Williamstown, MASS.— The first half started out tough for Williams (9-3). Like New Paltz and Wesleyan, Springfield (4-6) came out with physicality and intensity on the defensive end.
Alex Lee scored the game's first points, when he was left open at the elbow for a 13-footer.
However, after Lee's jumper, Springfield put on the clamps, keeping the Ephs scoreless for the next five minutes. The Pride attacked the rim, with Jarron Flynn leading the charge on the break.
Xoren Livingston scored with an elbow jumper of his own, and Pride big man Curtiss Blische went reverse for two.
After this scoring barrage, the Ephs seemed a little shaken up. "I thought we were playing hard," said Eph head coach
Kevin App, "but we just weren't playing super smart, in terms of remembering who we were guarding and what we can do or can't do when we're guarding those people. To their credit, they came out and they're really good, we know Flynn well from his time at Conn. [College], and he's as good a driver and finisher as there is."
Fighting back,
Brandon Roughley got things going for the Ephs. Off an in bounds play, he drove baseline and laid it up and in. Josh Hartley got in the paint for two layups, and only seven minutes into the game the Pride were up by double digits, 14-4. For the next seven minutes, the teams went on an even run, both netting 13 points.
The Ephs didn't hesitate for long, with
Alex Lee providing the offensive push Williams started fighting back. He scored 10 of the Ephs' 13 in this stretch, twice from three, two more at the line, and once in the paint. Josiah Evely was Lee's counterpart on the Pride squad, sinking two key threes back-to-back to keep Springfield ahead.
In the last five minutes of the half, the Ephs really found their stride, outscoring the Pride 16-11. Five Ephs got involved in these last few minutes—
Brandon Roughley,
Jackson Rein,
Hudson Hansen,
Aidan Yates, and
Alex Lee. Roughley and Rein made key bonus shots to keep the Ephs trending upwards.
At the halfway point, it was 38-33 Springfield, and the Ephs had cut the lead from 12 to 5. The Pride shot 67% from the floor in the first half, and 3-4 from deep. What the Ephs were able to take back in spite of their opponent's efficiency was a sight to see.
Despite the first half's competitiveness, the second half was all Williams.
Alex Lee got on the board first for the Ephs, pulling up off a
Hudson Hansen handoff for two.
Noah Dinkins scored the next one, putting his shot off the glass after working in the post.
Sammy Cooley drove left and finished through a hard foul, putting the Ephs in the lead for the first time since Lee's bucket at the beginning of the first half.
The rest of the half was a 27-11 Williams run. A trio of three pointers from
Aidan Yates (1) and
Alex Lee (2), swung the game markedly in favor of the Ephs.
Brandon Roughley and
Evan Glatzer added four more in the pick-and-roll. An and-one layup for Lee that netted him his 25th point, tying his career-high, all but sealed the deal for the purple and gold.
The game finished as a 67-49 blowout. The Ephs certainly played well on the offensive end, but it was their dedication on the defensive end that gave them the win so soundly. Unlike the Pride's near 70% FG in the first, Springfield was kept to just 20% (4-20) in the second half, only scoring 11 in the period when adding on free throws.
Alex Lee explained the changes the team made at halftime. "We were just trying to sit on their dominant hand," he said. "In the first half we felt like we weren't really doing a good job with that, and our help side, in our gaps, we weren't really showing bodies, so we just tried to show bodies and help, and then the guy on the ball just sat on the dominant hand."
Though it sounds simple after the fact, the squad was playing some of the best defense they've played all year. The Ephs usually keep their opponents to 37% from the floor, so 20% is something that coach App and the team is proud of.
"I thought we just came out smarter in the second half," said App. "We wore them down with our depth a little bit, and held them to four field goals in the second half. I'm proud of the turn around, and proud of our guys sticking with it."
Remarking again on the team's unsteadiness in response to Springfield's physical attack, App added: "I think part of the learning curve is, you're gonna take a team's best in those first five minutes. One's being ready for it, and I think at times we haven't always been ready for it, but it's also not making it more than it is and challenging teams to do it for 40 minutes— not letting them take us out of what we want to do, whether that's defense or misses and makes."
"These first twelve games are about learning as much as you can," he said, continuing, "and seeing as many situations as you can. We keep adding bodies, so we're still trying to figure out those rotations and when certain groups should be on the floor together, and I think that's coming more and more into focus."
Alex Lee led all scorers with 25 today, and like in the Ephs' game against Kenyon, he played a pivotal role in delivering Williams a win.
"Alex is doing a better and better job at seizing those moments, and he's playing with an incredible amount of confidence right now, so, I'm really just proud of him," said App. "Every game when the last few plays haven't gone well for us, it's 'A Lee, make something happen,' and I think he's been doing that, obviously with his shot, but also, with his play making and passing as well."
"Coach App has put a lot of trust in me," said Lee after the game, noting the freedom he's given in the Ephs' system: "We don't like to shoot like a lot of midrange shots, [Coach App] is not a huge fan of that, but he lets me do my thing, and play my game the way I want to play. When I sense that it's kind of that time to get going, I just trust my game and try to do what I think is going to get us the best shot, whatever the case may be, every play."
The Ephs play next on Friday, in a rematch against Wesleyan. This time, the game is away at Wesleyan, at 7pm in Middletown, CT.
