ALLIANCE, OH. – The Williams College Ephs (18-4) advanced to the Sweet Sixteen with a 71-61 victory over the Stevens Institute Ducks (17-9) in Ohio on Saturday evening. In a game that saw the tenacious Ducks claw their way back from a 14-point deficit, the Ephs stepped up in the closing minutes to win in front of the fans who made the trek to the Midwest. With the score tied at 54 with 5 minutes left, the teams remained locked in a one-possession game until senior
Jovan Jones hit a trey in the corner to build a 5-point advantage that Williams would not relinquish. The Ephs will celebrate on their 9 hour ride back to Williamstown, before getting back to work at practice this coming week.
"We're absolutely thrilled," Eph head coach
Kevin App proclaimed after the win. "To win today and get another week together as one of the last 16 teams left is special. I'm super proud and happy for the team.
As he took in the win, App showed grace to Stevens as well as hosts Mount Union. "Hats off to Stevens and their season — to win their conference tournament as the #2 seed and knock off a top 10 team, then push us to the wire, is a testament to coach [Bobby] Hurley and the program they have. I'd like to thank Mount Union and the town of Alliance for hosting this weekend. They ran a great 3-game event with high hospitality."
The Williams defense was locked in from the beginning, forcing a shot clock violation early. The Ephs hit just 2 of their first 7 shots, but both makes were three-pointers from
Declan Porter and
Spencer Spivy to earn a 7-6 lead.
Alex Stoddard continued his stellar form following yesterday's 5-5 performance, sinking 2 of his first 3 attempts from long range on the day to put the Ephs up 17-10 with 11:23 to go in the first half.
Evan Glatzer, playing in the second unit with Stoddard, notched 3 steals in 5 minutes.
After a media timeout with 7 minutes to go in the first period, Glatzer created an open attempt for
Brandon Arnold at the rim courtesy of a behind-the-back pass. The bucket gave Williams a double-digit advantage, and another Porter trey gave Williams a 28-16 lead with 4:11 left.
The Ducks began to play full court press with 3 minutes to go in the half, but Porter nailed 2 more shots from downtown to put Williams up 36-23 at the break — his 12 points led all scorers in the period. Spivy added 7 points and 5 rebounds for the Ephs, who went 13-31 (42%) from the floor and 8-17 (47%) from three-point range. Alec DiPietrantonio had 7 points for Stevens, as the Ducks shot 8-24 (33%).
Stevens came out with renewed intensity to open the second half, scoring the first 5 points to cut the deficit to 8. After
Cole Prowitt-Smith finished a layup through traffic, however, Porter hit his fifth three-pointer to put the Ephs edge back at 13.
The Ducks showed life as they answered back with an 8-0 run to make the score 46-42 with 13:13 to go. Although
Brandon Roughley hit from deep to stop the damage, the Ducks went back to work on the inside glass to keep the Ephs lead at 5. After the score hovered around 5 for several minutes, a 10-2 run from Stevens gave them the lead at 52-51 with 7:21 to play.
Taking lessons and fuel from the overtime loss to Wesleyan last Sunday, the Ephs responded with poise under pressure. "The hope when you have that happen is that there's another situation where you can apply what you learned," App remarked. "I think the guys did that."
As the game entered crunch time with the Ephs trailing by 1,
Nate Karren twice stopped the Ducks in the paint. On the next offensive possession for Williams, he successfully put back an offensive rebound and made the subsequent free throw to put the Ephs up 54-52. A series of stops, as well as an exchange of baskets between Karren and Matt Crowley, saw the Ephs up 56-54 at the final media timeout with 3 minutes to go.
The game remained a 2-point differential over a span of 6:25, until Prowitt-Smith found
Jovan Jones for a massive trey that put Williams up 59-54 with 2:21 left — for App, it couldn't have been scripted better. "As a coach, you're just absolutely thrilled when the person who makes the big play is a senior. When we got a little tight,
Jovan Jones stepped up and made a big shot and big offensive rebound. To have a senior lead us to victory and get another week with him is special."
The stifling Ephs defense compensated for misses over the final minutes of action, and Williams found themselves up 9 with 45 seconds to go. Spivy, Prowitt-Smith, and Porter combined to go 8-8 from the free throw line over the last 25 seconds to solidify the win. Porter finished with 19 points to lead the Ephs, and Prowitt-Smith netted 12 points and 9 boards — just 1 short of a double-double. Karren also had 9 rebounds to go along with 9 points.
The Ephs will find out their next opponent and location over the coming days; for now, they will savor each second they continue to share together. "This is why the seniors took some time off last year. Most of the internal pressure I put on myself this season was to get those guys a great senior year full of great memories, moments, and big wins. We wanted them to have as much time playing this game that they love with their teammates."
"We'll celebrate this one tonight and figure out logistics tomorrow and Monday. Every win this time of year should snowball and add to the joy, excitement, and confidence."
