Ephs Come Up Short, 59-46, Against #9 Tufts

WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS. -- Williams (10-5/1-2 NESCAC) surrendered an early lead at home Friday night against #9 Tufts, losing 59-46 in a gritty, defense-oriented game. A prolonged mid-game offensive lull was too much for the Ephs to overcome, despite a resilient effort late in the second half. The loss marked the end of a three-game stretch for Williams against teams ranked in the top ten nationally.

Early on against the Jumbos, Williams looked crisp offensively and in command on defense. Hudson Hansen began on a heater, knocking down a corner three to begin the proceedings. After Brandon Roughley made a nice interior move for two more, Hansen came off a Roughley screen and swished a pull-up wing three-pointer to give the Ephs an 8-1 lead just over two minutes into the game.

The Williams offense continued to flex its muscles early on. After Tufts' James Morakis hit an inside jumper, the Ephs responded. Roughley found Alex Lee on a backdoor cut to restore a seven-point advantage. Lee added to his tally two minutes later, with a beautiful turnaround mid-range jumper giving the Ephs a 12-5 lead with 15:15 remaining in the first half. 

This hot start was due to the Eph's high energy, especially defensively, noted Eph head coach Kevin App. "Our guys know how you have to play these games," he said. "There's no easing into it, you gotta come and throw the first punch when you can. I was definitely proud of them for doing that."

After the first flurry, the game settled into a physical battle. Noah Dinkins exemplified this physicality with a decisive block, which he parlayed into a hard driving layup to make the score 14-7. Another nice inside move from Roughley gave the Ephs a 16-7 lead.

With twelve minutes left in the first half, App dipped into his bench for a second time, bringing senior Declan Porter into the game. Porter proved to be an early spark plug on offense, first curling around a screen to rattle home a top-of-the-key three-pointer. Two minutes later, he received the ball at the top of the key, pass-faked to free himself for some space, and hit another three pointer to give the Ephs a 22-12 lead, which would be their largest of the game.

Porter's success comes on the heels of his return from an extended injury. "It's very thrilling for Declan to be back," said App. "To see him out there playing with a lot of confidence is a lot of fun." Porter finished second on the team with 9 points, going 3-4 from deep, in his 16 minutes of action.

After Porter's three, however, the game began to unravel for the Ephs. A nice Roughley reverse finish gave Williams a 24-17 lead with 7:06 remaining in the half, but it also marked the Ephs' final points of the frame.

The Jumbos closed on a 22-2 run in the final nine minutes of the half, and a 17-0 run after Roughley's basket. James Morakis, the Jumbos' leading scorer on the year with 18.9 points per game, accounted for seven of these points. Dylan Reilly, the Jumbos' prolific perimeter threat, buried two threes during the stretch. The Ephs offense struggled to make shots, missing numerous open threes during the drought. 

"Towards the second ten minutes of the first half, we were still getting open looks," App said. "When those didn't go in, our energy dropped a little bit. That's what we've gotta fight through at times."

The Ephs were unable to stop the bleeding as the half wound down, despite numerous lineup adjustments from App. A Scott Gyimesi layup with just under one minute to play in the half gave the Jumbos a 34-24 lead, which they took into the locker room. At the break, the Jumbos had attempted 13 free throws to none for Williams. The Jumbos shot 54.5% from the field, in contrast to the Ephs' 35.7%.

Unfortunately for Williams, the start of the second half resembled the end of the first half. Tufts went on a 6-0 spurt in the first two minutes, with a Joshua Bernstein layup, a Gyimesi fall-away jumper, and a leaning floater from Jon Medley giving the Jumbos firm control of the game and a 40-24 lead.

Two Evan Glatzer free throws ended the scoring drought with 16:56 remaining in the half, but Reilly added a three and a driving layup to give the Jumbos an imposing 47-26 lead with twelve minutes left in the game, as the Ephs continued to struggle to find space offensively.

With under seven minutes remaining in the game, the Ephs were down by 21, at 52-31. At this juncture, the Ephs finally grabbed some momentum. Roughley forced his way inside, making two free throws. After a Tufts miss, Glatzer was fouled in the bonus, and knocked down both free throws. After Reilly missed a three, Porter caught a deflection off his own pass, and buried a wing triple to reduce the Ephs' deficit to fourteen points. With 5:44 left, it was 52-38, and the crowd had some life.

The Jumbos responded with a nice play, as Medley found Bernstein for an open layup. Porter dished to a cutting Glatzer, who nailed a floater to cut the deficit to 54-40. A Bernstein free throw made it 55-40, but Alex Lee ran off a screen and nailed an elbow jumper to make the score 55-42. The Ephs defense sprang to life, hounding the Jumbos over the next few minutes of game time to keep the deficit at 55-43 after a Lee free throw.

With two minutes left, App called time-out. The Ephs' play out of the time-out was executed perfectly, as Lee found Aidan Yates in the corner for a three to cut the lead to single digits, at 55-46. Then, the Jumbos threw the ball out of bounds, and suddenly, the game felt winnable again, as the Ephs got the ball down just nine points, with 1:49 to play. 

The fact that this game, which had seemingly been over five minutes ago, now hung in the balance was a testament to the Ephs' persistence. Coach App noted. "As a coach, you hope to see that. "Make one last push and fight, put some game pressure on them. Definitely proud of them for not packing it in and still finding a way to make some plays."

With Williams down 55-46, Lee brought the ball up again and missed an elbow jumper just a bit short. From that point on, Tufts put in four free throws to salt away the game, as the Ephs' comeback bid fell short.

For the Jumbos, Scott Gyimesi scored 14 points and added seven rebounds, proving to be a consistently difficult presence inside for the Ephs to deal with. Leading scorer Marakis finished with 13 points and six rebounds, although the Ephs did a good job forcing him into 5-13 shooting and five turnovers. Dylan Reilly added 11 points that included three three pointers for the Jumbos, who finished the game shooting 40% (20-50) from the field and 26.7% (4-15) from three – both below their season averages. 

The Jumbos' 59-point output was also well below their season average of 80 points per game, demonstrating the impressive defensive display put on by Williams during this game.

As for the Williams offense, Brandon Roughley led the team with 10 points. Porter had nine and Hansen added eight. The team shot 30.8% from the field and 27.3% (6-22) from three.

Williams falls to 10-5 with the loss, and 1-2 in the NESCAC. Tufts moves to 15-2, and 3-0 in the NESCAC. 

Up next for the Ephs is Connecticut College. The game will take place tomorrow afternoon, at 3 p.m in Chandler Gymnasium.