WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS.— David Murray, Connecticut College's (18-6, 8-2 NESCAC) leading scorer, had the ball. Already having scored 16 points, he'd been very effective in the post. Williams' (19-5, 9-1 NESCAC)
Brandon Arnold defended him as the shot clock was running down. Arnold took two bumps to the chest, after which Murray rose up with the hook shot. Arnold went up with him and altered the shot.
On the other end, Arnold got set up down low.
Alex Lee sent him the ball, and he went up with a reverse for an easy two. The score was 55-47 Williams with just over six-and-a-half minutes to go. The Camels, who are known for their zone defense, weren't going to go down so easily.
Generating open looks from ball movement, Williams shot a blazing 5-9 from behind the arc. With the Camels' redoubled defensive efforts, those opportunities dried up. Now it was Conn College's turn to push forward.
It helped the Camels that they were in the bonus for almost a third of the the second half. Conn's Cam Schainfeld added three points from the line. This scoring was supplemented by a layup for David Murray, this time finishing over Arnold to cut the Eph lead to three, 55-52.
Karren broke the nearly four-minute scoring drought for the Ephs, taking the ball right with just seconds on the shot clock for two. The Camels responded on the other side. Elias Espinosa, their second leading scorer after Murray, rose up for an on-the-money three. Dylan Watson tied the game at 57-all with a pullup jumper.
The Ephs' eight point lead had dissolved, and it seemed as if the Camels had all the momentum. After a period of "let them play" officiating, a clear slap on the arm of
Brandon Roughley led the refs to blow their whistles. He made one free throw to give the Ephs a slim lead.
On the next play, Murray drove from the elbow, and laid it in for two. Facing a deficit for the first time since 12:34, the Ephs had to make something happen. On the next play, Roughley had the ball in the short corner. Out of nowhere,
Alex Lee came racing down the middle on a cut. Roughley dished it and Lee finished through contact.
The Ephs were up one. They just needed a stop. The ball went to Billy Whelan, and he tried a three, but
Alex Stoddard tipped it. Through force of will, the Camels pulled down the offensive board, and somehow Whelan ended up with the ball again. Thankfully for the Ephs, he missed again.
Alex Lee got the board this time, and was fouled to stop the clock.
After one timeout, the Ephs inbounded to Karren. He was fouled quickly, and with that being the 7th foul he went to the line for one-and-one. Again, Karren found himself in the pivotal moment of a high-stakes game. If he made the two shots, Conn would need a three to send the game to overtime.
However, despite the crowd watching with bated breath, Karren looked calm. He swished both, and suddenly the Camels found themselves in the unenviable position, down three with seven seconds to play.
The Camels made the best of their final possession, giving the ball to their shooter Espinosa, but he couldn't connect. The crowd roared as the Ephs took the final game of their regular season, 62-59. The Ephs finished 11-0 at home, and with this victory became the top seed in the upcoming NESCAC Tournament.
After the game,
Nate Karren talked about sealing the deal with his foul shots. "It feels great, man. It's awesome that my teammates trust me enough to put me in that position and I really get confidence from them. Before the play,
Alex Lee was telling me, 'Nate, go get the ball so you can get fouled." "So I'm like, okay, I'm going to step up to the line and knock these down no matter what. Alex wants me to shoot. The camaraderie and teamwork has really been special for us this year. I'm glad I could finish out the game for us."
At the start of the game, the Ephs had some trouble adjusting the Camels' stifling zone in the first few minutes. Murray scored Conn's first points, posting up and scoring with a short hook. On the other end, the zone seemed to fluster the Ephs and they turned it over.
After another layup for Murray and a jumper for the Camels' 2nd leading scorer, Elias Espinosa, the Ephs looked unsure. It didn't help that their first scoring opportunity came at the line, after
Brandon Roughley was fouled.
The thing that allowed the Ephs to turn things around was ball movement. The Ephs had seven assists in the first half with a pair of assists for
Nate Karren passing to
Brandon Roughley.
Roughley gave props to the Camels' zone. "Their 2-3 is really good. They've relied on it all season to be one of the best defensive teams in our conference, but I think we benefit from having just as big, just as long guys in practice. We've been going against that defense all week and I think we kind of prepped really well for it." Roughley added, "With the zone we knew that Nate and I were going to have to get a lot of shots."
It's true that the Ephs' two starting bigs had an important role to play in today's game. By the end of the first half, they had scored half of the Ephs 30 points and accounted for 4 of their 7 assists. Williams led 30-28 at the half.
The second half began in a very similar manner, with Roughley scoring twice in a row down low, and Karren notching assist after assist. Williams' offense in the half was driven by the three.
Before
Brandon Arnold's layup,
Alex Lee,
Noah Dinkins, and
Cole Prowitt-Smith all dropped in threes.
Alex Stoddard had two in a row to fire up the squad.
Hudson Hansen and
Brandon Roughley added layups.
Connecticut played more in the paint, but were equally effective through the middle of the half. In fact, after Roughley's layups to begin the half and before Arnold's reverse to kick off the end of the game, the teams scored an even 19 points apiece.
However, the Ephs held on in the end.
Brandon Roughley led the Ephs with 14 points. Those points were hard-fought, as he consistently finished through contact.
Of Roughley, Eph head coach
Kevin App said: "He's such a good finisher down there on the baseline. So with Nate being able to pass, him being able to finish, it really kind of gives you an added dimension that not every team gets to have. He fed off Nate and kept finding spaces— he's a great finisher."
Coach App also touched on this game marking the finish to the regular season, and what it means going forward. "Oftentimes, I think I'm the most excited with these hard fought wins, but they're a lot more tired than I am," he said. "Just another gutty one. Not perfect, but we found a way. Luck was on our side with the last shot again. I'm so proud of them to go 9-1 in this league, to be playing for first place on the final day. What more could you ask for? This gets us at home for the NESCAC, at least the quarter-final weekend. To be the one seed in back to back years is testament to these upperclassmen."
By virtue of the NESCAC tiebreaker system and the Ephs' dramatic win over Trinity, Williams has earned the top seed in the 2024 NESCAC Men's Basketball Championship seedings.
Williams and Trinity finished 9-1 in conference play, but the Ephs defeated Trinity in the regular season contest on a late three by senior center
Nate Karren.
Listed below are the final standings for NESCAC Men's Basketball as well as tiebreak explanations, quarterfinal match-ups, and game times.
NESCAC Men's Basketball Final Standings
1. Williams (9-1) ^
2. Trinity (9-1) ^
3. Conn. College (8-2)
4. Tufts (5-5) *
5. Middlebury (5-5) *
6. Amherst (5-5) *
7. Wesleyan (4-6) ~
8. Hamilton (4-6) ~
9. Colby (3-7)
Bowdoin (3-7)
11. Bates (0-10)
Tiebreakers
^ Williams and Trinity finished with identical conference records of 9-1. In head-to-head competition, Williams defeated Trinity to earn the No. 1 seed.
* Tufts, Middlebury, and Amherst finished with identical conference records of 5-5. In head-to-head competition, Tufts, Middlebury, and Amherst went 1-1. In comparing results against the top four teams (Williams, Trinity, Conn. College, Tufts, Middlebury, and Amherst), Tufts went 2-3, Middlebury went 1-4, and Amherst went 1-4 as Tufts earned the No. 4 seed. In head-to-head competition, Middlebury defeated Amherst to earn the No. 5 seed, with Amherst the No. 6 seed.
~ Wesleyan and Hamilton finished with identical conference records of 4-6. In head-to-head competition, Wesleyan defeated Hamilton to earn the No. 7 seed.
2024 NESCAC Men's Basketball Championship
Quarterfinals - Saturday, February 17 (at Higher Seeds)
No. 8 Hamilton at No. 1 Williams - 2 p.m.
No. 7 Wesleyan at No. 2 Trinity - 2 p.m.
No. 6 Amherst at No. 3 Conn. College - 2 p.m.
No. 5 Middlebury at No. 4 Tufts - 2 p.m.
Semifinals - Saturday, February 24 (at Highest Remaining Seed)
2 p.m. | 4:30 p.m.
Highest Remaining Seed vs. Lowest Remaining Seed
Remaining Quarterfinal Winners
Championship - Sunday, February 25
12 p.m.
Semifinal Winners
