With 1:52 remaining, Camel forward Charles Stone backed his way into the paint and banged in a basket to give Conn. College a 64-61 lead. On Williams’ ensuing possession, senior forward Will Kuntz (7 points, 8 rebounds) came up with a huge offensive board and drew a foul on the put back. Kuntz, who went 7-for-8 from the charity stripe on the day, knocked down both free throws to pull Williams within one with 1:29 to go.
The Ephs then thwarted the Camels in a big defensive stand and charged back up the court. With 41.1 seconds remaining, Rose was fouled behind the arc and knocked down 2-of-3 from the line to give Williams a 65-64 advantage. But Stone powered his way to the hoop again and his lay-in with 11 seconds remaining reclaimed a one-point lead for the Camels.
Conn. College elected to take a timeout, giving Williams a chance to draw up a play for the game-winner. The Ephs executed their strategy to perfection, finding their first option, Rose, off a screen as time wound down. With a hand in his face, Rose knocked down the game-winner from the right wing. It was the Ephs’ only 3-pointer of the second half.
“I knew the play was set up for me to come off a screen by [senior center Andrew] Newton,” Rose said. “I wanted to take that shot, but I also knew that my teammates would step up if I got double-teamed or wasn’t able to get it off. We didn’t play our best this weekend but we got two conference wins and to be able to head into next weekend at 2-0 is huge.”
Williams led by as many as 13 midway through the first half, but Conn. College refused to surrender. The Camels put together a 10-0 run over the last five minutes of the first half to cut the Eph advantage to 31-28 at the half. The game remained tight the rest of the way.
Though the Ephs shot just 38.6 percent from the floor (and only 32 percent from downtown), they won the battle on the boards, 36-28, and knocked down key free throws down the stretch. They made 16-of-21 free throw attempts on the day.
“We’re thrilled to come out of this game with a victory over a very good Conn. College team,” Williams Head Coach Dave Paulsen said. “Like last night [against Wesleyan], our defensive performance was poor once we built a lead in the first half. This team goes through some long offensive droughts that come close to crippling us. But we hung in there, and that’s a credit to our guys. We were able to make the big plays down the stretch.”
Rose finished with 20 points, 5 boards and 3 assists. Newton (17 points, 5 rebounds) and junior Brian Nelson (9 points, 3 rebounds) provided support on the offensive end, while Kuntz and sophomore Matt Weisbrot (7 rebounds) were huge off the bench defensively.
Stone was a force throughout the second half for the Camels, who did their best to outmuscle the Ephs as the game became more physical late. He finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead Conn. College. Guard Christian Moseley knocked down two key 3-pointers in the second half en route to 11 points, and forward Gabe Patton supported Stone inside with 14 points and 3 boards.
“I think we’re more relieved than happy after our first weekend of conference play,” Paulsen said. “We’re 12-3 and have two conference wins. At this point in the year, we’re in a great place and we still have a lot of room for improvement.”
Williams hosts non-conference foe Lasell on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. before squaring off against Tufts and Bates on the road in the second weekend of conference play next Friday and Saturday.