Williamstown, Mass. — December 10, 2011 — Despite 18 points from junior guard Alex Berthiaume, the Springfield College men’s basketball team lost to the nation’s 8th-ranked team, Williams College, this afternoon by a score of 68-57. It was a four-point game with just over three minutes to go, but SC could not hold off the Eph’s game-long 3-point shooting barrage.

With the win, Williams is now 8-1, while Springfield falls to 6-3.

It was SC’s third game against a NESCAC conference opponent. The Pride will play a fourth this Tuesday (Dec. 13) when it travels to New London to take on Connecticut College at 7 pm.

It was 29-20, Williams, at the half.

Berthiaume of Springfield, Mass. finished with 18 points, while adding eight rebounds and two steals. Behind him was freshman guard Josh Altman (Rockport, Mass.) with nine points, four rebounds, one block, and one steal. Forwards Evan Christner, a senior from Voorheesville, N.Y., and Pat Rossi, a junior from Rock Tavern, N.Y., each had seven points.

Williams jumped out to leads of 14-4 at the start, and 29-15 with 2:54 to go in the half. But SC scored the last five points of the half behind buckets from senior center Ryan Coburn (West Warwiick, R.I.) and Altman.

The Ephs would lead by 16 at 39-23 on a lay-up by James Wang with 17:09 to go.

But SC began a long comeback, cutting it all the way down to four points on four separate occasions — at 51-47, 53-49, 55-51, and 58-54, the last with 4:36 to go. But a Wang 3-pointer with 3:08 left provided the separation that the Ephs needed to carry them to the win.

A major difference in this game was 3-point production. Williams made 13-of-32 (.406), while Springfield made just 4-of-19 (.211).

Coburn led SC with a game-high 10 rebounds. Junior guard Matt Pascuzzo (Wallingford, Conn.) topped the Pride with five assists.

Photo by Cindi Williamson of Fat Dog Fotos