MBB: NESCAC

[polbear73]

Wesleyan looking very good in early going, jumping out to a 13-5 lead. Good ball movement and very quick. Bowdoin opened cold partly due to Wes D.

[middhoops]

After playing two overtimes last night, Williams is showing no fatigue as they've led the LJs through most of the first half.  Very impressive.

[Bucket]

As if we needed any further evidence of conference parity, just look at these halftime scores.

29-29, 31-31, 33-32, 36-30.

Amazing.

[madzillagd]

After playing two overtimes last night, Williams is showing no fatigue as they've led the LJs through most of the first half.  Very impressive.

I'm very surprised Amherst came out and has been content to play half court.  I was expecting them to really push the pace the first half and try and get the Ephs tired out right from the start.  At this pace Williams has a much better chance to stay in the game. 

[middhoops]

The LJs are calmly turning the game around in the 2nd half.  Nothing fancy, just a lot of talent.
I wouldn't bet against the Ephs playing their second overtime game in as many days.

[Bucket]

What a win for Williams. Killcullin with the game-winning three.

Ephs over Lord Js, 71-70.

Thrilling finish, and after last night's gut-wrencher, what a rewarding win for Williams over their biggest rival.

[nescac1]

I said the Ephs were due in a game like this, and I think they cashed that chip in, and then some.  I don't know HOW Williams won that game ... the Ephs were totally outmanned inside, getting killed by David George in particular.  The Ephs also could not BUY a three-point shot in the second half.  But then, finally, Wohl and Kilcullen hit two HUGE clutch threes, sandwiched around an equally clutch three from McCarthy.   Wohl is just the man right now.   

[Vandy74]

Great game in Williamstown.  Everything one could expect and more.  I'll leave to the fans of the respective teams to sort it out.

[middhoops]

What an opening couple of days!  This looks like it could be a truly memorable NESCAC season.

[AmherstStudent05]

Yep.  Really tough loss for Amherst tonight.  We had what seemed like a commanding 8-point lead late in the game, but couldn't hold on.

Kilcullen hit a pure three pointer from WAY downtown with 4 seconds left to win it.  Can't really argue with that possession though.  We played great D on Wohl (who seemed determine to get a three-point look of his own rather than drive to the hoop).

I thought the key possession was the one before.  We are up 2 with 28 seconds to play and inbounding the ball.  We throw it in to George who is promptly fouled.  I know George had a great night at the line last night, but why on Earth would we want to inbound to him to take the front end of a critical one and one? Burn a timeout if you have to.  Free throws have been a problem for this team all year and tonight just continued that trend.

Wohl was outstanding for Williams as usual. And Sime showed up in a huge way.  For Amherst, we got nice production from Green, George, and Racy.

This is definitely a tough one.  Had an opportunity to really put Williams in a big hole in conference play.  Oh well. It had been a while since we lost in Chandler.  I guess we were due.

Congrats to the Ephs on a huge win without HRL.  We will see you all again in a few weeks. 

[Bucket]

I want to echo Nescac1's sentiment about Danny Wohl. Major, major props to him for not forcing a shot at the end. Amherst played it perfectly. After Wohl's huge 3 just moments before and with him going iso at the end, I think everyone in Chandler anticipated him taking the final shot.

With Amherst switching on the high screen--the proper move, I thought--Wohl had to contend with the length and hops of George, lowering the percentages significantly on Wohl having a good look. He reversed to Kilcullin, who had set the screen, and it was the big fella who took and made the deep 3. He can make this shot, but of all the options for Williams at this point, down 2, this is one that Amherst would be ok with almost every time.

There are no must wins in game 2, but the difference  between 0-2 and 1-1, while now holding the head-to-head tiebreaker with Amherst, is quite a big one for Williams

[Bucket]

To my Amherst friends, I wouldn't fret too much. A disappointing loss, of course, and allowing an 8-point lead to melt away in the waning minutes must be particularly irksome, but there's no shame in coming within 4 seconds of a win, on the road in a hostile environment, against a talented team staring an 0-2 weekend in the face.

Learn from it, channel the frustration into positive energy, and come back stronger next weekend.

[amh63]

Congrats to Williams on the win that counts in the standings.   Sime of Williams should get some credit...scored 10-11 points coming off the bench.  Some payback from a football player .
Surprised that with a lead and the ball with Williams trying to foul to get the ball that DGeorge was left in.  Yes he was 10-11 in the Hamilton game from the foul lane.....still!  George gets fouled and misses the front end shot that sets up a senior player that shoots about 36% to take the last shot at the buzzer. 
Some positives for Amherst...Ben Pollock played effective...4 points in the 2nd half...though the announcer kept calling him Conklin.  Conner Green is getting better.  See that Racy is also in when Green is in....Racy wiped out Williams lead with his 3's in the 2nd half.
Ray Berry was on the floor but cannot understand his attempts to shoot from outside.....needs to sit on the bench more, imo.
Thought JMac's last shot was the winner...but it was Kilcullen's shot.
Oh well....take some comfort in the Amherst WBB win over the "pretender" Williams team...a blowout! 
Going to the corner and cry a bit more .

[nescacobserver]

Major mistake by an experienced coach to have David George receiving the ball in the backcourt at a point when it was obvious that Williams needed to foul someone.  What is George's free throw percentage on the year? He had Green 30 feet away down in the corner in the front court.  Should have taken a time out, calmed the boys down, and put Racy, Green and McCarthy in the back court to receive the ball and get fouled.  Gotta go with the percentages. Other than that, absolute clutch shot by Kilcullen at the end.  Hats off to Williams on a great performance.

[nescac1]

I'm glad we won this game because Amherst is only going to get tougher to beat this year, and next year, they are going to be just flat-out terrifying.  Right now, though, both these teams are a long way from last year in terms of offensive execution, although certainly not in heart.  NESCAC is going to continue to be totally unpredictable this year ... clearly no powerhouses. 

Thoughts on Amherst: as usual, Amherst is replete with big, athletic wings who can shoot, defend, and board.  Green looks like the Green we all expected to see, although strangely he didn't get many offensive looks in the second half.  Racy has a VERY quick release and is deadly from three, I'm surprised he didn't get any PT last year.  And McCarthy has already been talked about a lot -- that was just fearless, for a frosh to nail that late three in his first Williams game (serious onions), and he is at worst solid at basically every facet of the game.  Clearly a future all-American.  George was fantastic tonight and Williams really had no answer for his combination of speed, strength, size and skill inside.  Pollack as always plays solid minutes vs. Williams; not many teams have a back-up center of that caliber.  Nabatoff is an x factor who has to, and will, improve ... a very tough size match-up at the 4 for most teams, but he seems to miss a lot of bunnies inside every time I've seen him play (and his shooting percentage reflects that).  As he learns to play with more force and patience inside, he'll start to hit all those 4-5 foot shots over much smaller guys, and Amherst will be that much tougher.  Point guard is clearly an issue for the Jeffs right now.  Dawson is a good athlete but certainly isn't looking like the instant first-team all-NESCAC guy he was hyped to be.  Berman is a very, very crafty passer and ball-handler, but he looks almost desperate not to shoot.  I see why Jeff fans are high on Barry -- very, very athletic and strong (and at this point, what is he, 23?  Certainly looks like he's had a few extra years to bulk up), and a tremendous on the ball defender. Obviously a bit rusty on offense but I would not be surprised to see him displace one of the other two guys in the PG rotation.  Amherst was really hurt by missed free throws today, which looks like the biggest team weakness beyond the uncertainty at point guard.  If they do figure out the PG situation, though, they will be very, very tough to beat. 

As for Williams, it was just a gutty, gutty team win.   Down eight late, it looked like they had finally run out of gas, but somehow they fought through it and made a great late run. What an incredibly clutch shot by Kilcullen -- and it was absolutely pure.  That will go down with the 2004 Tucker Kain shot among the best shots in Williams-Amherst history.  Daniel Wohl was once again easily the best player on the court, and he has improved immensely since last year and even since early this season.  He is playing with a tremendous amount of confidence right now and he seems confident that he can take even very good defenders like McCarthy to the hole consistently, and when he gets there, he usually finishes or gets fouled, or both.  Right now, he is playing at a first-team all-American level and totally carrying the rest of the team on his shoulders, and he will have to continue to do so until Hayden returns.  As others have noted, Darrias Sime was a huge factor, having by far his best game as an Eph, gamely battling the much bigger Jeff big guys down low and consistently sneaking open for good looks on the interior.  He has really improved a LOT over the course of the season, he now is a very capable back-up center.  Everyone else who played made contributions on both ends, and the Ephs played really great team defense for most of the game.    Just an unbelievable effort to earn the split, what a weekend of basketball in Chandler.