“It was not one of our better performances,” Williams Head Coach Dave Paulsen said. “I would say the way Clark played had a lot to do with that though. They played exceptionally hard and fought the whole way.”
Williams got off to a hot start offensively, jumping out to an early 8-point lead after some impressive shooting. The Ephs shot 50 percent from the floor for the first half. But the second half was a different story. Playing much more tentatively, the Ephs shot just 29 percent in the second half. This gave Clark the chance to claw back into the contest. The game had six ties and eight lead changes over the final 15 minutes, and the Ephs found themselves trailing with less than five minutes to go.
With his team down three points and three minutes on the clock, Shalvoy knocked down a runner in the lane to cut the margin to one. After a defensive stop, senior guard Casey Gibbons drilled a big 3-pointer to put the Ephs up two. A Clark hoop tied things up, setting the stage for Rose’s pivotal free throws.
Williams went an impressive 5-for-6 from behind the charity stripe over the last 30 seconds to secure the victory.
Rose scored a game-high 26 points and pulled down an impressive 16 boards to lead the Ephs. Shalvoy chipped in 13 points and 5 rebounds and senior center Andrew Newton contributed 12 points and 6 boards. Junior guard Brian Nelson stepped up with 12 points and 6 rebounds. Rookie Kevin Snyder gave the Ephs a boost off the bench with 6 points in a solid showing.
Sophomore Dominique Beck led the Cougars with 17 points and 8 rebounds.
Williams will play its first game of 2006 on Monday, hosting Southern Vermont at 8 p.m.