Delhi, NY.— 14:00 into the second half after nearly three scoreless minutes for the SUNY-Delhi Broncos, senior guard Isiah Barnes spun off an Eph defender and floated the ball in. Though SUNY Delhi (2-1) was still behind, Barnes' bucket brought the score to 38-33, Williams (1-0).
Brandon Roughley responded on the other end, going to work in the paint and laying it in.
However, it seemed as if the Broncos had found the energy they'd been missing all game. Gustarling Louis pulled up in nearly the same spot Barnes had scored thirty seconds before, shrinking the gap to just five points.
Hudson Hansen, today's leading scorer (21pts), drove to the hoop and was fouled. He connected on both of his shots. 42-35. Both teams got stops, then the Broncos pressed forward, with Noah Colin connecting from behind the arc. Delhi got a stop, then went for the three ball again. Louis connected this time, and suddenly the score was 42-41.
To take the lead, the Broncos went inside, passing from the low to high posts for a mid range look. Jason Tagios's shot gave Delhi their first lead since 8:00 in the first half. This lead would be short lived.
On the other end, Hansen set the example for Williams, spinning off his defender for a dunk. Eph head coach
Kevin App praised Hansen and the other upperclassmen for their leadership: "What Hudson's always done is just play hard and compete at a high level," App said. "Ever since practice began, he's just come back with that confidence you hope upperclassmen have. He's been great and I think he definitely showcased how he's improved. I'm very proud of how our upperclassmen came in and led game one."
Fellow junior
Sammy Cooley followed up, catching
Brandon Roughley's kick out pass for an easy catch-and-shoot three. Roughley assisted the next Williams bucket, too, saving an errant pass from going out of bounds, and sending it to Hansen for the layup. On the next offensive look, he took it himself, driving left for a layup.
By this point, the score was 51-47, and the Ephs kept the pressure on for the rest of the game. They only let the Broncos score once more, while adding on 11 points of their own. The game finished as a decisive Williams win, 62-49.
Though offensively, the Ephs started out slow this afternoon, they demonstrated an airtight defense from the start. In the first half, Williams kept Delhi to 27% from the field and 10% from three. In their first two games of the season, both wins, the Broncos scored 74 and 89, respectively. Today, the Ephs' strong defensive presence meant that they scored just a little more than half of Wednesday's 89 points.
In fact, "defense and mentality" were the two factors coach App thought contributed to the win today. "I was just really proud of them. We're a newer group than we were last year. Even when Delhi took the lead in the second half, there was no angst or panic, that was kind of a testament to them. I think [this game] shows the younger guys how you win. It doesn't always have to be perfect— it's not gonna be perfect, especially on the road against a good team." What the team could control was "the mindset and sticking to it defensively," App said.
Ten Ephs played today. Two of them,
Aidan Yates and
Jackson Rein, scored their first points in an Ephs jersey. Coach App made frequent substitutions, sometimes subbing as many as four at a time. "We wanted to get guys in quick, especially being game one, the first opportunity to play against an outside opponent," he said. "I wanted to try to keep guys fresh, especially for that run down the stretch. We're going to need a lot of underclassmen to step up, especially during this first semester. It was great to get a few of them out there, and I anticipate getting a few more out there over the next week or so."
The Ephs' next game is against SUNY Oneonta, this Wednesday. The game will take place in Oneonta, NY, at 7pm.
Looking forward to that game, App mentioned only a few tweaks to be made after today's win: "This being the first time we got to go against somebody other than ourselves, it'll just be a lot of showing them areas to get better at," he said. "Philosophically, I thought we let the game and their defense kind of take us out of our plan and our offense, but ultimately these non-conference games are about figuring out who you are, and finding that identity. I thought they did a good job taking that first step."
