In NESCAC men's basketball, history has a habit of repeating itself - just ask the Amherst Lord Jeffs, who have won back-to-back conference titles and four of the last six.
But sometimes, history reverses itself instead. Just ask the Williams Ephs.
Last season, the Ephs visited Cousens Gym and upset the Jumbos en route to a 5-4 conference finish, a sixth seed in the NESCAC playoffs, and a 12-point loss in the first round to third-seeded Tufts.
This year, the Jumbos topped the Ephs at the Chandler Athletic Center in Williamstown earlier this season, but just like the Ephs, finished 5-4, earned a six seed, and suffered a 12-point road loss in the first round of the conference tournament.
The Ephs, who like last year's Jumbos finished 6-3 in regular season league play, ended Tufts' season Saturday, jumping out to a big lead in the first half and never looking back, eventually emerging with an 84-72 win and their first NESCAC semifinal berth in three years.
The loss came as a shock to the Jumbos, who waltzed by Williams with a 17-point victory just two weeks ago. This time around, however, inconsistency plagued the Tufts offense.
"We shot a lot better last time," coach Bob Sheldon said. "Bottom line, we shot poorly today. Last time, [Williams] shot well in the first half and not the second, but this time, the whole game, they shot well."
While the Ephs shot 47 percent from the floor this weekend, the Jumbos checked in at a frustrating 37 percent, due in large part to the pesky Williams defense, a 1-3-1 zone employed by Ephs coach Dave Paulsen.
"They disrupted our offense," senior tri-captain Dave Shepherd said. "We didn't even run a play for the first three quarters of the game, because of their wacky 1-3-1. And I think we just missed open shots."
The Jumbos made just five of their 32 attempts from beyond the three-point arc. Shepherd was 1-for-7, while his fellow starting guard, junior Ryan O'Keefe, was 1-for-6.
"The zone was really saying to us, 'Shoot outside. We dare you to,'" Sheldon said. "And I honestly believe one of the reasons they stayed in the zone the whole game was that we didn't make any shots. If we had made some at the beginning, then they would've gotten out of it. That's what they did last time."
While the Jumbos struggled from the floor in the first half, the Ephs jumped out to a big lead. Junior guard Chris Shalvoy and freshman forward Blake Schultz led Williams on an 11-0 run midway through the half, as a Shalvoy three with 7:31 remaining gave the Ephs their first double-digit lead, 28-18.
Williams led 39-26 at the half, and Tufts did little to reduce that deficit early in the second. With 12:39 left in the game, a jumper from sophomore forward Grant Meyer widened the Williams lead to 55-37. It wasn't until the Ephs extended their lead to 18 that the Jumbos began to chip away.
"With about twelve minutes left, I called a timeout," Sheldon said. "I said, 'All right, seniors, do you want to go out like this, or do you want to go out like men?' And then we went at it. We went full court, and we set some traps. It was that attitude, that urgency, that turned it around for us, and we made a run."
Sophomore forward Jon Pierce exploded for the Jumbos in the second half, pouring in 14 of his 20 points, while junior Jake Weitzen added eight of his 10. While Tufts never closed it to a one-possession game, it did get within striking distance near the end, as a Shepherd three made it 77-70 with 58 seconds to play.
"It came down to the last minute," Sheldon said. "We're down nine, and we miss a three, then they miss a foul shot, and we miss another three. It could have been a three-point game if we just made those two shots."
No lead seemed safe given the fast tempo of the game, but the Ephs stayed ahead, thanks to their clutch free-throw shooting. Tufts fouled Shalvoy multiple times in the final minute, and the junior responded by making all four of his shots from the line. He finished the game with 26 points on 11-of-14 foul shooting, while Schultz added 16 points and junior forward Chris Rose, the Ephs' leading scorer this season, had 15.
From here the Ephs head to Amherst, where they will meet Trinity in the NESCAC semifinals on Saturday. Trinity topped Bowdoin for the right to play the Ephs, while Amherst, victor over Bates, will play Colby, who beat Middlebury in overtime Saturday. The Jeffs are favorites to get by the Mules to the title game, but Williams-Trinity should be a trickier match-up.
"We beat Williams by 17, and we also beat Trinity by 17," senior tri-captain Brian Kumf said. "So obviously it's pretty close. But in this league, it's all about match-ups - it's about how you match up with the other team. If Williams gets hot, there's nobody in the league they can't beat. If Chris Rose goes off and starts hitting shots, they're tough."
Trinity narrowly beat Williams, 65-62, in a game played in Hartford a month ago. The Ephs hope history continues to reverse itself like it did against the Jumbos.
