WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The Connecticut College men's basketball team earned a 62-58 victory over Williams College on Saturday afternoon in a NESCAC showdown at Chandler Gymnasium.
Coming off a 23-point effort on Friday night at Middlebury,
Elias Espinosa (Leonia, N.J.) continued his stellar play with 23 points, four rebounds and three assists against the Ephs.
Garrett Clar (Victor, N.Y.) added 13 points, three assists and two steals while
Andrew Hartel (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) and
Cam Schainfeld (Newton, Mass.) chipped in eight points apiece.
Conn found itself in an 11-4 hole after seven minutes but quickly righted the ship. The Camels fired back with an 8-0 run that featured six points from Espinosa—including a four-point play at the 11:50 mark—and a bucket by Hartel that yielded the first of seven lead changes in the stanza.
Conn's largest lead of the half came with 2:20 to go when another Espinosa three made it a 30-25 game. However, Hudson Hansen added a pair of scores in the final two minutes to pull the Ephs to within one by intermission. Both Espinosa and Hansen had nine points at the break to lead their respective squads.
In the second half, Williams outscored Conn 15-6 over the first eight minutes to build a 43-36 advantage. The Camels flipped the script with a 14-2 spurt to pull in front 50-45 with 5:19 to play, holding the Ephs without a field goal for more than seven minutes of game time. Espinosa drilled back-to-back threes during the stretch to give the visitors the lead for good.
Conn protected the margin for the final 8:44 and took its largest lead of the day on a three by Clar that made it 57-49 with 2:30 remaining. Williams whittled the deficit down to three in the final seconds, but the Camels clinched the victory on a free throw by
RJ Casey (Nashville, Tenn.).
Espinosa shot 5-for-9 from three and 6-for-7 from the free throw line. He finished the weekend 9-for-16 from beyond the arc, helping the Camels to a conference sweep of Middlebury and Williams. The win over the Ephs was Conn's first since the 2000 season.
Hansen paced Williams (10-6 overall, 1-3 NESCAC) with 16 points while Aidan Yates added 10.
Conn (11-7 overall, 3-1 NESCAC) will next play at Tufts University on Saturday, January 25 at 3:00 p.m.