Williamstown, MA - Williams men’s basketball picked up another victory tonight, defeating the Springfield Pride, 85-61, on the strength of good defense throughout and a phenomenal offensive display in the second half. Co-captain Blake Schultz led the Ephs in scoring for the fourth consecutive game with 21 points, Troy Whittington had 9 points and 9 boards, Alex Rubin tied his season-high with 12 points and Joe Geoghegan added 10 rebounds for his fourth double-digit rebound game of the season as the team cruised to its eighth straight win.
It was not always clear that Williams would win going away, as the Pride more than stuck with Ephs for the entire first half. Playing in a slow, half court style dictated by the Pride, Williams didn’t have a lead until more than four minutes had passed in the half, and the game remained back and forth throughout the first 20 minutes.
With five minutes remaining and Springfield leading, 25-22, Schultz hit a three to tie the game, starting an 11-2 Eph run to end the half. Whittington made the lead 33-25 with 42 seconds to go on a monstrous dunk over two members of the Pride before Springfield scored on its last possession to enter half time down six, 33-27.
The first half was not the Ephs’ best in many ways. While the Ephs’ defense had not been perfect in the first half, it had more than done its job, holding the pride to 38% shooting. However, Springfield’s defense held Williams to only 40% shooting as they kept the Ephs from scoring from inside the three-point arc; an amazing eight of Williams’ 10 first-half field goals came on threes. It was only the team’s third half this year that they had scored fewer than 35 points.
Head coach Mike Maker felt the team didn’t could have been better on both ends of the court in the first 20 minutes. “I thought we needed more discipline defensively, the mental and physical toughness and the concentration to guard for longer periods of time without fouling,” he said. “[However], it was our inefficiency and impatience on offense was the reason the score was [close].”
The team stepped up its game in the second half, dictating the pace more and shooting significantly better. Springfield scored four quick points to open the half, and it seemed as though the second 20 minutes might be similar to the first. The game changed, though, when freshman guard Nate Robertson stepped into the game less than two minutes into the half. Robertson led the way with 7 points and 2 assists in the next five minutes as the Ephs opened up a 10 point lead with 13:57 remaining in the game.
“Nate provided a spark off the bench for us when it was needed,” said Maker. “He can get to the basket if he doesn’t over think things, he’s talented, and he’s unselfish to a fault because he has great vision. He attacked today, looked for his own, we got a little cushion, then we started playing more freely within our structure. “
After their first double-digit lead, Williams did not look back. The team led, 62-41, before the 10 minute mark, and led by as many as 27 before the game ended at its final tally of 85-61.
Williams’ offensive display in the second half was a stark contrast to the first. As its defense stood firm, holding the Pride to 39% shooting in the half, the team shot an astounding 73% from the field in the half and scored both inside and out, making eight of 12 threes and 11 of 14 two point shots.
Robertson ended the game with 9 points and 2 assists, and James Wang scored 11 and picked up 4 assists and 4 boards for the Ephs.
“We haven’t been in very many close games, so this was good for us,” said Maker. “I thought in the second half we really came out with the discipline, and attention where we didn’t foul and we guarded for a long period of time, and we were thus able to get stops and get out and run.
“It is difficult to have rhythm offensively when you are playing a team that likes to use most of the shot clock, and we’re a team that likes to have more possessions; since we don’t press, its hard to control that,” he continued. “We have to learn to win in a variety of ways, and I thought we did that today. I thought we showed great resolve defensively, and toughness by not fouling and controlling the glass and offensively I thought we got it going in the second half.”
Maker felt the team would learn from tonight’s experience. “[Again], we have to learn to win different ways,” he said. “We’ve been averaging in 90s for scoring, but I told the guys before the game that we might only score in the 60s or 70s because of how they play. This was a good test for us against a tough minded well disciplined team and I am very happy with the victory and the direction we’re headed going into the holiday.”
The team will have a two-week break for finals and the holidays before heading down to Washington, DC to take on Elmira in the Randolph-Macon Christmas Classic on Dec. 29.
