WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – The Williams men's basketball team defeated the Trinity Bantams (9-15, 2-8 NESCAC) tonight 68-47 in its regular season finale. The Ephs (21-3, 9-1 NESCAC) are waiting on the results from other games around the league to know the playoff seeding. Those will be posted later this evening.
While Trinity held the early lead, Williams quickly took control of the game. With the Ephs down 14-8, Michael Mayer hustled to keep the ball in play under the basket. He bounced the ball to Matt McCreary, who finished in the paint to cut the lead to four. The next time down the court, Mayer drove baseline to make it 14-12 with 11:17 on the clock. Out of a Bantam timeout, the Ephs forced a turnover, and a pretty pass inside from Taylor Epley and a finish from John Weinheimerresulted in a tie game.
Trinity, however, took back the lead on a baseline three pointer by Hart Gliedman. The Ephs responded with a steal by Matt McCreary that he took the length of the court for two. On the following Bantam possession, McCreary came up with a block, and Epley swooshed a three-pointer to give the Ephs their first lead since the game's opening basket.
A pair of free throws from George Papadeas and a pull-up jumper from the left elbow from Mickel Simpson gave Trinity back the lead with just over eight to play. After Nate Robertson went 2-for-2 from the line, Sean Hoffmann came up with a huge block to give the Ephs back the ball. On the resulting play, he came up with a monstrous dunk on a put-back opportunity to keep the Ephs in control.
Trinity kept fighting. Mick Distasio hit a three ball with a hand in his face and Rick Naylor finished a put back to force an Eph timeout with 5:37 left in the half and Trinity leading 26-23. Robertson responded with a drive to the hoop for the Ephs. A couple possessions later, Robertson came up with a steal. Epley drove to the hoop on the resulting play and was fouled. He converted the three-point opportunity to give the Ephs back the lead.
Following a Trinity jumper from Jaquann Starks, the Ephs ended the half on a 7-0 run. Robertson finished two lay-ups and was fouled on the second. He made the resulting free throw. Mayer hit a jump shot with just over a minute left in the half to send the Ephs into the locker room with the 35-28 lead.
Out of the break, Trinity quickly pulled within five, but McCreary swooshed a three-pointer from the top right part of the key. Gliedman went 2 –for-2 from the line and then stole the ball and took it the length of the court for two to cut the lead to 36-40 just under five minutes into the game. The Ephs responded with a pretty put back from Weinheimer, a pair of free throws from Robertson, and a lay-up from Epley to take a double-digit lead. The run gave the Ephs the momentum for the rest of the game, and they continued to add to their lead despite a hard-fought effort from the Bantams.
The Ephs had four players in double digits this evening. Robertson led the way with 19 points on 5-for-7 shooting; he was also 9-for-9 from the charity stripe. Epley added 16 and McCreary ten. Mayer posted a double-double with 13 points and ten rebounds. The Ephs were 46.0% from the floor on the night.
Papadeas was the only Bantam in double digits tonight with ten points. Trinity shot 34.7% from the field.
After the game, Coach Mike Maker talked about how proud he was of his team: "Our guys are champions. When you get knocked down against your rival and get back up the way we did today and go from a sell-out crowd to no one here, it says a lot about the character of our players and how special our program is. 21-3 and 9-1 in the league, we've had an unbelievable year. We need a day off to get healthy and prepare for whoever we're going to play."
Added Maker about Robertson, "I've said it many times. I think Nate Robertson has been our most valuable player for four years. His competitive spirit sets him apart from most players. He's got a fire in his belly. He wasn't pleased with the outcome of our last game, and I knew today he'd be ready. He led us. He carried us."
The Ephs will take the court again on Saturday for the first round of the NESCAC playoffs. Please check back for more information.
Going into playoffs, Maker said, "We won't do anything different. I just want to get healthy. I want a healthy team. When we're healthy, I think we can beat anybody. We're not going to change who we are [going into playoffs] after 21 wins."