Ashland, VA - Williams men's basketball
suffered its first loss of the season tonight, falling to No. 4
Randolph Macon in the final of the Yellow Jacket's Christmas
Classic, 79-74. The loss drops the No. 10 Ephs to 9-1.
Williams controlled the first half, leading 39-31 after the first
20 minutes. The game remained tight through the first six minutes
before the Ephs took an 17-9 lead with 13:19 to go in the half, but
the Jackets were able to tie the game back up at 19-19 with 10:10
remaining, and eventually took the lead, 25-24, with 6:27 left. RMC
led by two, 31-29, with 2:59 to go before Williams went on a 10-0
run to end the half.
Point guards James Wang and Nate Robertson led the way for the
Ephs in the first, scoring 13 and 10 points and grabbing 6 and 2
rebounds, respectively. Troy Whittington keyed the Williams
defense, which held RMC to 34% shooting on the half, with 3 blocks.
The team's strong shooting keyed their 8-point half-time lead, as
the team shot 53% from the field in the half, going 16-30. However,
the Ephs hit only 14% percent of its threes. The Ephs also turned
the ball over 7 times.
As the second half began, it seemed as though the Ephs would walk
away from the game with the victory, as the team opened a 16-point
lead with 15:46 to go on a Whittington dunk. However, the Jackets
slowly chipped away at the Eph lead before going ahead with 5:16 to
go, 61-60. Williams continued to battle RMC down the stretch, but
the Jackets took the lead for good with just over three minutes
remaining and eventually claimed the victory, 79-74.
Wang had an equally strong second half, scoring 12 more second
half points and ending with a 25-point, 8-rebound, 3-assist stat
line. Co-captain Joe Geoghegan had a double-double, grabbing 12
rebounds and scoring 14 points. Wang and Geoghegan were named to
the All-Tournament Team. Robertson ended the game with 14 points,
while co-captain and leading scorer Blake Schultz scored 10 points
on 3-10 shooting and grabbed five boards.
As a team, the Ephs shot 40% from the field in the second half and
47% for the game; the challenge, though, was not on the offensive
end, as RMC typically holds teams to 36% shooting for the game.
Instead, the Ephs had trouble holding back the Jackets in the
second half, as RMC shot 48% from the field and went 17-20 from the
from the free-throw line. RMC also scored 16 points on 13 Williams
turnovers for the game and also picked up 12 second chance
points.
Head coach Mike Maker was disappointed that the team lost but was
pleased with his team's performance overall. "I thought we went toe
to toe with the No. 4 team in the country on their home court,"
said Maker. "I am encouraged by our performance and disappointed
that we did not get the result we all wanted, but I am confident
that this experience will serve us well in conference play and in
our upcoming tournament at home."
Maker attribute the team's loss to its struggles on the defensive
end. "We got everything we needed [offensively]," said Maker. "We
scored 74 points on the road against the No. 4 team in the country
that is very
talented and very well coached. We had a difficult time in the
second half getting the necessary defensive stops. We fouled too
much, and they had too many second chance points. We need to have
the mental toughness and collective resolve to be able to guard
down the stretch, particularly on the road, and we didn't do that.
We didn't finish what could have been a sweet victory against a
very good basketball team and it stings, it's disappointing, but I
am encouraged by what I saw and I am sure it will serve us
well."
The coach complimented the play of Wang, Robertson, and Geoghegan,
but spoke more about how the team came together over the trip.
"It's a team game, and while I am proud of some of the individual
efforts, this was an outstanding trip for us from a chemistry
standpoint and from a cultural standpoint and certainly in terms of
the competition saw," he said. "We are a better team than we were
four days ago, and we are disappointed by the result, but we are
looking forward to playing again in front of our home crowd in our
upcoming tournament."
The Ephs will host the Purple and Gold Invitational on Sunday and
Monday; the team takes on Southern Maine to open the tournament at
5 p.m.
