Box Score WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – Throughout the regular season, Eph head coach
Kevin App emphasized his team's ability to remain poised in moments of high pressure and stick to the fundamental principles that were guiding the Ephs (22-3) to a great deal of success. Few games demonstrated the Ephs' toughness more than Saturday's contest against the Trinity Bantams (17-9).
Wins in their last four conference games earned the Ephs home-court advantage throughout the NESCAC tournament, but they knew that Trinity would be ready to battle. Starting hot from the field, Ben Callahan-Gold sunk his first four looks from downtown to give the Bantams an early lead. The Ephs, watching makeable shots rim out, quickly found themselves in a 15-point hole. Down nine at the half, they could have easily panicked and tried to play hero ball.
But the Ephs weren't ready to bow out of the tournament just yet. Stepping up on defense, Williams allowed 17 points in the second half — and the offense would follow. Interestingly, after taking control of the previous meeting against Trinity with three-point shooting, the Ephs made just two shots from beyond the arc in today's game on nine attempts. Instead, they played to their strengths in the paint and let
Nate Karren do his thing.
Oh, and
Brandon Roughley.
After missing time twice this season with injuries, Roughley scored 10 points in 13 minutes of play to help send the Ephs into the second weekend of the conference tournament with a 62-47 win over the Trinity Bantams. The Ephs will prepare to host Colby, Tufts, and Hamilton at Chandler Gym next Saturday and Sunday.
"They've had a lot of experience in crazy moments and tasted close game defeats when they were first-years and sophomores," App said of his group. "They got some postseason experience last year — but this weekend is hard. Trinity really adjusted to how they guarded us the first time we played them, and it took us a while to settle in and adjust. You see it across the league — every home team has been in a dogfight. We came out with better intensity on the defensive end in the second half, and that helped us weather the storm. I'm super proud."
Karren recorded the two first Williams baskets of the day, using his length to navigate the paint. A confident drive from
Evan Glatzer put the Ephs up 7-2, before the second unit of Roughley,
Hudson Hansen, and
Alex Lee subbed into the game.
Callahan-Gold saw his first three tries from deep all fall, as Trinity took an 11-9 lead. Soon after,
Cole Prowitt-Smith picked up his second foul less than eight minutes into play. Hansen, displaying his toughness on the inside glass, posted up his defender to tie the game at 11 with 11:59 to go in the first half.
An offensive rebound from Trinity, however, helped propel a run for Trinity. Callahan-Gold finished an and-one to increase their advantage to seven, and the Ephs were called for a traveling violation. Another Callahan-Gold three-pointer put made the score 23-13 in favor of the Bantams with 8:25 left in the half.
With the Ephs down 30-15, App took a timeout. Right out of the gate, Karren went back to work inside with a smooth hook shot. The Ephs proceeded to force an offensive foul from the Bantams, before Karren hit another free throw to cut the lead to 12 with five minutes to play in the period.
The Ephs stopped the Bantams multiple times on defense but failed to convert on the offensive end of the floor. In a lucky break for the Ephs, Trinity missed a pair of free throws to keep the game at 30-18.
Glatzer scored the only field goal of the half's final five minutes with a layup as the seconds ticked down in the first, cutting the Ephs deficit to nine heading into the locker room. The Ephs shot 8-23 (35%) in the half. In a rare occurrence, they did not make a three-pointer.
"We made a lot of threes down at their place by getting in the paint and kicking it, but today it appeared their game plan was more about staying with the shooters," commented App. "It made us play a bit of 1 on 1. I thought we forced some things in the first half, but in the second we attacked but found an open guy. We got back to being more like us."
Roughley's signature move was successful three times in the second period's opening minutes en route to a 12-3 run to open the second, as the Ephs' pace and intensity picked up significantly. After another defensive stop,
Declan Porter bodied his way to the hoop to make the score 33-31 with 15:28 to go.
A turnover from the Ephs allowed Trinity to retain their slight edge, but a series of defensive stops kept the lead at two. Alex lee drove to the basket for his much-awaited first bucket of the day to even the contest at 33 with 13:37 remaining in the quarterfinal.
After the Bantams went up by two again,
Ben McGraw, showcasing his versatility, drove his way to the rim to tie the game at 35. Right on cue, Porter buried a trey to put Williams up 38-35 — their first lead since the game's opening minutes.
Ahead by one, the Ephs went back to Roughley. The sophomore, playing his highest minutes since returning from injury, calmly kissed the rock off the backboard for a 40-37 Williams advantage with 10 minutes left. Spivy would then hit two from the charity stripe for a five-point lead.
The Ephs aggressiveness on a 50/50 ball allowed them to keep possession of the basketball as it was deflected out of bounds off of the Bantams. Spivy would then make 1-2 tries from the line as the Ephs went up six. On the next defensive possession, however, Spivy picked up his fourth foul of the day with 7:30 to play.
A clean block from Karren allowed the Ephs the option to work in transition, but they elected to slow it down and find an open man. Given the space to cook, Karren dropped the ball into the hoop. With the same matchup on the following play, he made the same thing happen.
Then, holding a 12-point advantage, Karren let fly from deep. The result? A beautiful swish to bring the entire student section to their feet and put Williams ahead 52-37. Following a make from Prowitt-Smith, the Bantams scored their first points in over seven minutes to halt a 16-0 Williams stretch.
In the game's closing minutes, the Ephs cushion enabled them to rely on their trustworthy defense to carry them home. Prowitt-Smith and Porter combined to go 4-4 from the free throw line, before Glatzer finished a layup through traffic for a 60-42 Ephs' lead with 3:02 to go.
The ability of the team to win without double-digit performances from its top two scorers by average tells the whole story of this team's offense. Balance, balance, balance. "That's what we preach all year," App said. "Spencer, as our senior in the NESCAC, has stepped up his consistency and game. But tonight, foul trouble kind of changed things. It's what you hope to see as a coach —
Brandon Roughley got us big basket after big basket in the second half;
Ben McGraw scored in crunch time. To watch different guys play with that type of confidence is awesome."
Despite the hype of a comeback win, the Ephs have a huge weekend upcoming. They'll face Colby on Saturday and play again Sunday if they defeat the Mules.
"Today was great, and I think we learned a lot on how to approach a home game during the playoffs. But that semifinal weekend is fun no matter where you play it. It's four great teams, four great coaches, and four great followings of alumni, students, and parents. To get to do it in Chandler for the first time since 2011 is special. I'm just happy for the guys to get that moment. We'll have another great week of practice and do our best next weekend."
