West Massachusetts News

Williams Men's Basketball Finishes 2022 Stretch Undefeated With 85-47 Win Over Anna Maria

 The Williams College Ephs (11-0) made 14 three-pointers en route to an 85-47 win over the Anna Maria Amcats (1-9) in the second day of the Clark Holiday tournament to head into the new year undefeated. Eight of the 14 came from Declan Porter, who cashed in a career high eight shots from deep. The Ephs took a 30-point lead into halftime and continued — other than a seven-minute lapse — to play efficient offense with spectacular ball movement. In addition to Porter, three other Ephs scored in double figures. 

"I feel great," Eph head coach Kevin App said after the victory. "These back-to-back games coming out of break are always physically taxing and mentally difficult. After a gutsy win yesterday, we wanted to come out ready to go — and I thought our guys did that today. Anna Maria does a good job mixing up defenses, which challenges your decision making. It was great to get everyone in there and watch everyone make plays."
 
Spencer Spivy swished in a trey from the corner for the first Williams basket of the afternoon. Next, Brandon Roughley got involved with a signature rebound and put back off a missed jumper. Soon after, he made an assertive cut and finished a layup off of a beautiful find from Nate Karren. A deep ball from Cole Prowitt-Smith put the Ephs up 12-5 and forced a timeout from the Amcats 4:41 into the contest.
 
Hudson Hansen, following a big game yesterday, made his mark early with a two-handed jam. As the Ephs found themselves cooking on offense, Nate Karren made a three-pointer for a 21-7 lead.
 
In a sentence written frequently this season, Declan Porter made two consecutive shots from downtown to fire up and Williams bench and push the edge to 16 with 9:40 to play in the first half.
 
The Amcats began to ramp up their aggressiveness and double team each Eph player who received the ball; Spivy read it well, dishing the rock to Alex Lee who drained a three-pointer from the corner adjacent to the opposing bench. 
 
Ben McGraw saw his first action of the day late in the first half, and promptly sunk all three of his free throw attempts after drawing contact on a deep ball. 
 
Appearing in his second career game after overcoming injuries, Noah Dinkins also made an immediate impact off the bench. He first converted an eloquent layup off of a drive, followed it up with a smooth assist to Prowitt-Smith.
 
"The worst part of my job is that we can't play everybody as much as we want to," App said as he reflected on a day where all dressed Ephs saw minutes. "Everyone is working so hard everyday to make us better, and we hope to have those games where we can reward them."
 
The Ephs played to their strengths in the first half to secure a 48-18 advantage at the break. Williams shot 16-32 (50%) from the field and 9-20 (45%) from deep. Meanwhile, they held the Amcats to 8-30 (27%) and 1-9 (11%) from three-point land. 
 
Anna Maria scored 11 points in the first 3:30 of the second half on the back of a trio of three-pointers, but Porter hit two of his own from deep during the span to protect the Ephs' lead.
 
The offense, however, would then slow down for the Ephs as they scored just one point and no field goals over 6:27 of game clock. Spencer Spivy stopped the drought for the Ephs as he converted an and-one to put Williams up 66-39 with 9:43 to go. Unsurprisingly, Porter then hit another pair of three-pointers, before Alex Lee made a couple layups to push the lead back above 30.

In the final minutes, Dan Lee used some impressive cross-over dribbling to draw two fouls. His immaculate free throw form saw him hit a pair from the charity stripe.

Porter led the way with 8-14 shooting from downtown, as he tied his career high with 24 points. Spivy scored 12 in the win, while Prowitt-Smith and Roughley notched 11 each.
 
After two days off, the Ephs will face Vassar, last year's Liberty League champions, to wrap up the non-conference schedule. 
 
"This tournament is always a big deal as we get back together and compete, see how much we forgot over break, and see where our habits are at. I couldn't be prouder of them for how they competed this weekend." 

Original source can be found here