Middletown, CT.— With just thirty seconds to play,
Cole Prowitt-Smith snaked into the paint, rose up, and finished through two defenders to put the Ephs up by one, 61-60. In fact, one point was the largest Williams (7-1) had led by all afternoon — Wesleyan (5-2) took an early lead and grew the Eph deficit to as many as eleven.
Wesleyan had one possession to get it done. They called for time, and gave the ball to Nicky Johnson on the in bounds pass. Johnson led the Cardinals in almost every stat with a 14 point, 11 rebound, 11 assist triple-double. He took two dribbles, then pulled up from behind the arc.
The ball went off the back iron, and
Evan Glatzer came up with it in the ensuing scramble. Wesleyan was forced to foul. Glatzer went to the line and made one of his two shots. With seven seconds, the Cardinals rushed down the floor and put up a last-chance three. The buzzer went off in midair, and the shot sailed to the left, allowing the Ephs to hold onto their two point lead and win the game 62-60.
After the game, Williams head coach
Kevin App and Wesleyan's head coach Joe Reilly agreed that it was "just another classic battle that came down to the wire." Coach App said. "This is always a big test for both us and Wesleyan to see where we're at, as we get a few more non-conference games before the new year and before league play. And you know, winning the Little Three outright is always one of our goals. We won it two out of the last three seasons, so it's good to get the first one to put us in position to try to win it again."
Despite the miracle finish, it was another slow start for the Ephs today. The Cardinals took the lead on the game's first possession, throwing a skip pass to the outside for an open three. For the next few minutes, Wesleyan protected their lead with strong scoring drives into the paint, while Williams kept even by making all of their free throws, but the Cardinals soon pushed ahead.
Scoring nine unanswered points in three minutes, Wesleyan took definitive control of the game, generating much of their offense by moving the ball. On the other end, Williams had to look to individual scorers to get things done.
Brandon Roughley had six points in a row, finishing with soft touch in the post.
Roughley's scoring seemed to open something up for the Ephs, and Williams' starters got their offensive engines started —
Alex Lee stood out, finishing up the period with three layups, but Glatzer,
Nate Karren, and
Noah Dinkins also added on points. At the halfway point the score was less dire, 29-25 in favor of Wesleyan.
After the break, the Ephs kept fighting— exemplified by a strong and-one finish for
Sammy Cooley, but the Ephs struggled to hold things together. The Cardinals went on another scoring drive, finding themselves up 11 with ten minutes to play. Coach App called a full timeout.
The Ephs came out of the huddle seeming calmer and more focused on the offensive end. Karren started the comeback effort with a three, and he and
Alex Lee would lead the charge, scoring eight and five respectively.
A free throw from
Brandon Arnold gave the Ephs their first lead, and big baskets from Prowitt-Smith and Cooley helped them maintain it. In the last few minutes, Wesleyan's MVP Nicky Johnson took three trips to the line and was only able to sink two of his five shots. Poor free throw shooting plagued the Cardinals all night— they shot 45% to the Ephs' 77.8% at the line.
That brings us back to Prowitt-Smith's layup and the Ephs' miracle finish. Looking forward, Coach App remarked, "it's our last week to close out this semester. I don't think we've played perfectly, and we're going to learn a ton from this win again. Like I said after our last game, it's always better to learn through wins."
"What I'm proud of is different guys finding ways to make plays," said App. "It's been
Brandon Arnold that we've talked about, but today I thought it was
Sammy Cooley. He really just showed what he can do. He had some huge offensive rebounds, defensive stops, assists, finishes. It's fun to watch those underclassmen step up the confidence. Today it was Sammy, and hopefully it'll be somebody else this week."
The Ephs play next against Oneonta this Tuesday (Dec. 5), in Chandler Gym at 7pm.
