WATERVILLE, ME – The Williams men's basketball team narrowly defeated Colby (6-14, 2-5 NESCAC) tonight 64-61.  With the win, the Ephs (19-2, 7-0) stay tied atop the NESCAC standings with Amherst.

The Ephs and Mules started off evenly matched, but the Ephs looked like they were going to pull away with just under ten minutes to play in the opening frame. After Michael Longinoff scored for the Mules to cut the Ephs' lead to two, Michael Mayer responded with a finish inside to make it 23-19. On the next Eph possession, Taylor Epley hit a long ball to push the lead to seven, but the Ephs were unable to capitalize on the momentum.

The Mules came bounding back with a 12-0 run that started with a jumper and pair of three-pointers from Patrick Stewart. Danny Chase then finished a lay-up to make it 29-26, and Sam Willson ended the run with a jumper. Ryan Kilcullen finally ended the drought for the Ephs when he went 1-for-2 from the charity stripe with 2:53 left to play. The rest of the half passed with the two teams trading buckets, and the Mules went into the break up 38-35.

Out of the locker rooms, both teams struggled finding the hoop. Daniel Wohl scored the first field goal of the second half almost five minutes in. Neither team was able to pull away, and the game came down to the final several minutes.

With 3:54 on the clock, Connor O'Neil finished in the paint for the Mules to cut the Eph lead to 56-54. Nate Robertson responded with a lay-up for the Ephs to push the lead to four. Willson then hit a jumper, but Epley hit a lay-up to keep the Eph lead. Colby, however, got four straight points from O'Neil and Stewart to tie the game up at 60 with 47 seconds left to play. Epley hit a huge lay-up to give the Ephs the lead they needed with 29 seconds on the clock.  After a Mayer foul, however, Stewart went to the line for Colby with five seconds left.  He made the first free throw, but after an icing timeout called by Williams, he missed the second.  Forced to send the Ephs to the line in an attempt to get the ball back, Colby fouled Wohl. The end of the game pressure did not seem to faze him as he hit both free throws. O'Neil missed a desperation three for the Mules, and the Ephs walked off the court with the hard-fought victory.

Leading the way tonight for the Ephs was Epley with 19.  Wohl put up 17 on 6-for-8 shooting, and Mayer finished with a double-double with ten points and ten rebounds. The Ephs shot 44.8% from the field.

Stewart posted a double-double for the Mules with 13 points and ten rebounds. Willson added 12 for Colby, and Ryan Jann ten to round out the double-digits club. The Mules shot 45.5% from the field.

The Ephs return to the court tomorrow at Bowdoin. Game time is set for 2:00 PM.