With an 85-50 punishing of Connecticut College on Friday night at Chandler Gym, the 2003-2004 Ephs became the 12th straight squad to reach 20 wins. Over that stretch, Williams is 279-47 overall.
The victory upped the Ephs record to 20-1 overall and a perfect 6-0 in conference while the Camels fell to 5-14 and 0-6 in the New England Small College Athletic Conference.
After struggling to pull away for most of the first half, Williams used a 22-5 run over the first nine minutes of the second half to up its lead to 65-35 and seal the win.
“I’m happy with our performance,” head coach Dave Paulsen said. “We played hard and were excellent defensively.
“For the first eight or nine minutes, we weren’t as sharp defensively, but I think we just wore them down,” he said.
Senior tri-captains Ben Coffin, Chuck Abba, and Michael Crotty led the way for the Ephs who got points from 15 different players. Coffin scored 18 points in 19 minutes of action, while Abba and Crotty added 13 and 10 respectively. Crotty also dished out seven assists.
After a slow start offensively, Crotty and junior Jaris Cole upped the tempo of the game by advancing the ball quickly in transition and the duo combined for 13 assists.
“We have worked on running the ball more,” Paulsen said. “Both Michael [Crotty] and Jaris [Cole] did an excellent job advancing the ball.”
In addition, Cole and classmate Michael Graham played stifling defense on the Camels leading scorer Zarrette Rogers. Rogers entered the game averaging 11.2 points per game, but was held to just one free throw on the night.
The key to the second-half run was an increase in the effort on the offensive glass.
“I’m a perfectionist,” Paulsen said. “We gave them a few too many easy looks in the first half and we wanted to get on the glass in the second half.”
After grabbing just one offensive rebound through the first 20 minutes and only outrebounding the Camels only 23-22, the Ephs responded by hauling in 10 offensive rebounds and dominating Connecticut College on the glass throughout the second half.
The Camels, who were led by Gabe Patton’s 14 points and nine rebound performance, play 10 freshman in their lineup.
“It’s hard enough to win games in league with sophomores and juniors, let alone freshman,” Paulsen said.
The Ephs will return to action Saturday afternoon (3pm) against Little Three foe Wesleyan. Earlier in the season, the Ephs needed a last second three-pointer from Abba and overtime to knock off the Cardinals. It will be the final regular season home game for seniors Crotty, Coffin, Abba and Blake Morgan.