Williamstown, MASS.— Both teams knew today's battle would be a tough one. Keene State (3-0) was ranked 10th in D3hoops' preseason poll, and Williams (3-1) was ranked 25th. However, the Owls' pressure and offensive firepower proved to be too much for the Ephs, who narrowly fell, 75-71.
With just over eleven minutes left to play,
Sammy Cooley drove into the paint and finished off two feet, putting the Ephs up four, 57-53. On the other end, the Ephs got a stop. Then, Williams committed a turnover, seemingly suggesting that their poise was slipping.
Then, Wesley Odiase, the Owls' second highest scorer this afternoon, took the ball inside and was fouled going up. He made one. Coming back,
Alex Lee scored with a turnaround in the short corner. However, that would be the last time an Eph would score for more than six-and-a-half minutes.
Kicked off by a three for Octavio Brito, the Owls' leading scorer, Keene State would pour on thirteen unanswered points. The Ephs looked flustered on the other end, forced to take tough shots at the end of the shot clock.
"There were times we could have had some more poise and actually run our offense," said Eph head coach
Kevin App about this period. "But, we have three freshmen out there, and a lot of guys in new positions."
"There were a couple stretches where we pressed a little bit and missed a couple of open layups," he said. "I thought we were acting like, 'seven minutes left, it's crunch time,' and it's like, no, just keep playing, take the good shots, and trust yourself to finish. That segment ended up costing us in the end."
Now with just three minutes left and facing an eight-point gap, the Ephs had to kick things into high gear. First year
Justin Belcher led the charge, driving into the post and scoring off the glass. Brito responded, cashing a tough turnaround.
Then, it was Belcher again for two points, this time from the stripe after he was fouled. A surprising foul was called on the other end against
Alex Lee, as he guarded Brito in the post. Brito missed his bonus shot, and so it was back to the races for Williams. This time, Belcher sped into the lane and dumped off to
Hudson Hansen for a layup.
There was 1:30 left and the gap was at just four. Brito was relentless, though, sidestepping into a smooth shot from the elbow. On the other end,
Sammy Cooley was fouled. He made both of his bonus shots.
In a hectic turn of events,
Hudson Hansen got a steal, then the ball was turned over, and on the next in bounds play, the Ephs forced the receiving Owl out-of-bounds. Lee got the ball for the Ephs, and he too was fouled, making both of his shots. The gap had closed to two.
With just 30 seconds left, Williams fouled, and Spencer Aronson made both of his shots to protect the Owls' lead. After a failed offensive possession, Williams fouled once more. Brito made two more to put the Owls up six.
Shockingly,
Aidan Yates was fouled on a last second three point attempt, but his two points weren't enough to close the gap, and the game ended 75-71, Keene State.
Despite the tough loss, Coach App suggested that the game would be valuable for his players. "It's my 10th season, so I know these seasons are long," he said. "You just have to take it as it comes and learn."
"I told the guys, there's probably going to be a lot on film where you're frustrated, but it's a great first week," he said, confidently. "We played four games: two on the road, got all those first experiences out of the way, and now we get to learn. With a new group, I'm learning a ton on who to play, what to call, what positions to put them in, and what rotations to go with. I was proud of how we competed against a team of veterans— they've been through everything. I think we'll see a lot of positives and a lot of things we can get better at."
Just as he had scored the Owls' last points, Octavio Brito tallied their first points, burying a long pullup three. By the end of the game, he had scored an impressive 27 points.
Coach App discussed the challenge of guarding such an offensively talented player, saying, "It's always a hard time guarding a great scorer like that. You don't want to pay all your attention to him and give the other guys easy stuff, and I thought there were some times where we could have been better in our team principals, not just on [Brito], but overall. We talked about it, making him work, making him work, making him work, and if his 20 to 25 are hard, we did our job."
At the start of the game the Owls' defense seemed to trip up the Ephs, just as it did in the second half, and Williams' first basket was representative of this initial struggle.
Hudson Hansen got the ball in the post, and not seeing an opening off the glass, spun out for a short corner hook.
Williams found their footing for the rest of the first half.
Alex Lee,
Brandon Roughley, and
Hudson Hansen led the Ephs through this first period, scoring 14, 7, and 7 respectively. Going into the second half, the Ephs led 34-32. Coach App noted that the team's veteran core is prepared for close games like this.
"Our veterans have been through a lot," he noted. "They know each game's just a new opportunity to get out and compete."
For the first years, "It'll be something we now have to learn," App added. "We learned how to play on the road, we had our first home game experience, our first intense game, start to finish, now we have to learn how to respond after a disappointment, and I trust this group to do so."
The Ephs will play next on Tuesday, against cross-county opponent MCLA. The game will take place at 5pm, at MCLA in North Adams, Mass.
