Box Score WILLIAMSTOWN, MA -- A 10-point scoring outburst by Williams junior forward Taylor Epley early in the second half boosted the second-seeded Ephs to an 88-79 win over visiting Bates College in a NESCAC Tournament Quarterfinal contest.
With the win Williams improves to 22-3, while the Bates Bobcats end their season with a record of 10-15.
Williams advances to the semifinal round of the NESCAC tourney next Saturday to be played at Amherst College. The Ephs will face Middlebury College at 3:00 PM, after the 1:00 PM contest between Tufts and Amherst.
The game opened with both teams hitting their first two floor shots, a two and a three, but with the score tied at 5, the Ephs' John Weinheimer missed a reverse layin, but kept after the ball and fed a cutting Mike Mayer who laid the ball in the hoop to give Williams a 7-5 lead.
The Ephs never did relinquish the lead.
John Weinheimer answered a Graham Safford three with a cross over from top left of key and his left handed layin put Williams up 16-10.
A drive on the left baseline resulted in a hoop for Bates' Sean Cunningham and it cut the Eph lead to 1, 18-17.
The Ephs then got two points by Sean Hoffmann to move the lead to three, 20-17. Hoffmann was fouled on a dunk attempt by Taylor Gartley and made both free throws.
With 9:11 left in the half the Eph lead grew to seven when Mike Mayer hit two free throws, making it 26-19.
Bates got to within three with 6:46 left when Luke Mattarazzo hit two free throws, making the score 28-25, Williams.
A conventional three-point play by Sean Hoffmann who scored inside and made the resulting free throw gave Williams its largest lead of the half, 36-27 with 4:41 left.
Bates, however, would not go away. Mark Brust and Mike Boorzanian hit threes to cut the Eph lead to six, 36-30 with 3:38 left.
A second Boornazian three attempt from in front of Eph bench rattled out and that was followed up by another drive to the hoop for a layin by Weinheimer, putting the Ephs up 38-33.
On the last possession of the half Bates failed to generate a shot as Graham Safford was stripped, going down the left side of the lane by Matt McCreary.
Williams took a 38-33 lead into the break.
Bates hit 11 of 22 (50%) field goal attempts in the first half, including 6-10 threes. The Ephs were 14-26 (53%) from the floor and 3-9 (33%) from distance.
In the opening 20 minutes Graham Safford led Bates with 10 points, while Nate Robertson led Williams with 11. Williams held a slight lead on the glass 14-12. Bates had three turnovers and Williams one.
With 17:30 left in the second half Taylor Epley ignited the Williams attack when he tallied 10 straight points in just over 2 minutes. Epley's 10-point explosion came on consecutive possessions as he hit three two-point hoops, a foul shot and a three-pointer giving Williams a 13-point lead, 50-37 at 15:56.
The lead went to 16 when James Klemm hit a long three, forcing Bates to call a timeout with 14:47 left.
Williams built the lead to 18 at 10:13 when a Mike Mayer layup made the score 63-45.
A Mike Boorzanian basket with 6:15 to play cut the Eph lead to 11, but James Klemm answered with another three-pointer, one of four on the day, and Williams was up 14 with 5:59 left.
With 1:23 left in the contest Bates cut the Eph lead to 10 when Luke Matarazzo scored on a layup and then he further cut the Eph lead down to seven with 1:12 to play, nailing a three.
Williams then made five of six free throws to claim the 88-79 win.
The Bobcats had four players in double figures with Mike Boornazian leading with 20, Graham Safford and Ed Bogdanovich each netted 16 and Mark Brust added 11.
Bates connected on 26-58 field goal attempts (44.8%), including 9-26 (34.6%) from three.
Williams was led in scoring by senior guard James Klemm who netted 20, going 4-8 from three. Nate Robertson added 19, most on driving layups in traffic. Taylor Epley tallied 17 and Mike Mayer had 14.
Williams hit on 29-51 from the floor (56.9%) and 6-16 (37.5%) from three.
Bates out rebounded the Ephs 31-30 with Bogdanovich the top Bobcat collector, gathering in 8. Mayer with a game-high 10 rebounds was the lone player to record a double double on the day.
The Bobcats netted 18 of 23 (86.7%) free throws, while Williams converted on 17-20 (82.8%). Bates was charged with 8 turnovers in the contest and Williams 7.
"I thought the difference in the game was the defensive adjustments we made at halftime," said Eph head coach Mike Maker. "We put Robertson, Epley and Weinheimer on their three quickest guards and we were able to keep them in front, enabling us to get out and get some easy baskets."
"It all starts with our defense," continued Maker. "When our defense is solid our offense plays better and we shoot the ball well. It was nice to have James Klemm back, especially making four threes."
Maker also noted the all-around play of junior John Weinheimer. "Johnny is a versatile athlete. He plays four positions for us. He's athletic, he can guard and he has great court vision."
