“I sort of feel like I’m on the football team,” he said. “We get full weeks of practice in between games.”
What Abba did not mention was that he also looked the part.
Heavily bandaged with a dripping ice pack over his right shoulder, Abba was just minutes removed from what was perhaps his best performance of the season. It was not that his game-high 19 points didn’t say enough, but it was more the way he got to 19 that attests to Abba’s “football-like” playing style – by attacking the offensive glass all day long.
“I hadn’t had a good rebounding game in awhile,” said Abba, who finished with eight rebounds, including six offensive. “I just go after it and try and get my hands on as many balls as possible.”
In a game that was curiously devoid of NESCAC Tournament intensity, Abba’s gritty play guided the Ephs to the 21-point win that ensures they will host the semifinals and finals of the tournament next weekend.
And, luckily for the 24-1 Ephs, there is still room for improvement.
“You know it’s nice to be sitting here saying that Middlebury shot 28% from the floor and we outrebounded them by 25 and still say we have a lot of room to improve,” head coach Dave Paulsen said.
“Any win in February or March is a good win,” he said. “You can’t paint 30 masterpieces a year, but we just don’t want to be satisfied yet.”
A slow start by the Ephs allowed the 12-12 Panthers to keep the game within reach for much of the way. But, after two free throws by Simon Behan gave Middlebury a 10-9 lead with 11-minutes and 23 seconds remaining, the Ephs rattled off a 12-1 run over the next five minutes to take a 21-11 lead with under six minutes remaining in the half.
After leading by only 10 at the half, Williams played much of the second half on the run, executing well in transition and on the secondary break, for which much of the credit can go to senior Michael Crotty and junior Jaris Cole.
Cole totaled nine assists in the game to go along with eight points while Crotty added seven points and five assists.
Senior Ben Coffin controlled the defensive rebounding and his outlet passes enabled the transition game to get going. Coffin finished with 12 rebounds and dropped in 12 points to notch yet another double-double.
After Middlebury closed to within seven (32-25) with 18:45 to play a quick 9-2 run over the next two minutes sealed the win for the Ephs. The Panthers would never get closer than 11 the rest of the way.
As erratic or inconsistent as the offensive flow might have been, the defensive intensity and effort on the glass on both ends never wavered, despite some anxiousness on the team’s part to pull further away from the Panthers.
“They tried to slow the game down a bit offensively,” Abba said. “I think we were a little anxious to stretch the lead out, but I think we were all pretty confident that we were going to make a run at some point – it just came a little later than usual today.”
Bobby Marcoux and Simon Behan led the way for the Panthers. Both reached double figures with 10 points.
After a full week of practice the Ephs will host the NESCAC Final Four next Saturday and Sunday at Chandler Gymnasium. In Saturday’s 2pm contest, Amherst will have a chance at redemption when they face Trinity who knocked off the Lord Jeffs during the regular season. In the 4pm matchup, the Ephs will play host to a Bates team that only fell to them by three points one week ago.
Regardless of which teams advance, the Championship game will be at Noon on Sunday in Chandler.