WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – The Williams College Ephs (14-1, 4-1 NESCAC) secured a 78-53 home victory against the Middlebury Panthers (14-3, 4-1 NESCAC) on Saturday afternoon at Chandler Gym. The Panthers came into the contest on a 12 game win streak and undefeated in conference play, but the Ephs built a commanding first half lead that they continued to increase throughout the contest. Another stifling defensive performance made it difficult for Middlebury to make up ground, and the Ephs clicked on all cylinders to win in front of the home crowd.
"It was a great effort against a really good and well coached team," Eph head coach
Kevin App remarked postgame. "They know their roles and they play really hard. Our guys came in and took on the challenge today. We're proud of this week and this win, but we know we can get a lot better — and that's the exciting part. The pandemic situation has made us take it a day at a time, which I think is a solid approach."
Jovan Jones started the day's scoring with a three-point basket. After a 6-0 Panthers run,
Nate Karren found the rim from inside to begin a 14-1 spurt for the Ephs. A Karren triple forced Middlebury timeout down 17-7 with 10:29 left in the first half.
The next sequence featured three-pointers on four consecutive possessions, as the Panthers refused to let the Ephs hold a double-digit lead. After a defensive stop, Thomas Zodda closed the gap to 25-18 with 5:56 to play in the first.
Cole Prowitt-Smith made the highlight play of the first half with a spinning layup through traffic while drawing contact. He completed the old fashioned three-point play at the charity stripe to put the Ephs up 11.
Brandon Roughley beat his defender to extend the lead further, and then found Karren for the assist after drawing a double-team in the lane to put Williams up 35-20 with 2:45 to go.
The Panthers slightly closed the gap before half, and the teams went into the break with the Ephs holding a 35-24 advantage. Williams went 14-31 (45%) from the field in the half, while Middlebury shot 9-28 (32%). Karren had a game high nine points, with teammates
Declan Porter and Prowitt-Smith just behind with 8. Noah Osher and Alex Sobel had 7 apiece for the Panthers.
When asked about building a substantial halftime lead, App said,
"When our guys play loose and free, they're talented on the offensive end. Sometimes, when we try to force things in a tight game, that's when we get in trouble. I thought we played with confidence and were able to go on some runs today."
The second half opened the same way as the opening period — with a Jones trey. On the next possession, Prowitt-Smith took a steal coast-to-coast for an assertive two-handed jam. The teams went back and forth over the next few minutes, as the Ephs looked to push the lead to 20 points.
Karren used a pump fake to open up a lane for a 19 point cushion, and two more baskets from the center capped off a solo 6-0 run from the center to give the Ephs a 53-30 lead with 14:09 remaining.
Middlebury stayed with the Williams offense the rest of the way and put together a couple strings of baskets but could not bring the lead under 14 the rest of the way.
Spencer Spivy crushed the late comeback hopes with a three-pointer and subsequent pair of free throws to give the Ephs a 67-46 lead with 5:37 to go.
Porter and Stoddard hit late long balls to further ice the game, and the Ephs cruised to a 78-53 win.
The defense of the Ephs held the Panthers to 20-58 (35%) shooting in the contest, with leading scorer Sobel netting 17 points. The Ephs shot 28-62 (45%), as
Declan Porter had 17 points on 5-7 shooting from deep. Karren contributed 16 while going 7-10 from the field, and Prowitt-Smith had 12 points and 9 boards. Roughley also had a season high 8 rebounds for the Ephs.
The Ephs travel to New York for a matchup against New Paltz on Tuesday, January 25 at 7 p.m. before hosting Connecticut College and Trinity in NESCAC back-to-back next weekend.
"It's great playing in front of our home fans, and we have a lot of home games coming up, so we hopefully give the students some entertainment. We have our last scheduled non-conference road game Tuesday, which is always a big one to maintain focus. I'm just super proud of our guys for coming out and getting a big win today."
