Ephs fall short, 65-54, at No. 23 Wesleyan

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. - The Ephs took a 65-54 road loss against No. 23 Wesleyan on Saturday afternoon. Both teams' defenses shined in a gritty, tightly contested matchup.
 
Jackson Rein got the offense heated up early  for the Ephs, accounting for their first 7 points with a straight-on three and then consecutive nice finishes inside to put the team ahead 7-4.
 
The three-ball proved friendly to Williams early in the first half. After Rein's hot start, Aidan Yates drained a triple on the left wing to put Williams ahead 10-7, and then Rein hit another wing three to make it 13-9. Matt DeVine joined the fun with a corner splash to give Williams a 16-12 advantage with 13 minutes to play in the first half.
 
The defense clamped down for much of the rest of the half, with the Cardinals finding slightly more offensive success and taking a 27-21 lead with 3:28 to go.
 
But the Ephs held the Cardinals scoreless for the remainder of the first half. And Dylan Shepherd provided a nice spark in the final few first-half minutes with a wing triple and then a driving left-handed layup right before the buzzer, drawing the score to 27-26 at the break.
 
Williams had a slight edge in several key statistical categories in the break, including field goal percentage (35% to 33%), three-point percentage (42% to 22%) and rebounds (22 to 18). Rein led the Ephs with 12 points and 7 boards at intermission.
 
Defense continued to rule the second half. Wesleyan got out to a 34-28 lead in the first three minutes, then the Ephs held the Cardinals to no points for the next four minutes.
 
In that span, Yates made a driving layup, then Justin Belcher raced up court and dished to DeVine, who knocked down the right-wing three to cut the Ephs' deficit back to one with 13:37 to play.
 
Both teams continued to find points hard to come by in the middle of the second half. Wesleyan's lead see-sawed between five and seven points for six minutes, before EJ Sommers drained two free throws and Yates backdoor cut for a layup to reduce the Williams deficit to 47-44 with just over four minutes to go in the game.
 
That was the closest Williams would get, as Wesleyan ripped off an 11-2 run over the next two-plus minutes to take a 58-46 lead.
 
With their backs against the wall, the Ephs continued to fight. Yates drained a deep, contested right-wing three to cut the gap to 58-49 with 1:50 to go, and then Wesleyan missed the front end of their one-and-one. DeVine got the rebound, found his point guard Onyeraluobu Chibuogwu, and Chibuogwu raced up the floor before dishing the ball back to DeVine, who drilled a very deep three to make the score 58-52 and prompt a Wesleyan timeout with 1:25 to play.
 
The comeback effort would run out of steam after that, however, as Wesleyan iced the game with free throws to take a 65-54 win and improve to 5-2 on the season.
 
Rein and Yates led the Ephs offensively, with 14 points apiece. DeVine played well off the bench, finishing with 13 points and three made 3-pointers.
 
The Ephs get an extended break before their next game, which will come on Dec. 19 against Knox College.