Box Score WILLIAMSTOWN, MA — After a closely contested first half, the Williams College men's basketball team (4-1) went on a 19-4 run and then had 15 more unanswered points in the second half to down Curry College (0-4) 96-65 on Tuesday night in Chandler Gym. Five Ephs were in double digits in points, and freshman Duncan Robinson had a double-double and led all scorers with 21 points.
In spite of the Ephs grabbing the first five points of the game and being up 8-5 shortly thereafter, the Colonels went on a 13-2 run to take an early eight-point lead, which included senior Lambros Papalambros draining a 3-pointer from the right wing and then engineering a three-point play on the very next Colonel possession.
After exchanging a basket apiece to make the score 21-13 in favor of the Colonels, the three-point shooting of the Ephs began to heat up. First, junior Daniel Wohl drove toward the basket from the left side of the key but then kicked the ball out to the left wing to fellow junior Hayden Rooke-Ley, who was all by himself to drain a three. Then, a traveling violation on one end by the Colonels led to a wide-open three from junior Ryan Kilcullen at the other end, cutting the Colonels' lead to just two points.
The Ephs and the Colonels traded baskets to 32-29 in favor of the Colonels, before Robinson drew a hard foul while driving to the basket and converted both of his free-throws to draw the Ephs within one point for the first time since the Colonels took an eight-point lead early on.
After Colonel senior Carlos Ribeiro made two free-throws of his own, Rooke-Ley marched down to the other end and sank a three-pointer with a hand in his face from the left shoulder, drawing the game level at 34-all for the first time since 8-8.
The Colonels regained a one-point lead with less than thirty seconds in the first half, but senior John Weinheimer made an intelligent drive to the rim with time winding down, making no mistake laying the ball in to give the Ephs a hard-won lead going into halftime.
The Ephs came out in the second half firing on all cylinders, as they jumped all over the Colonels immediately.
After trading a basket each, the Ephs went on a back-breaking 19-4 run that frequently involved the combination of Rooke-Ley and Robinson.
The Eph's run was only briefly halted by an isolation three from Colonel junior Antonio Jones and several traded baskets, before they went on another streak of 15 unanswered points that put the game effectively out of reach for the Colonels. The run was capped off by an inch-perfect pass from Robinson at the top of the key to Kilcullen underneath the rim, who was able to both make the basket and then convert the three-point play after being fouled, giving the Ephs the lead by a margin of 80-51.
The Ephs never looked back from there as they cruised to a 96-65 victory.
After the game, Eph head coach Mike Maker praised his team's spirit and toughness: "I thought we played brilliant basketball all game against an NCAA-caliber team. They are very talented, and I thought we played well even though we didn't shoot that well in the first half. Our defense got better in the second half, and we just started making shots. We shared the ball well and were very aggressive. Our energy level was great, our spirit was great, and when we share the ball and guard effectively, we will be a formidable team to beat."
The Ephs take the floor again on Sunday at 6 PM away against MCLA.
