TROY, NY – The Williams men's basketball team defeated the RPI Red Hawks (2-3) tonight 105-60. With the win, the Ephs stay perfect at 5-0 to start the year.

Williams went up early and never looked back.  The Ephs took the early 10-0 lead before the Red Hawks were able to finish from behind the arc with a bucket from Brendan Farley.  The Ephs opened with a long ball apiece from James Klemm and Taylor Epley as well as a lay-up from Epley off of a pretty pass from Daniel Wohl and a bucket inside from Nate Robertson.

Following the Red Hawks' hoop from Farley, the Ephs went on a 15-5 run – the highlights of which were a beautiful dunk by Epley that was assisted by Robertson and another by Sean Hoffmann that was assisted by Matt McCreary.

The Ephs were strong on the defensive end of the floor as well as they held the Red Hawks without a field goal for over four minutes.  Nick Keefe finally ended the drought for RPI with a pretty jumper with 3:09 left to play in the first.  The Ephs continued to push in their offensive zone, and with their tough play at both ends of the floor, they entered the locker room with the 67-32 lead.

To start the second half, the two teams traded three pointers – Klemm sunk two pretty ones for the Ephs and Farley responded with two for the Red Hawks.  The Ephs, however, then responded with a 14-2 run that spanned just over four minutes.  The run consisted of a pair of free throws each from Epley, Michael Mayer, and Ryan Kilcullen, a lay-up apiece from Mayer and Robertson, a jumper from Epley and another beautiful dunk from Sean Hoffmann.  The run finally ended with a free throw from Jesus Cardenas, but the Ephs held RPI without a field goal for another two minutes – a drought ended with a lay-up from Daniel Martin.

Despite a hard fought effort from RPI on both ends of the floor, the Ephs' explosive offense proved overwhelming as they walked off the court with the victory.

Leading the way tonight for the Ephs was Epley with 26 points. Mayer posted a double double with 12 points and 13 rebounds – including six on the offensive end. Klemm, Hoffmann, and Kilcullen were all in double digits as well with 14, 12, and 11 points respectively. Klemm was five-for-six from the field on the night. Twelve of the 13 Ephs who played today scored.  No Red Hawk was in double digits this evening, but Farley led the way with nine points.  The Ephs shot 58% from the field on the night and held RPI to just 26% from the floor.

Said Coach Mike Maker after the game about the Ephs' offense, "We shot 58% from the field.  RPI presses and traps all over the court, so we shot a lot of uncontested layups due to our willingness to share the ball. As a result, we scored 67 points in the first half, shot a high percentage from the floor – almost 60%, and had five guys in double digits. I'm very pleased with our unselfishness, our effort, and our spirit."

Added Maker, "The strength of the team is our team chemistry.  We have a lot of guys on our roster that have a lot of talent.  They cheer for each other. Anytime we can get the kind of start we got tonight that affords us the opportunity to play our underclassmen meaningful minutes is a bonus for our basketball team."

On Epley's play, Maker said, "Taylor is very talented and can really score in a variety of ways. Tonight he showed why I think he's one of the more talented players in the NESCAC."

Maker also commented on the Ephs' stellar defense: "Our defense continues to be a bright spot for our team.  I think our guys take a lot of pride in getting defensive stops and having the discipline to not foul and hold teams to low percentages from the field.  If we can continue to do that defensively, it's going to make us a better team."

The Ephs return to the court Saturday to take on Stevens at home.  Tip-off is set for 5:00 PM.