Ephs cruise past Union to move to 8-0

Williamstown, MA -- The Williams Men's Basketball team defeated Union College 75-53 at home Thursday night to move to 8-0 on the season. 

It was a balanced scoring effort from the Ephs, who were without their usual starting point guard, Cole Prowitt-Smith. Senior Jovan Jones led the way with 16 points, sophomore Nate Karren added 15 points and 7 rebounds. First year Declan Porter and senior Marc Taylor scored 11 and 12 respectively.

Williams coach Kevin App spoke on the effort of the Ephs in the absence of Prowitt-Smith, "To not have Cole and not skip a beat was great. I thought the first half was some of the best offense and defense we've played all year. For them, every basket they scored in the first half was hard, which is just what we're trying to do. We knew they weren't going to quit and they came out and made some shots in the second half. I thought our energy lulled a little bit in the second half but we found a way to get the win."

Williams took an 11-6 lead just over five minutes into the game. The Ephs then scored fifteen unanswered points over a span of six minutes to take a 26-6 lead with 9:00 remaining in the first half.

 

The Williams run was led by strong inside play from center Nate Karren along with solid three point shooting from the Ephs.

Karren finished the half with 10 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Senior Marc Taylor scored 9 points on 3-3 shooting from beyond the arc. The Ephs had seven total players enter the scoring column in the first half.

Union was able to finish the half on a 10-2 run but Williams entered the break with a twenty point lead, 42-22.

The Ephs were able to maintain a steady lead throughout the second half behind strong play on both ends of the court. Union was not able to get the game within fifteen points throughout the entirety of the half. 

Coach App discussed the contribution from his younger players, "I thought all our young guys did a great job tonight. Evan Glatzer getting out there and getting some big rebounds, using his size. Declan [Porter] used his size really well, and that's what he's going to have to do because once you get labeled as a catch and shoot three point shooter they're going to want to take that away. I think everyone is improving and we've got a couple more days left in the semester to keep it up."

Williams is on the road at Springfield College on Saturday, Dec. 11 at 4 pm for their final game before the holiday break.