournament appearance was the program's first.
The Ephs went 20-22 from the line in the game while shooting 51
percent from the field and 50 percent from three. Schultz broke a
scoring slump with a team-high 23 points on 8-14 shooting (5-7 from
three); the 23 points gives Schultz 520 points for the season; he
is the first Eph to break the 500-point mark since Ben Coffin
scored 524 in the 2003-2004 season. Wang finished with 22 points
while going 7-7 from the line and picking up six assists, and Rubin
scored 21 on 6-11 shooting (5-7 from three).
UMF was led by Eric Taylor and Eric Lelansky, who scored 24 and
18 points, respectively. The Beavers shot 45.6 from the field and
outrebounded the Ephs 32-25, and Taylor had a game-high 9 boards.
The Ephs will now take on SUNYIT in the third round of the
tournament. The time and location have yet to be announced, though
the game will occur next Friday.
The game was closer than the final margin would suggest, as UMF
played scrappily while forcing the Ephs to play defense for all
35-seconds of the shot clock. The Ephs jumped out to an 19-6 lead
after a Schultz fast-break layup with 12:08 in the first half, but
then the Beavers buckled down, clawing their way back to take the
lead, 25-23, with 5:32 to play in the half on a Lelansky three
pointer. Schultz responded for the Ephs, knocking down a three of
his own on the next Eph possession to take the lead back for
Williams.
The Ephs would not trail again in the game, though UMF kept the
game close. The Ephs were able to open up a 35-29 lead at the half
as Schultz and Rubin combined to score 8 of the Ephs' final
10 points.
Schultz and Rubin had 15 and 10 points, respectively in the
first half, while Lelansky ked the way for the Beavers with 13
points on 5-7 shooting.
The difference in the first half was turnovers and free throws.
Williams scored 10 points on 9 UMF miscues and went 6-7 from the
line, while the Beavers didn't score at all on the
Ephs' 4 turnovers and went only 2-5 from the line. The Ephs
barely outshot the Beavers in the half, 43 percent to 42 percent,
and UMF outrebounded Williams 20-14.
UMF kept up its scrappy play as the second half began, and a
layup by Taylor 3:04 into the half cut the Eph lead to two, 39-37.
The Ephs responded with a 9-2 run capped by a a Schultz
three-pointer that made the score 48-39 with 15:18 to play.
Yet again, UMF fought back, cutting the Eph lead to five, 50-45,
with 14:03 to play. The Eph lead then hovered around five before a
momentum-changing alley-oop dunk from Troy Whittington off an
inbounds pass from Wang gave the Ephs a 55-48 lead with 13:23 to
play.
Williams opened up a lead following the slam, with the margin
returning to double digits, 61-50, on a Wang three with 9:56 to
play; the Ephs did not lead by less than seven the rest of the
game. A jumper by Taylor with 3:17 to play made the score 69-62 in
favor of the Ephs, but the Beavers couldn't cut into the
seven point margin, and the Ephs pulled away down the stretch
behind perfect free-throw shooting from Wang, Rubin, and
Whittington.
UMF improved its offense in the second-half with 49 percent
shooting from the field and scored 22 points in the paint behind 18
second-half points from Taylor. However, it was even more a tale of
two halves offensively for the Ephs, as the team shot 62 percent
from the field in the half and 67 percent from three. Wang led the
way with 20 second-half points, while Rubin added 11 and Schultz
added 8.
Whittington joined the high-scoring Eph trio in double digits
with 10 points, while also grabbing 6 rebounds and blocking four
shots. Geoghegan led the way on the glass for Williams with 8
rebounds and chipped in 4 points, while Nate Robertson rounded out
the Eph scoring with 3 points.
“I don't think we expected them to be that
good,” said Rubin. “They were the most deliberate team
we played all year, and they made us defend 35 seconds every
possession, but overall I think we played them well.”
“I thought we played well in the first half," said Eph
head coach Mike Maker. "We got off to such a quick start and we
played so hard and with so much energy that we got a nice cushion,
but we didn't play with intelligence defensively in regards
to assignments and concepts. I thought in the second half we did a
better job understanding personell and what they were trying to
accomplish. We showed a will to win today, and our toughness
surfaced when we needed it most.”
“I think we came out with a lot of emotion and working
hard on defense, but we let some things slip and didn't pay
attention to some of the things we talked about on defense,”
said Schultz. “We were able to get it back and play better
throughout the rest of the game.”
Maker, Schultz, and Rubin all commented on the impressive
turnout from the Eph fans. “We appreciate the support of
crowd,” added Schultz. “It's been a great great
atmosphere and I hope that continues.”
In other tournament action, No. 1 ranked Wash. U fell 75-70 to
Illonois Wesleyan and Middlebury fell to RIC 75-59. Meanwhile
Guilford, Eastern-Mennonite and Randolph Macon, who handed the Ephs
their only loss of the season, all advanced. For more on the
tournament, go to D3Hoops.com.
