WILLIAMSTOWN, MA. – The Williams College Ephs (3-0) topped the SUNY Delhi Broncos (2-2) 95-68 in Chandler Gym to take home the title in the Williams Purple & Gold Classic. After a competitive opening 14 minutes, Williams closed the half on a 20-4 run to take a 19-point lead into the break.
Declan Porter led five Ephs who scored in double figures on Saturday afternoon, and was named MVP of the tournament.
"It feels great," Eph head coach
Kevin App stated post game. "It was the first time some of our younger guys were playing a back-to-back. I thought we played together, we played confident, and we played hard — most importantly, we have a lot of things we can get much better at."
Both teams were locked in offensively in the early stages of the contest. The Ephs jumped out to a 7-2 lead, but the Broncos scored two straight baskets to even the contest. Even as
Cole Prowitt-Smith and Porter nailed their first three-point attempts of the afternoon, the Broncos consistently had an answer and forced a timeout from Williams with the score knotted at 14 with 13:24 to go in the first half.
Alex Lee made his presence felt on the inside glass as he put back an offensive rebound to put the Ephs up 19-17. Still, the Broncos responded with a three-pointer and App subbed out everyone besides
Ryan Moon. The decision paid off, as Moon buried a three-pointer on the following possession for a 22-20 Williams advantage.
Porter and
Spencer Spivy converted from long range for a 30-24 Williams edge with 6:21 to play in the half, as the Ephs began to find their stride. Williams' best ball movement of the half came as Spivy made the extra pass to find Porter open from deep, and the sophomore cashed in his third trey of the half, igniting the Chandler crowd.
The Broncos ended a three-minute field goal drought to make the score 36-30 with 3:41 left in the first half, but Prowitt-Smith answered back with an explosive layup. Prowitt-Smith,
Nate Karren, and Lee went a combined 6-6 from the line over the next two minutes, before an and-one from Spivy gave the Ephs a 16-point lead.
Evan Glatzer finished off the first period with an old-fashioned three-point play of his own, and the Ephs took a 50-31 lead into the locker room. Spivy's 14 points topped the scorebook for Williams in the half, as the Ephs shot 16-30 (53%) from the field as a team. Meanwhile, they held the opposition to 11-33 (33%). Lester McCarthy had 10 for the Broncos.
The visitors utilized a full-court press for the entirety of the half, often forcing the Ephs to make multiple passes before crossing half court. Although only one turnover occurred as a direct result of the press, the Broncos recorded seven steals in the half to just one for the Ephs in the half.
A layup from Karren to open the second half pushed the Eph advantage over 20, and two three-pointers from Porter increased the lead to 30 with 16:28 remaining. Another notable moment came as Karren threaded the needle to Glatzer through a tight window and subsequently let out a roar.
The Broncos scored from deep on consecutive possessions to make the deficit 25, but
Brandon Arnold threw down a two-handed dunk to make the score 73-48 — prompting a Broncos' timeout with 12:21 to play.
A sizable lead allowed App to explore different lineups for the second day in a row. One lineup featured three first-year players: Lee, Ben McGraw, and Sammy Cooley. Speaking on the class as a whole, including Isiaha Dickens and Hudson Hansen, App praised, "The first years fit right into our roster. It's great to get them so many minutes, and they learned a ton this past week. They're going to keep getting better in our concepts."
In the final minute, David Elien slammed home a dunk to put the exclamation mark on the afternoon.
Porter's 17 points on 5-9 shooting from deep made him the high scorer for the Ephs in both games this weekend. Speaking on the sophomore, App said, "Last year, Declan was a shooter; this weekend, he obviously made some threes, but he also made plays off the dribble, and his passing and playmaking were on display. It's fun to watch him take another step."
Spivy tallied 16 in the win; Lee, meanwhile, had his first double-digit game as an Eph with 12 points.
The Ephs are back in action at MCLA on Tuesday, November 22 at 5 p.m.
Going forward, App's focus is to keep learning and improving. "I liked how we approached the first three games mentally and through a leadership perspective. We have another test Tuesday against MCLA; we just want to keep that confidence with steady improvement."
