Williamstown, MASS.— With a twelve point lead five minutes into the second half, Williams (5-1) thought they had finally taken control of the game. However, MCLA (3-3) refused to give up, and scoring from the brothers Dylan and Hayden Morris-Gray cut the lead to seven.
Sharpshooter
Ben McGraw sank a corner three on the other end to bring the Ephs' lead back into double digits, but Dylan Morris-Gray came right back at the Ephs with a triple of his own. Unfortunately for the Trailblazers, the comeback was short-lived. The Ephs' defense picked up and Williams only widened their lead for the rest of the game, finishing 56-41.
The first half was slow for both teams tonight, ending 23-15 in favor of Williams. In fact, 23 points is the fewest the Ephs have scored in a half this season. However despite the slow start, the Ephs maintained their advantage in the half, tallying more points, assists, and steals.
Nate Karren and
Evan Glatzer got the Ephs started, as Karren dimed up the cutting Glatzer for an easy layup. The next bucket was a layup for
Alex Lee, again assisted by Karren. The Trailblazers attacked the paint, and were keeping the game competitive until
Sammy Cooley scored three strong layups through contact to give the Ephs their footing for the rest of the half.
On Cooley, Eph head coach
Kevin App said "He was one of those guys even last year that was fighting to get into the rotation because he improved so much. He has the ball handling, physicality, and athleticism— he's just so sound out there, he can get in the paint and finish. Again, the whole sophomore group, it's been fun to watch them take another step for sure."
After the Morris-Gray brothers' scoring effort,
Cole Prowitt-Smith righted the ship with a stepped up effort.
Nate Karren tallied his third assist on a pass to the cutting Prowitt-Smith for a layup. Prowitt-Smith picked up a steal and a three before MCLA was forced to call a full timeout.
To finish out the last ten minutes of play,
Alex Lee and Brandon Roughly got into the paint, scoring layups or getting to the line for the bulk of the Ephs' scoring.
Brandon Arnold had a big block and a dunk to round out these final minutes. He pulled down a career high 12 boards tonight.
"Thank god for our bench," said Coach App when asked about Arnold. "They really did what you'd hope for. They came in and played hard.
Brandon Arnold— it's just been fun to see him continue to continue to thrive. He really has for a couple years now, so for him to keep doing that as a senior is fun to watch."
The Ephs came out with the win, but it was a slow offensive outing. Tonight's 56 points is the first time Williams has failed to break 60 this season. Coach App attributed some of this trouble to the good play of the Trailblazers.
"They have three wins already. They play hard, they play together, and they have some different pieces. It's always a great test for us and it always makes us better one way or another, offensively or defensively. I think this year it'll make us a lot better offensively. In the past, they've driven at will on us. I think being our sixth game we were a little more ready for that, on the defensive end. It's a great game to play before the holiday. Happy to come out on top but we need to get a lot better," remarked App.
Looking forward to after the break, Coach App said: "We have to find our rhythm. It'll be good to get some practice in after Thanksgiving. We competed and got stops and rebounds. We're doing that, and now we have to find our rhythm and get back to playing simple basketball on the offensive end."
The Ephs will play next against Emmanuel College, at 7pm next Tuesday in Chandler Gym.
