WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – Chandler Gymnasium was rocking on Friday evening as the Williams College Ephs (14-1, 2-1 NESCAC) emerged with a 79-70 victory over the Colby Mules (12-4, 0-3 NESCAC). The Ephs went up by double-digits in the first half, but the Mules crept to within four at the break. After shooting 2-15 from deep in the first period, the Mules begin to find success in the second half — and it forced the Ephs to play a higher level of basketball. Down seven points with 12:37 to go, the Ephs stuck to their principles and pushed through five subsequent ties before building a lead in the final minutes.
Spencer Spivy was consistent throughout the evening as he notched 20 points on 8-9 shooting, while
Evan Glatzer tallied a career-high 14.
Declan Porter also added 16 points on the night — a mark he hit for the sixth time this season.
"That was a great NESCAC game," an upbeat Eph head coach
Kevin App reflected after the game. "They're down a couple guys, we're down a couple guys, and we both had players step up. It was exactly what you hope — you hope the guys relish the moment, compete, and don't get tight. It was awesome."
Patience and simplicity were key themes for Williams in establishing an early advantage. Rather than forcing contested shots or dribbling through heavy congestion, the Ephs waited for Colby to double-team and found the open man.
Hudson Hansen and
Nate Karren used their long reach to get inside on the first two offensive possessions of the game. After
Evan Glatzer bodied his way to the rim for another make, Karren went to work again to register the fourth consecutive score for the Ephs to open the contest.
Colby called a timeout to stop the damage, but the Ephs went right back to business. Spivy found Hansen for an increasingly common dunk from the first-year big man for a 10-2 lead. In addition to patience, the Ephs wisely played to their strengths in 1 on 1 mismatches.
Noah Dinkins made an impact just a possession after checking into the game as he cleared up space for a put-in. Dinkins' roommate,
Declan Porter, followed suit on the next chance as he went through the defense to make the score 16-10.
Colby took a timeout trailing 22-15 with 8:34 left in the first half. While the Ephs certainly started in commanding fashion, it should be noted that the Mules missed their first nine three-pointers; the Ephs, a team that tends to play much of their game from beyond the arc, were 0-2 to that point.
Porter quickly made that statistic 1-3 as he nailed his first try of the game and sent the Chandler crowd to their feet. The Mules continued to hang around, however, and sneakily crawled back from down 10 to just four, courtesy of an and-one with 4:05 to go in the half. The Ephs prevented their edge from narrowing further and took a slim 33-29 lead into halftime.
Colby shot 2-15 from three-point land in the half, while the Ephs were 2-7 along that parameter.
Colby came out with renewed intensity to start the second half, recording a steal and block on the first two possessions. After missing their first two looks from deep in the half, they buried four of their next six tries to go ahead 41-37 with 16:43 remaining.
Coming off of a full timeout, the Ephs immediately turned the ball over. A three-point play from Colby extended their lead to seven, as Williams faced their first significant danger of the season at home. A deep ball from
Alex Lee — just the second field goal of the half for the Ephs — cut the deficit to four, but the Mules hit a mid-range jumper to take a 46-40 lead.
After a Glatzer basket to beat the shot clock, Colby responded again with a three-pointer. The Ephs at last found two makes in a row — Porter drove to the hoop for two after subbing back into the game, and Glatzer again showed off his improved confidence in the paint with a layup to trim the Colby advantage to 49-46 with 11:38 left.
"It's great to watch sophomores gain confidence," App commented on Glatzer's breakout offensive night. "Evan worked so hard on defense tonight and still was able to make plays on the other end."
With 10:11 to go, Spivy slammed home an electrifying two-handed jam — a rare sighting for the senior. Dinkins evened the game at 52 on the next possession, but the Mules yet again made a three-pointer in a big moment.
With the Ephs trailing by three, Hansen stepped up with scores on consecutive possessions to level at 55. Continuing to control the tempo, the Ephs stayed composed as Spivy finished an aggressive drive while being hacked to put the Ephs up two. He swished the free throw for a 58-55 lead with 6:26 to go.
"He knew he had to step up tonight, and he's enjoying it," App said of Spivy's toughness. "Spencer,
Ryan Moon, and David Elien are leading this group — and that's exactly what you want your seniors to do."
A three-pointer from Colby saw the game once again tied at 58, but Spivy came back with a vengeance as he buried a clutch trey to give the Ephs a cushion of three. Sure enough, however, the Mules evened the contest at 61 as App called a timeout with 4:37 to go.
Spivy caught the defense tight after the timeout and picked up two points on a drive. After a defensive stop, Porter created space with a pump fake and swished in a beauty from long range to give Williams a 66-61 lead. After Glatzer traded makes with Colby, the Mules signaled for a timeout to setup for the final 2:18.
Another Glatzer make put the Ephs up seven, but Colby's shooting abilities made them a continued threat to comeback. Lee darted ahead of the defense off an inbounds pass and finished a layup, before Glatzer went 3-4 from the charity stripe for a 77-68 lead. The Mules then resorted to playing the foul game after the Ephs escaped the half-court trap, and Williams held on to take a 79-70 win.
The Ephs shot 31-51 (61%) from the field — their best of the season — while holding the Mules to 27-69 (39%). In the second half alone, the Ephs went 16-23 (70%).
As is the case in the conference season, the Ephs get to enjoy the win for just a couple hours before getting back in the lab. They'll prepare to face Bowdoin tomorrow at 3 p.m. in Chandler Gym in another NESCAC matchup.
"We've played a lot of back-to-backs this year, and that's been the message: as great of a win as that was, we really want to celebrate on Saturday after taking care of business for a full weekend. Last week, we went through the disappointment on Friday and bringing it back Saturday; this weekend, we started with a hard-fought home win — can we bring it again and get two?"
