Ephs' rally nets 79-69 season-opening OT win over SUNY-Oneonta

Williamstown, MA -- The Williams College men's basketball team picked up an electrifying win over SUNY Oneonta in their first game of the season after 633 days since last stepping on the court. 

The Ephs were led by sophomore Cole Prowitt-Smith with 16 points and 12 rebounds, followed by Jovan Jones and Nate Karren, scoring 12 and 11 respectively. Karren also pulled down 12 rebounds for the Ephs.

Eph coach Kevin App spoke on returning to the floor after the near two year hiatus, "Before the game I told the guys to just reflect on the last two years, all those hard days during that time. Today was the day we looked forward to for so long." App also commented on the quick learning curve the Ephs displayed between the first whistle and the last, "The first game of the season is always tough, you're going against an outside opponent, emotions can get a little high. It's hard to grow up in the middle of a basketball game but we grew up and figured out a way to make plays."

The first half of the game was back and forth the whole way with 13 lead changes occurring along the way. 

SUNY Oneonta hopped out to an 11-5 lead but the game was quickly tied up again with three pointers on back-to-back possessions from Cole Prowitt-Smith and Declan Porter.

The Ephs made a full lineup substitution six minutes into the game. Alex Stoddard made an immediate impact on the court, knocking down two triples in two minutes. 

SUNY Oneonta had a strong first half shooting performance led by Dylan Trombley and Frankie Williams that carried them to a 34-29 advantage at the half.

The second half began with Oneonta jumping out to a quick 38-29 lead but a jumper from Cole Prowitt-Smith cooled their momentum. A made jump shot from Declan Porter and a steal and score from Jovan Jones moved the Ephs back to within five.

Williams struggled to get the game within one possession due to the shot making of SUNY Oneonta. It seemed as if every time Williams gained momentum, it was immediately halted by the Red Dragons. 

Coach App spoke on the defensive resiliency of the team, "Early in the year, the tendency when a team makes a run is to start trying to do too much. Defensively we just wanted to try and wear them out."

The Ephs found themselves down 69-62 after a layup from Dylan Trombley with 5:26 left to play in the second half. From that point on, the Ephs didn't allow a single point. 



Layups on back-to-back possessions from Jovan Jones and Spencer Spivy cut the lead to just three points with 3:50 left to play. After over two minutes of scoreless basketball, Jones drilled a three pointer to tie it up at 69-69. Williams got another defensive stop and Cole Prowitt-Smith narrowly missed a deep three pointer at the buzzer that would've won the game. Instead, it headed to overtime. 

The Ephs began overtime with a layup from sophomore Nate Karren, giving them their first lead since the 5:27 mark in the first half. Karren then dropped a turn around hookshot to extend the lead to 74-69. 

The Ephs continued to play strong defense and the game was sealed at the 0:59 mark of overtime when first-year Declan Porter drained a cold-blooded deep three pointer to extend the Ephs lead to 77-69. From that point on, all the Red Dragons could do was send the Ephs to the free-throw line and the game ended at 79-69, capping off a 17-0 Williams run over more the last ten minutes of game time. 

Coach App talked about the Ephs goals moving forward, "We have to keep figuring out the defensive principles, to keep putting pressure on teams. Oneonta's a good offensive team but I thought we got away from our concepts here and there. Offensively, we just need to not play tired. I thought when we played with good pace and made quick decisions, good stuff happened. We got into a few situations where we just tried to do too much. Especially at those intense parts of games, we just need to focus on getting good shots every possession." 

The Ephs are back at home vs Curry College on Saturday, November 20 at 5:00 pm.