After regulation ended in a 66-66 tie, the Ephs and Bobcats were forced into overtime. The teams traded threes on their opening possessions before senior tri-captain Tucker Kain gave the Ephs a 71-69 lead on a jumpshot with 3:29 to go. After Brian Gerrity netted an equalizer for the Bobcats, Kain knocked down another two for the 73-71 advantage. Gerrity hit a lay-up to tie the game with just over a minute to play. After a timeout, the Ephs looked to Kain for the go-ahead hoop, but he couldn’t convert. After working the remaining time off of the clock, the Bobcats got the ball to Stockwell knocked down the game-winner as time expired.
For the Ephs, it was a heartbreaking end to a game that looked to be theirs to win late in the second half. Building momentum after halftime, the Ephs turned a 33-29 halftime deficit into a double-digit lead with less than 10 minutes to go. First-year Chris Rose hit a big three with 7:50 to go to put the Ephs on top, 64-53. The 11-point advantage matched their biggest lead of the night.
From there, things turned sour for Williams. The Ephs were held scoreless over the next 5:46, as the Bobcats went on an 11-0 run. A Stockwell lay-up tied the game at 64 with just inside three minutes to play, before Kain finally snapped the Eph drought with a go-ahead jumper. With 1:45 remaining, Stockwell powered to the hoop to pull the Bobcats into a 66-66 tie. The Ephs turned the ball over on their remaining two possessions, and two jumpshots by pointguard Zak Ray were off the mark for the Bobcats, leaving the game deadlocked at the end of regulation.
Stockwell, an imposing presence inside all afternoon, finished the day with 27 points for the Bobcats. Ray chipped in with 15 points and eight assists, while forward Elliott Linsley scored 13 points and collected eight boards.
While Stockwell presented a tough challenge for the Ephs inside, the defensive effort by Williams was solid. They held the Bobcats to just 44 percent shooting from the floor and posted a 37-36 advantage on the boards.
In the final game of his impressive career, Kain, the reigning NESCAC and ECAC Player of the Week, led the Ephs with 24 points and seven rebounds. Fellow senior tri-captains Michael Graham and Jaris Cole gave gritty performances on both ends of the court, helping to shutdown the talented Bates’ shooters and running the fast-break attack effectively. Rose and classmate Chris Shalvoy also played well. Rose, who was 5-of-7 from the field, including 4-of-5 from behind the arc, finished with 14 points and six rebounds, while Shalvoy looked good at the point, recording seven assists and just one turnover in 41 minutes played.
The loss makes the 2004-2005 Ephs the first men’s hoops team in 13 seasons to not reach the 20-win plateau. After reaching the NCAA tournament in each of the last three seasons, and the championship game in the last two, the Ephs find themselves out of playoff contention.
“I thought it was a valiant effort,” said Williams Head Coach Dave Paulsen. “Obviously it’s a disappointing way to the end the season, and a disappointing way for [our seniors] to end their careers, but they really played their hearts out. They left all they had out on the floor.”
Bates will now advance to take on No. 2 seed Tufts on Saturday in the NESCAC tournament semi-finals hosted by Amherst.