Williams menβs basketball team loss to Bantams of Trinity College 83-73Williams Sports Info
09:24AM / Tuesday, February 17, 2009
HARTFORD, CT — Less than twenty-four hours after a huge win over archrival Amherst, the Williams men’s basketball team (16-8, 6-3) fell to the Bantams of Trinity College (9-14, 4-5) by a score of 83-73. Despite the loss, the Ephs earned the right to host a first-round game in next week’s NESCAC tournament. Williams will face off against Bates in a 3 o’clock start next Saturday at the Ephs’ Chandler Gymnasium.
“Obviously we’re never happy to lose,” said Eph coach Mike Maker, “but from a big picture standpoint we’re certainly excited about earning the right to host a game next weekend.”
It was senior day for the Bantams, and no one celebrated it more than Trinity senior Aaron Westbrooks. The 6’4” guard/forward from Dublin led all scorers with 21 points on 6 of 11 from the field and 8 of 10 from the free throw line. He also recorded a team-high four steals.
Trinity put five players in double figures despite shooting just 38% from the field for the game. The Bantams were no doubt aided by a dismal 20 Eph turnovers.
“It was a lot of things, you know,” said Maker regarding the game, “We just didn’t play solid basketball, we didn’t take care of the ball, we didn’t defend. We were late on our rotations defensively, we weren’t crisp in our offense, we didn’t have the energy we needed. We weren’t in sync and you have to give Trinity credit for that.”
For Williams it was Blake Schultz (Atherton, CA) leading the way with 18 points on 4 of 8 from beyond the arc. Harlan Dodson (Nashville, TN) chipped in with 14 on 4 of 7 from long range, but the Ephs were out scored at the free throw line a whopping 35 to 11, although much of the free throws for the Bantams came later in the game when the Ephs were forced to foul.
“We’ve done a good job all year in handling adversity but we’ve yet to prove that we can have a big win one night and handle that the next day,” said Maker, referring to the Ephs emotional win over Amherst last night.
The Ephs finish up the regular season with a 6-3 conference record, good for a 3 seed in next weekend’s tournament. If the Ephs on Saturday they’ll go on to face the winner of 7 seed Trinity and 2 seed Amherst’s game being played in Amherst the same day. The Ephs, however, aren’t looking past their date with Bates one bit:
“Bates is a physical basketball team that guards very well and has good athleticism,” said Maker, “It’s going to be a challenging week but we’re looking forward to hosting in front of our fans.” |
