Amherst, MASS.— Williams (15-9, 4-6 NESCAC) faced a similar challenge to last night's battle today against a physical Amherst (13-11, 4-6 NESCAC) squad. Again, the Ephs faced challenges generating offense through the middle of the game, allowing Amherst to build a sizable lead that Williams was unable to come back against.
First year
Aidan Yates was able to find a second wind down the stretch, putting in four threes to try to keep the Ephs in the game, the Mammoths never faltered, continuing their aggressiveness and scoring time after time in the paint.
Keeping Williams at bay, Amherst grew their lead to over 20 points by the end of competition. The final score was 75-51.
Mammoth big men Will Scherer and Ryker Vance demonstrated the style that the Mammoths hoped to play, getting into the paint for a pair of high-percentage post looks.
Amherst's physicality and aggressiveness hurt them the last time, eventually leading to Scherer fouling out of the game and being kept to just 2 points. Today however, their aggressiveness opened up both the paint and the perimeter, leading to plenty of post entries for big man Ryker Vance (16pts) and outside looks for Mammoth guards.
Williams forwards
Brandon Roughley and
Hudson Hansen brought the score close again. Roughley had three layups in a row, and Hansen connected for two shots at the line. After Hansen's second free throw, the score was 12-10, Mammoths.
For the next eight minutes or so, the teams traded scoring stretches. Amherst had a 9-2 run, and Williams had a 6-2 run. Now at 23-18, the Ephs continued to play without signs of obvious nervousness.
It was after the next run that things started to get a little shaky. Amherst scored eight more before the 1st half buzzer, climbing up to 31 points, while Williams only added on 4. That made the score going into the 2nd half 31-22, eerily close to yesterday's 34-21.
For the first six-and-a-half minutes of the latter half, the Mammoths continued to pull away. Bobby Summers connected for a three and a layup. Will Scherer had a dunk. C.J. Mitchell rose up for a tough midrange, and Ryker Vance had a layup.
In the same amount of time,
Hudson Hansen scored 3, and
Alex Lee drove for a layup. Now it was 41-27. With Williams having yet to sink a three (0-5 through the first 26 ½ minutes), it would truly be an uphill battle to close a 14-point gap.
Still,
Aidan Yates gave it his best shot. On the very next trip down for the Ephs, Yates rose up confidently and splashed the three. The nerves that had been plaguing the Ephs seemed to fade, at least for Yates.
In the next five and a half minutes, Yates scored 12 to Amherst's 15. Despite making a number of tough looks, contested and at the end of the clock, Yates' efforts couldn't overcome the the confidence of the Mammoths, especially on their senior day.
A different Mammoth stepped up after each Yates triple. First it was C.J. Mitchell, with a step-back three of his own. Then Ryker Vance, with an and-one layup and dunk. Next Bobby Summers for three, and finally Mitchell again.
After Yates' fourth three, the Ephs scored another quick three at the line, but still there were fifteen points to score in five minutes, with the score at 62-47. It wasn't meant to be today. The teams finished out the game, and the final score stood at 75-51.
Yates led the Ephs with 17 points.
Brandon Roughley had 11 points and 3 assists. On the Mammoths' side, Ryker Vance had an 18-point, 10-board double-double, and C.J. Michell had 16 points and 3 assists. Mark Gerraud had 10 points and 6 rebounds, and Bobby Summers had 10 and 4.
Eph head coach
Kevin App shared that there was no secret to the loss this afternoon: "They played better, we played worse. This is a hard road trip. We knew it was gonna be tough, knew they were gonna be ready to go, to guarantee a spot in the NESCAC Tournament on their senior night."
In terms of where things went wrong, App said, "You have to weather those emotions. I thought we had a couple times during the first half where we could have weathered some storms, made some free throws, but there were some live ball turnovers, and we let the game get away from us a little too much. Then, they started rolling, playing with confidence and we started thinking too much. That's not when we're at our best."
He continued, talking about when the team is at their best, and pointing to
Aidan Yates' stretch in the second half as a good example. "We have certain habits that come out when we're not playing with a lot of confidence. When we're seeing those, we're trying to remind guys to keep it simple, and what their strengths are.
"Guys like Aidan and Declan, when they're not thinking 'shot' when they catch it, we're not playing at our best," App claimed. "There's another coach I've heard say, 'that's their superpower, so don't forget it.' I think Aiden came out and started thinking 'shot' when he got the ball, and it's amazing how good he is— how good we all are— when we all think, 'do what I'm best at.'"
Looking forward to the tournament, he said: "We have 24 games in the books. We got 15 of them, and had tough, hard lessons in nine of them. Now, we'll apply what we know in the playoffs and see what happens."
The Ephs will find out tomorrow who they play in the first round of the NESCAC tournament. That game will take place next Saturday, the 22nd, on the court of the Ephs' opponent.
