ALLIANCE, OH. – The Williams College Ephs (18-4) began their 2022 NCAA tournament campaign with a 95-57 win over the Neumann University Knights (21-8). The Ephs started hot out of the gate to earn a 22-12 lead, and never looked back as they shot 52% from three-point range on 27 attempts. Neumann battled despite the score, and outrebounded the Ephs on the offensive glass 10-2, but they were unable to overcome ferocious offense of Williams, who had 5 players in double figures. Several Ephs recorded their most productive days on offense, with
Spencer Spivy scoring 19 points on 6-7 shooting and
Cole Prowitt-Smith adding 19 on a 7-8 performance from the field.
Alex Stoddard also had his best game of the season, netting 15 points on 5-5 shooting from downtown.
After the game, Stoddard reflected gratefully on the chance to compete in March: "This is the kind of thing you dream about as a kid — playing in the NCAA tournament — so to get the opportunity with these guys is the best feeling in the world. We're just trying to enjoy every day, every practice, and every moment as a group."
"This was the first time having a major role in the NCAA tournament for all of these guys," Eph head coach
Kevin App remarked. "We came out how you hope your team does in March — playing with confidence, playing together, and with smiles. For the most part, we were getting guys great shots in positions that they're best at.
Alex Stoddard is playing with confidence and he's a dynamic scorer."
Spivy collected the first 5 points for the Ephs on the afternoon, before
Jovan Jones nailed his first two three-point tries for a 14-6 Williams lead less than 4 minutes into the contest.
Cole Prowitt-Smith also began his day 2-2 from long range, and Spivy cashed in a triple for a 22-12 Ephs advantage with 13:53 to go in the first half. After the second unit checked into the game,
Brandon Roughley paralleled his last two games as he scored 5 straight points after to prompt a timeout from Neumann.
Prowitt-Smith picked up where he left off following the timeout, drawing a charge and efficiently scoring a midrange jumper from the free throw line on the other end.
Nate Karren recovered a free throw miss just a possession later and put it back up for his second basket of the day. When Karren dished a fast break to Spivy, who finished the chance at the rim, the Williams lead reached 20 at the 7:05 mark of the half.
The Knights cut the lead to 17, but
Alex Stoddard, in tune with the rest of the team's shooting, buried a couple three-pointers to maintain the substantial Williams cushion and send the teams into the locker rooms with the Ephs up 50-33.
Williams shot 20-34 (59%) and 6-12 (50%) from deep in an astounding offensive performance in the half. Spivy netted 13 points without missing an attempt (5-5), and Prowitt-Smith went 4-5 to enter the break with 10 points. Jones also finished with 8 points and 4 rebounds, as Karren dished 5 assists. An array of other Ephs contributed, with eight players scoring points a period where the Ephs had zero turnovers. Jalen Vaughns carried the load for the Knights, scoring a game-high 17 points in the opening 20 minutes.
"We've been building to this tournament for two years," App said. "March is not the time to take a possession off, and we wanted to just keep playing and keep enjoying it. I think every guy who came for us just competed and made plays they're comfortable making."
The Ephs came out of the half with the equal despite the large lead, and Karren beat his man in the post to start the scoring. Prowitt-Smith then proceeded to score 5 points for the Ephs with fancy footwork, and Spivy hit a transition three-pointer to put Williams up 64-35 with 15:27 remaining.
After making his only two tries of the first half, Stoddard made back-to-back treys again to increase the lead to 30. "Credit to my teammates for finding me in my spots," Stoddard continued. "It's all about the team. We know each other on and off the court so well that we can put each other in the best position to be successful."
The Knights failed to gain any significant traction, and Prowitt-Smith threw down the exclamation point with a two-handed dunk. Senior
Daniel Kacmarek scored his first NCAA tournament basket with 1:30 left, as the Ephs advanced to the Second Round.
Williams went 34-57 (60%) from the floor, while the Knights shot 24-59 (41%). In addition to Stoddard's 15 off the bench, Roughley contributed 13. Vaughns finished with 18 for Neumann, who had 3 players reach double digits.
The Ephs will take on the Stevens Ducks (17-8) at 5:50 p.m. tomorrow, after the Ducks defeated host Mount Union on Friday evening.
"We're just going to enjoy it tonight, and then we'll prepare ourselves mentally and physically," Stoddard said. "We'll stretch out and ice up at the hotel and be ready for tomorrow."
"The one benefit of playing earlier is we get time to rest now, and us coaches get time to examine the film," said App. "The NESCAC prepares us for playing two good teams back-to-back — we did it last weekend with Middlebury and Wesleyan."
"In these Friday games in the NCAA tournament you're playing for another day together and another day to compete. But tomorrow, you're playing for another week together. We'll rally around that and be prepared for whoever we play. Hopefully we play like today — and that doesn't mean make every shot. It just means play loose, play connected, and play hard."
