Williamstown, MASS.— With nine minutes to play, Williams (11-6, 1-3 NESCAC) led rival Amherst (10-7, 1-2 NESCAC) by 14 points. The Ephs had gone on a scoring run through the middle of the 2nd half— begun by a top-of-the-key triple for
Alex Lee, filled in by a smattering of layups and threes, and capped off by a thunderous dunk from
Hudson Hansen.
Going the other way, Mammoths big man Noah Helmke responded with a much less flashy bucket, finishing with an up-and-under move. Amherst called full time, with the score at 52-40 Williams.
Amherst head coach Marlon Sears must've said something to his squad, because after they came out of the huddle, their defense intensity went up several notches. The Amherst guards stayed glued to their assignments on the perimeter, and the bigs pestered the Ephs down low, taking away the lane.
On the other side of the ball, fired up, the Mammoths began chipping away at the 12-point lead. First, Marc Garraud passed over the top to Giovanni Tam, who finished an awkward hook shot and gave a "you're too small" celebration, an interesting choice given that those two were his only points of the game.
Still, despite the tension escalating in tonight's rivalry game, the Ephs couldn't break through Amherst's physicality. The Mammoths got another stop, and the game's surprising leading scorer, first-year guard Elias Chin, took the ball himself for a floater in the lane, netting his 13th point.
On the other end, Tam was maybe too fired up, and he fouled
Brandon Roughley, who went to the line and made one. His teammate Chin stayed cool and collected, driving, picking up his own board, and laying it up and in. 53-46 Williams.
Alex Lee got a good attempt at three, but couldn't get it to fall, and the Mammoths were still hot. Marc Gerraud drove on the left baseline, finishing soft off the glass over both Eph big men. After a turnover, Williams called for a short timeout to regroup.
Coming out of that timeout, things still seemed a little shaky. The Ephs committed a turnover and had some trouble connecting at the line. Chin pushed the advantage, swinging the ball to Drew Martin to bring the score to 53-51.
After both teams couldn't connect from distance, Eph head coach
Kevin App called a full timeout. When the Ephs went back onto the court, the nervous energy had dissipated. Perhaps Amherst would put up a fight, but the Ephs seemed ready to do battle.
On the first play back,
Brandon Roughley was fouled by Tam. He went two for two on his shots. Gerraud missed a triple, but going back the other way, Elias Chin dashed forward to steal an errant pass, and he went all the way for a layup.
Another Mammoth stop gave Amherst back the ball, and a chance to tie or take the lead. They opted for the tie, and Gerraud sped downhill for a layup. At 55-all, both teams got another chance, but neither could get it done. This game was going to overtime.
The Ephs made the first move of the final five minutes.
Hudson Hansen swung to
Aidan Yates, and though Yates had been struggling a bit to connect, he rose up confidently and all ten players on the court watched his shot swish through the net.
Both teams settled down into a defensive rhythm, and it would be another two minutes before anyone scored, but this time it was Yates again, as Hansen found him cutting across the baseline for a reverse.
The Mammoths exploited the moment of celebration that came after that layup, and Bobby Summers sped down the court. He drove into the out-of-position defense, and drew a foul for two points at the line.
Elias Chin continued his hot streak, beating his defender on the way to the hoop for two. The first year led scorers with 21 tonight, eclipsing his season-high of 11 points. Gerraud played a little too tight to
Alex Lee after Chin's bucket, and drew a foul for double bonus shots. Lee made both, putting the Ephs ahead by three, 62-59.
Gerraud redeemed himself on the other end, finishing a tough shot off the glass. No matter what the Ephs did to pull ahead, Gerraud and Chin would respond, keeping the Mammoths very much in the game. However, the pair's energy got them in a little trouble too, as they were responsible for the next two fouls, which netted the Ephs three points at the line.
With 34 seconds and facing a four-point deficit, the Mammoths were going to have to hope for a miracle to take the game… or maybe just 34 more spectacular seconds from Marc Gerraud and Elias Chin.
Gerraud drove and picked up the foul. He sank both to make it a two point game. Still, Amherst would have to rely on the Ephs missing foul shots, and they picked the wrong guys to foul. First they tried
Evan Glatzer, with 11 seconds left. He sank both.
Glatzer, who sank a buzzer beater at the end of the first half, represented the team's senior class in commenting on what may be these players' final game against Amherst in Chandler Gym.
"It means a lot to get a win in front of a lot of these guys, a lot of my friends in the stands, and family," he said. "It's always a battle when we play Amherst and it's a lot more fun when it's a close game, so I'm glad we pulled it out at the end."
Glatzer continued, saying that the energy and confidence demonstrated by the Ephs in tonight's game "comes from our bench, it comes from the guys, it comes from 1 through 17. We came in today, saying, 'Just be loud as heck for no apparent reason, and just make sure that energy is contagious throughout the game.'"
That energy kept the Ephs composed after a final stupendous drive for Chin, in which he tallied his 21st point. In a last-ditch effort, the Mammoths fouled
Alex Lee. Lee went to the line, and calmly sank both shots to decisively end the game, 69-65 Williams.
Eph head coach Kevin App continued on the same lines as he had after Saturday's game, remarking on the team playing in the moment and enjoying the game. "I thought it was awesome," he began. "I mean, it's what you hope for— to play any college basketball game, let alone your rival in front of a great crowd, you gotta enjoy that, and I thought everybody from our bench to our guys on the court, off the court, really relished that."
"I was really proud," he continued, saying: "at the start of the second half some things didn't go our way, doesn't matter. End of the game, things don't go our way, but we come out, throw the first punch in overtime and find a way, step up, make big plays. Some of that staying in the moment stuff that we've been talking about, and not overreacting to things not going our way, individually or collectively, I thought was better, and we just have to keep that going."
Coach App suggested that the improvement in mentality in on-court and bench players contributed to better ball movement. "I think when you're externally just playing and trusting and having a good time, the ball moves more because you're not thinking 'what should I do when I get it,' you just trust your instincts, and trust your habits," he said.
"I thought we had some tremendous possessions. To come from losing two at home, having the game going into overtime— everybody really stepped up. Aidan missed a couple open ones, but made the big one in overtime, and had a great cut. Four different guys stepped up, made pressure free throws. We can do anything in practice, but when you're out there in a silent gym with the fans about to go crazy, you gotta step up and make them. I'm proud of our guys," App concluded.
The Ephs play next against Middlebury, this Saturday at home in Chandler Gym. The game will take place at 3pm.
