WATERVILLE, ME. -- The Williams College Ephs (12-1, 3-1 NESCAC) defeated the Colby College Mules (7-8, 0-3 NESCAC) by a score of 74-58 on Saturday afternoon. The victory sealed a 2-0 weekend for the Ephs in Maine. After Williams began 3-3 from beyond the arc, Colby quickly dismissed a double-digit deficit to take control of the first half and a subsequently hold a 3 point lead at the break. Williams trailed 44-40 six minutes into the second period but proceeded to hold the Mules scoreless for 5:47 and build a commanding lead that they maintained the rest of the way.
"We'll enjoy sweeping this Maine trip against two well coached teams with great players," Eph head coach
Kevin App said postgame. "We're halfway through the competitive part of our season, and we should know now that it doesn't matter when the good stuff happens. We have 40 minutes to be successful, and I thought both yesterday and today we played a little too anxious in the first half when things weren't going perfectly."
The Ephs jumped out to an 11-0 lead less than 3:00 into play behind two three-point baskets from
Declan Porter and another from
Spencer Spivy. The Mules, however, responded with an 11-0 run themselves, after forcing several turnovers, to tie the game with 15:07 to go in the first half.
Noah Tyson hit a long ball for the Mules to give them a 14-13 advantage, and they would extend their edge as high as 8 points with 6:18 remaining in the half. With Colby leading 29-21 and 3:06 left, the Ephs closed the half on a 7-2 run to trail 31-28 when the teams headed into the locker room.
Williams shot 9-26 (35%) in the half, while Colby went 13-29 (45%).
A pair of baskets from sophomore duo
Cole Prowitt-Smith and
Nate Karren knotted the score at 33 to open the second half. The teams went back and forth for the next few minutes, as Colby continued to hold a narrow lead.
Brandon Roughley hit a pair of free throws to tie the game again at 44 with 12:54 left, and Williams would not look back. Proceeding to go on 23-3 run, the Ephs stuck to their defensive principles as the shots began to fall more consistently. Prowitt-Smith recorded three long balls during the stretch, with two consecutive treys forcing a Colby timeout with the Ephs up 63-47 and 6:58 to go.
Speaking about the defensive side of the ball, App said, "I think our guys are enjoying that part of the game. They're enjoying just competing on that end. I don't think tonight was our best defensive game in terms of applying what we teach on every play, but the effort was there. We made up for mistakes with effort, and I think our guys understand we can be really good on that end. The trust has definitely built over the year."
Two three-pointers for Colby trimmed the margin to 10, but Roughley recorded his third basket of the half with an up-and-under move give the Ephs a 65-53 edge with 4:23 left.
Jovan Jones hit a floater out of a Williams timeout, and then followed with a coast-to-coast layup to all but end the Mules comeback efforts.
Porter's sixth triple of the afternoon capped off an 18-point performance on 6-10 shooting for the first-year, as the Ephs secured a 74-58 victory. Prowitt-Smith netted 13 for the Ephs, while Jones added 10. For the Mules, Will King led the way with 12 points.
"What I've been most proud of is that it's been different guys every night. Tonight,
Declan Porter and
Brandon Arnold played hard and with confidence, and
Brandon Roughley put a whole great weekend together."
The Ephs outshot the Mules 46% to 40%, but a key difference came at the charity stripe where Williams was 12-13, while Colby shot 1-4.
After a lengthy bus ride back to Williamstown, the Ephs' focus will turn to a rematch against Amherst.
"It's a unique part of our schedule to play our rival so quickly again. We'll learn from the first game and from this weekend, hopefully have a healthy week, and enjoy some competition."
