Hartford, CT.— Williams (10-4) toppled #6 Trinity (13-2) today, putting on a defensive masterclass. Building on their stellar defensive performance last night, the Ephs kept the Bantams to just 29% shooting, and 6-39 from three. This win broke a 25-game home court winning streak for the Bantams.
After a strong first half, where Trinity was kept to just 21% from the field, Williams went into the second up 26-18. However, the Bantams came out stronger and more confident in their inside attack. Jarrel Okorougo scored first for Trinity, demonstrating strong footwork to get his shot to drop off the glass.
Noah Dinkins responded, hitting from long distance to widen Williams' lead. Bantams leading scorer Henry Vetter got involved in the next 7 points, scoring five himself and dumping off to a big man for two more.
Evan Glatzer took the ball down low, scoring in the paint, and
Brandon Roughley added one at the line, but the Bantams were relentless. Will Dorion sank Trinity's third three of the game, and Jarrel Okorougo floated one in to tie the game up at 32 all.
Senior
Declan Porter, who scored his first points of the season today and played a role in today's big win, scored the next two in the paint, assisted by
Hudson Hansen. Okorougo shot back with a tough fading jumper at the top of the key. 34-34.
Hansen finished with a lefty hook, 36-34. Jared Berry tied the game with a layup, and then Trinity big man Trevor McDonald made two from the stripe to give Trinity their first lead of the game, 38-36.
In the next six minutes, the Ephs demonstrated the toughness that gave them the lead against #6 Trinity in the first place, going on an 11-0 run.
Hudson Hansen went face-up against McDonald, who'd been hounding him in the post, and confidently rose up for two.
Sammy Cooley picked up an offensive rebound on the next one, and flicked it to the cutting
Jackson Rein for a layup. Speaking of rebounds, the Ephs got the edge on the Bantams today on the boards, 36-29. This is especially remarkable considering that Williams' margin is -1.1 while Trinity has a strong plus 10.3.
Alex Lee scored the next one, speeding past his defender for the layup. Then, Roughley scored inside, using his shoulder to get space for the short hook. The run was capped off by a triple from
Declan Porter, assisted by Roughley.
Again, Trinity stampeded back, going on a 10-1 run of their own. Henry Vetter had five, and Drew Lazarre had his second big three of the game. Another bucket for Okorougo and a free throw for
Hudson Hansen set the score to 48-48, with just over two-and-a-half to play.
"Part of our issue last night was towards the end we started ball watching, hoping a teammate would make a play, instead of just playing together, moving the ball, and trusting the good shots," said Eph head coach
Kevin App after the game. "Today it was all hands on deck— we played to our strengths and made plays."
Brandon Roughley and
Hudson Hansen epitomized this idea on the first play of crunch time. With two minutes left, Roughley passed from the elbow down to Hansen, who spun, rose up, and sank his short jumper off the window.
One minute passed, and the Bantams couldn't break through the still solid Williams defense. Roughley was up next, scooping up an offensive board and laying it in to give the Ephs a two-possession lead.
With time running down, Trinity fouled Hansen, who sank both of his free throws. On the other end, Drew Lazarre connected on a prayer of a three, bringing the score to 54-51, but it was too little, too late.
Alex Lee dropped in both of his free throws to give the Ephs the comfortable 56-51 victory.
"I'm obviously very proud," said App after the Ephs' biggest win so far this season. "I mean, these weekends are mentally and physically taxing, and I told our group afterwards, there's not many chances where you can be really disappointed and feel you let one get away, and then stay together and find a way to finish."
He called it "as big a road win as you can have," continuing with his comparison of the two tough matchups this weekend: "They're two really, really good and well-coached teams that have their calling card on rebounding and defense, and also versatile offensive players. So having to guard together on the defensive end and then having to move the ball and not expect anything easy on the offensive end— that's where I'm proud."
"We were better this afternoon at some things than we were yesterday and that's what it takes," App added. "Different guys made plays and stepped up, and I think the more that happens the more at ease we can be."
The Ephs led the Bantams by double digits at many points in the first half, slowly building up their point total while stonewalling their opponents. Trinity shot just 21% from the floor in the first, and went 2-22 from distance. The score at half was 26-18.
Coming off an 18-point season high last night,
Aidan Yates had another big game adding on 15 points in the first half, again leading the Ephs in scoring. He scored twice from distance, three times driving, and made all three of his free throws.
Brandon Roughley and
Sammy Cooley came up big on the glass, both pulling down 9 boards. Roughley also had 8 points and 3 assists. Those rebounds were key in a defensive effort that kept the Bantams, averaging 80 points on the season, to 51this afternoon.
Coach App was proud of this result, but added a layer of nuance: "These Saturday games, I think sometimes you have to throw the stats out. Both teams are just gutting it out, finding a way, but we were smart in terms of who we were guarding, and we were really defended together. They're a high-scoring team when they can get downhill and they get easy stuff in transition— I thought for the most part we did a good job eliminating that stuff. Some of their guys, I hope it's because we contested them hard, missed some shots that they sometimes get."
Looking ahead, Coach App feels that the Ephs can beat anyone in the NESCAC. "I've been saying it all along— we've got a good group. We knew this year with incorporating a lot of new bodies, back from injury and new faces, it was gonna take some time, and we're still working through it."
For this game, what he was "most excited about is, we took a step forward in terms of competitive spirit, finishing, and winning. I think we can still take a major step in rotations, and roles, and different things, and that's what these long NESCAC weeks going forward are about."
The Ephs will play #13 ranked Tufts next Friday, Jan. 17. The game will be at home, in Chandler Gym, at 7pm.
