WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – In their first home game since December 10th, the Williams College Ephs (12-0) took down the Vassar College Brewers (6-4) in Chandler Gym on Monday evening. As Williams students funneled back into town to get settled in for the beginning of Winter Study tomorrow, the Ephs played in front of their largest fan section this season to date. Although the Ephs held the lead for most of the matchup, the Brewers consistently played poised and never let the Ephs gain a comfortable cushion. With tonight's win completing an undefeated first half of the season, the Ephs' focus turns to their powerhouse conference — the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). During the upcoming month, the Ephs will have six more home games against an array of worthy opponents.
"I'm super proud of the guys — they've faced twelve tests together and passed them all," Eph head coach
Kevin App said after the game. "Vassar is a great team with a bunch of seniors, and they pushed us. Coming off two high-paced games this weekend, I think the pace today almost frustrated us because we wanted to go on a quick run. We made the plays we needed to, but we'll learn a lot from it."
The Brewers jumped ahead 7-2, but the Ephs strung together a series of makes to take a 9-7 lead and force a timeout from the Brewers. After the regroup, Vassar continued to match the Ephs basket for basket. A three-point-play from the Brewers tied the game at 17 with 11:51 to go in the first half.
Next,
Cole Prowitt-Smith bodied his way for an offensive rebound off his own miss to bridge the gap to one. Still, the Brewers hit their fourth three-pointer of the game to go up 23-19. Williams, meanwhile, began 1-7 from deep.
Then, as he has done all season, reigning NESCAC Player of the Week
Declan Porter answered back with a deep ball of his own. After a commanding rejection from
Nate Karren,
Alex Lee knocked down a trey from the corner to begin a 12-0 spurt for the Ephs. Off a steal from
Spencer Spivy,
Brandon Arnold worked his way inside to give the Ephs a 27-26 advantage with 4:39 left in the first half.
During a span in which Williams earned three turnovers in a row, Spivy finished a layup off the higher portion of the backboard. A resilient take to the rim from
Evan Glatzer pushed the Ephs' lead to five, and a subsequent layup from Karren in transition made the edge seven.
Despite the Brewers hitting 3 free throws at the end of the half, the Ephs took a 34-29 into the break. Porter had eight at the half for Williams, who shot 13-26 (50%) in the period.
Brandon Roughley set the tone for the Ephs to start the second half, using a turnaround move as he cleared up space for an open left-handed lay in. After working the ball around, Roughley found Spivy for three points on the next possession. Although the Brewers hit a three-pointer of their own, Porter made his third triple of the game to put Williams 42-36 with 16:43 to go.
A few misses from the Ephs, however, prevented them from pulling further ahead; soon enough, the deficit was just two.
As the game unfolded, more fans begin to trickle into the stadium. Williams, up to #2 in the National Rankings, embraced the energy. Remaining patient, the Ephs found Prowitt-Smith for a crisp three-pointer from the top of the arc. On the next possession, they went back to the junior for another trey and an eight-point cushion.
"We hope during January that people will come out. There's no better place to be than watching some basketball during winter study — especially now that we're in NESCAC play and facing our rivals."
Each time the Ephs seemed to be taking over, however, the Brewers would bounce back with a couple makes. A layup and three-pointer made the score 54-50, in favor of the Ephs, with 8:23 left.
Needing a basket, Arnold once again stepped up in a massive way as he gave the Ephs two points inside. On the defensive end, he swatted a shot all the way to the opposite baseline as the shot clock expired. On the next defensive stand, he again registered a block. At last, the Ephs notched a double-digit lead with a lay-in from Prowitt-Smith with 5:03 remaining.
After Vassar cut the lead to six, Spivy hit a layup through traffic that seemingly put the game away. In case any hope was left,
Evan Glatzer and
Hudson Hansen found the hoop with under a minute to go as the Ephs held on for a 68-56 win. Prowitt-Smith tallied 16 points on 6-9 shooting, including the aforementioned pivotal back-to-back three-pointers, while Spivy and Porter each netted 11.
"With this group, we're just trying to take it a day at a time, find ways to improve, and embrace the competition," said App. "Somehow, we're already halfway done with our regular season games, but we have a lot to look forward to."
The next event that stands out on the schedule comes as soon as this Friday. In a highly anticipated game each year, Williams travels to the famous LeFrak Gymnasium to play Amherst on January 6th at 7 p.m. On Saturday, the Ephs will go hop back on the bus to Hamilton for another NESCAC tilt.
Although each game counts for the same value in the win-loss column, App knows the significance and history of Williams versus Amherst. "One of the reasons guys want to come to Williams is for these rivalry games," he acknowledged. "There's no better experience than driving over the mountain to play Amherst. For that to be the first league game this year is exciting. We'll learn a lot about ourselves on the road this coming weekend in both games."
