Williams Men’s Basketball Shoot Down Middlebury 79-64
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Middlebury, Conn.— Williams men’s basketball validated its no. 4 national ranking on Saturday, dropping no. 8 Middlebury 79-64 on the road Saturday to go to 19-1 on the season and 5-0 in the NESCAC; the team, which has won 10 straight overall and five straight on the road, now stands tied for first place in the NESCAC with Colby. The Williams victory breaks Middlebury’s three-game win streak against the Ephs and makes the all-time series 74-21 in favor of Williams.
The Ephs, who led the entire game, claimed the victory behind equally stellar offense and defense, shooting 54 percent from the field for the game while holding the Panthers to only 36 percent. Williams also made 50 percent of its threes compared to 29 percent for Middlebury. The Ephs’ offensive display is even more impressive in light of the fact that the Panthers were ranked first in field-goal-percentage defense in the country coming into the game. The Ephs and Panthers fought to a near draw on the boards, with the Panthers out-rebounding the Ephs 38-37, though the Panthers did grab 15 offensive boards to the Ephs’ six. Both teams struggled with turnovers, as Williams gave the ball away 17 times and Middlebury turned it over 14 times.
The familiar trio of James Wang, Blake Schultz and Troy Whittington led the way for the Ephs in the game, combining for 66 of the Ephs’ 79 points. Wang, who was often guarded by reigning NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year Tim Edwards, scored 24 points on 9-16 shooting in a game-high 36 minutes. Schultz logged 34 minutes despite foul trouble and scored a game-high 25 points, knocking down all five of his three-point attempts and going 8-13 from the field overall while also snagging six rebounds. Whittington, who also battled foul trouble, matched up 6'10" Andrew Locke, the leading shot blocker in the NESCAC, and scored 17 points on 8-9 shooting in only 20 minutes of play while also snagging five rebounds and blocking three shots.
Eph head coach Mike Maker was very impressed with the way the trio played.
"Schultz, Wang and Whittington on the interior.. made plays," said Maker. “[Middlebury] is very good at taking you out of what you want to do offensively, but we had space to play, and our players made plays in space against a very aggressive and tough minded basketball team."
Jamal Davis scored 17 and Nolan Thompson scored 14 for Middlebury, which was missing leading scorer Ryan Sharry. Davis and Thompson were the only two Panthers in double digits. Edwards ended the day with an impressive line of eight points, eight rebounds, and 10 assists, while Locke did not have his usual impact on the game, blocking only two shots and grabbing only four rebounds for the game.
The Ephs took a lead in the early going that they would never relinquish, jumping out to a 9-3 lead 4:31 into the game, with Wang, Shultz,and Whittington scoring all nine points. The game then went back and fourth for several minutes; with the score 15-12 with 8:48 remaining the half, the Ephs went on a 7-0 run behind five points from Schultz to make the score 22-12.
The Eph lead would go as high as 13, and hovered around 10 until two consecutive three-pointers by the Panthers made the score 30-25 with 1:57 to play. Williams called a timeout in response to the 5-0 Middlebury run, and Schultz found Joe Geoghegan out of the timeout for a dunk. Thompson was then able to hit a jumper on the final Panther possession of the half to make the score 32-27; Wang then hit a pull-up three with three seconds remaining to make the score 35-27 in favor of the Ephs headed into the break.
Williams shot 52 percent from the field in the first half while holding Middlebury to only 33 percent shooting. The Panthers were able to stay in the game by scoring 14 points off the Ephs’ 10 turnovers and by holding the Ephs to only eight points off of nine turnovers of the Panthers’ own.
Schultz led the way for the Ephs in the first half, scoring 14 points on 5-6 shooting. Wang added 11 for the Ephs, while Whittington and Geoghegan were the only other two Williams players to score in the half, with six and four points, respectively. No Panther scored in double digits in the first half.
Building on the momentum from Wang’s three, Williams opened the half on an 8-2 run to make the score 43-29 only 2:37 into the half. However, Middlebury would not give up without a fight on its home floor. The Panthers went on a 5-0 run in response, then traded baskets with the Ephs for several minutes; with 11:51 to play, Williams led 53-43. Then the Panthers really turned on the heat. Middlebury scored nine-straight points over the next 2:42, as a Thompson three made the score 53-52 with 9:09 to play.
However, the Ephs were up to the challenge; William Hardy knocked down his only field goal of the game on the very next possession, sparking a 15-5 Eph run that put the Ephs up 68-57 with 3:24 to play that Schultz capped with his fifth three-pointer of the game. It looked as though Middlebury might be able to come back when Thompson hit a jumper 14 seconds later, but a Whittington dunk off a Wang assist on the next Eph possession put the game out of reach for good. The Ephs stretched their lead with good foul shooting and led by as many as 17 before walking away from Middletown with the 79-64 victory.
"We have an experienced basketball team, and we have had teams make runs at us all year long," said Maker.
"We didn’t panic and we didn’t become unsettled."
The Ephs went 15-27 from the field in the second half (56 percent) while the Panthers made only 13 of their 35 field goal attempts (37 percent). Wang led the Eph offense the second twenty minutes, going 5-6 from the field and 4-4 from the line to score 14 second-half points and finish with 24.
Whittington and Schultz both scored 11 in the second half, with Whittington playing the final 7:39 of the game with four fouls. Hardy finished the game with four points and three rebounds, with all four points coming in the final 20 minutes. Geoghegan came up huge on the boards for the Ephs, pulling down a team-leading nine rebounds in 21 minutes while also scoring five points for the game; Harlan Dodson and Nate Robertson were the only other two Ephs to score on the game, with three points and one point, respectively.
"It was our fifth straight road victory and hard fought contest against a very disciplined, defensive-minded team," said Maker.
"I thought we shot a high percentage against the nation’s stingiest defense; although they forced us into more turnovers than we are accustomed to, we hit the big shots when we needed them. To win on road against defending NESCAC champions is great; I am very happy with the performance, and I think that five consecutive road wins shows our team’s toughness and resolve."
The Ephs now await two home games next weekend, first against Colby at 8 p.m. on Friday, then against Bowdoin at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Colby moved to 5-0 in the conference today with a victory over Amherst today, while Bowdoin stands at 3-2 after defeats of Amherst Friday and Trinity on Saturday.
