Williams rallies to beat Wesleyan on the road 69-60

Middletown, CT -- The Williams Men's Basketball team overcame a 17-point first half deficit to take down Little Three rival Wesleyan 69-60 on the road on Saturday night to remain undefeated and hand the Cardinals their first loss of the season.

The Ephs were led by sophomore center Nate Karren with 25 points. Sophomore guard Cole-Prowitt added 15 points and 8 rebounds while senior Jovan Jones scored 10 points and pulled down 7 rebounds. First-year Declan Porter scored 9 points shooting 3-5 from beyond the arc.

Eph  head coach Kevin App spoke on the team's win, "I'm just so proud of our guys. This is my seventh season and we've had some big wins, great moments but there haven't been many wins, many teams that I've been more proud of than what the group did this afternoon. Against a really talented, well coached, aggressive team. To do that on the road against a Little Three rival is just another big step for this group."

Both teams were trading baskets for the first five minutes of the game, with Williams taking an early 11-8 lead. The Cardinals then went on a 12-0 run fueled by aggressive defense that caused five Williams turnovers in three minutes. 

App discussed the first half woes for the Ephs, "Credit to Wesleyan. They absolutely blitzed us in terms of playing with energy and physicality and aggressiveness that's really hard to simulate in practice or get used to before you actually go through it. I'm super proud of our guys for not complaining or arguing with each other or dropping their confidence. It made us step it up a level. It was nothing I did, it was just the guys responding to the competitiveness on the road."

Wesleyan continued to dominate, with their largest lead amounting to seventeen points, 36-19 with just over five minutes to play in the half. The Ephs were able to fight back, finishing the half on a 14-4 run behind great offensive play from sophomore Nate Karren. First-year Brandon Roughley knocked down a three pointer with 0:17 remaining in the half to bring the Wesleyan lead down to seven, 40-33. 

Karren had an outstanding first half for the Ephs, scoring 19 points on 8-9 shooting from the field, including a perfect 2-2 from beyond the arc. Junior Spencer Spivy dished out five assists for the Ephs in the first half.

Coach App spoke on the performance of Karren, "He really just keeps getting better by the day. He's still learning, too. This is only his first year starting so he's still learning how to make the right plays in the right situations. His first half scoring helped us a lot but some of the plays he made down the stretch got us some great looks late in the game. He's as competitive and talented as they come and we're reaping the benefits right now."

It was a group effort for Wesleyan on the offensive end in the first half, with eight different players getting into the scoring column. 

The Ephs began the second half on a 13-0 run featuring great play on both the offensive and defensive side of the court. Four different Ephs scored during the Williams run and the Cardinals were held scoreless through the first five minutes of the half.

"I thought we were playing passively in the first half," said App. "They got a lot of uncontested layups in the first half because we weren't doing our job. I think our guys just got back to being aggressive and playing with confidence on the defensive end. We don't want to be a confident team just when shots are going in. That energy that Wesleyan played with in the first twelve minutes of the game, I don't think they expected us to respond and when we did they had a hard time. After our run in at the beginning of the second half they responded really well and then we were able to come right back and I think they just ran out of gas a little bit."

Wesleyan countered with a run of their own, scoring nine unanswered points to take a three point lead with 12 minutes remaining in the game and forcing a Williams timeout.

Williams countered right back with first-year Declan Porter draining two three pointers in a row to give the Ephs the lead back. Senior Jovan Jones then scored on a strong take to the basket and junior Spencer Spivy knocked down a triple to put the score at 59-53 with 8:37 remaining. 

The Ephs continued to play strong defense while being patient on offense. A Cole Prowitt-Smith pull-up jumper gave the Ephs a ten point lead with six minutes remaining. 

From that point on, the Cardinals were not able to get the lead under seven points, finishing with a final of 69-60. The Ephs held Wesleyan to their fewest points of the season, a team that averages nearly 90 points per game.

Williams is off until Thursday, Dec. 9 where they'll take on Union College at home at 7 pm.