WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS.— With eight minutes to play, Williams (11-7, 1-4 NESCAC) had a ten-point lead, 56-46. The Ephs had led the Middlebury Panthers (9-9, 1-4 NESCAC) since 17:00 in the first half. If the Panthers were going to show some fight, they would have to do it soon.
Guard Tristan Joseph was the first to take up the challenge, receiving the ball from a driving Evan Flaks and exploiting the defensive breakdown to score from distance. Henry Morrison struck next, getting a pass from Joseph on the break to cut the gap to 5.
Jackson Rein got fouled on the other side, and made 1-of-2. Panthers big man David Brennan resumed the Middlebury run, bodying into the paint and scoring off the glass.
Then, the Panthers really started to pull away. They doubled
Alex Lee, stole the ball, and Evan Flaks took it to the other end for a layup and the foul.
The Ephs just couldn't get a break. A surprising deflection call gave the ball back to Middlebury almost right after Flaks' layup and on Williams' next offensive possession they got a good look at three but it didn't fall.
Middlebury kept pushing, and a jumper from Flaks finally gave them the lead. It was a true scoring run. While in the first half it felt like they couldn't make a shot, now it felt like they couldn't miss.
Center Jackson McKersie, who had before today taken only
two three pointers in his college career (0-2), caught Flaks' pass on the next trip down and let it fly, swishing it from the top of the key.
After this barrage of scoring,
Hudson Hansen, who led scorers today and notched a 25pt career high, was the first Eph to respond. He caught the ball on an inbound pass and cut across the middle, laying it up and in.
With the score at 61-59 Middlebury, the Panthers weren't content to end their run with a two point lead. Tristan Joseph was fouled on a three point attempt and made all three, then Edward Witherington got fouled driving and made both of his.
Now, with three and a half tminutes to play and facing a 7 point deficit, the Ephs were in the unenviable possession their opponents had escaped. Still, after Wednesday's overtime win and the scores of games last year that came down to the wire, the Ephs weren't daunted.
Hansen started things off strong for Williams, finishing with a short hook through the foul to net his 25th point.
After this bucket, Hansen said he was just thinking about "taking it one play at a time. I mean, we got up there, got down, and we had to stay consistent, so one play at time, I got a bucket, and now it was just trying to get a defensive stop." And they did. The Ephs forced a miss and it was back to the races. For the next score,
Justin Belcher drove left, and as he jumped both Panthers in the paint jumped too. A dime to the waiting
Brandon Roughley gave the Ephs another two.
On the defensive end, the Ephs got stop after stop. With an offensive board, Middlebury leading scorer Sam Stevens got two tries at three, but couldn't connect on either one.
After a timeout, the ball ended up with
Hudson Hansen in the midpost. He made the right read and dumped to the diving
Justin Belcher for a layup and-one. Now the Ephs led, 67-66.
The Panthers took a timeout themselves, and Evan Flaks imitated Belcher's move from earlier, driving and making the short pass to David Brennan to recapture the lead.
The Ephs got a chance on the other end of the ball, but couldn't score. Now, they had to get a stop for one more chance to take back the lead. Unintentionally,
Brandon Roughley fouled David Brennan, however, the pressure seemed to be too much for Brennan and he missed both double-bonus shots.
Now, it was time for the Ephs to respond. Eph head coach
Kevin App took a time out. Then the ball went in to
Declan Porter, who sidestepped and launched a three… that was just off right. Thankfully, the ball went out off a Middlebury player and the Ephs got another shot. On the second chance, the ball ended up in the hands of
Alex Lee on the right wing. He rose up and shot with confidence, and when his shot swished through the net the crowd erupted.
With six seconds left, the Ephs thought they had this one in the bag, but Tristan Joseph had other plans. A three could win it for the Panthers, and that's what Joseph went for. Just before the buzzer went off, he let it fly, and when
his shot sank, the Middlebury fans in attendance made almost as much noise as the home fans had just seconds before.
It was a heartbreaking way for things to end for the Ephs, after Lee's picture perfect shot, but all the Ephs could do was line up for handshakes.
"I'm sure we didn't do everything right, but I'm sure we did a lot good at times, and I'm proud of our guys," said Eph head coach
Kevin App after the game. "We won four games where they missed the last shot last year and today we lost it. It's basketball. It can be awesome and cruel and wonderful and beautiful and awful. They're a great program, as we are, and winning's really hard."
Just like Wednesday, today's game went to the very end, an experience that the team had plenty of experience with last year. "Our veterans have been through everything, so I think they're used to it, and I think you saw them step up and make some plays," App said. "For our younger guys, the more of these experiences the better. You hope to be on the positive end more than the negative."
"Like I've said, you can do anything in practice, but that's nothing until you feel it and live it and have to play with that competitive spirit to not be afraid to lose. I'm proud of that. We made play after play after play, and I think Jeff, if they had lost, would have been proud of his team for making a play, and they just happened to make the last one," he concluded, referring to Joseph's miraculous buzzer beater.
Hansen reflected after the game too, noting of his career-high, "I think it's cool looking forward that I can still be aggressive and keep scoring, but, of course I wish it ended with a W."
He continued, looking forward to the rest of NESCAC play: "It's one game at a time. We have to win them all now, really, so it's just one game at a time. We're right there, we're so close, we just can't close out right now, and once we start to do that, I think our team can do anything."
The Ephs play next at SUNY Cobleskill, next Tuesday at 7pm in Cobleskill, NY.
