Williamstown, Mass. - December 10, 2022 - Going up against one of the top-ranked teams in the country, the Springfield College men's basketball team was defeated by Williams, 72-53, on Saturday in non-conference play.

The Ephs entered the game ranked No. 4 in the most recent D3hoops.com Poll and are now 9-0 on the year while the Pride's record dropped to 2-6.

John Paulino (New Bedford, Mass.) had a team-best 10 points for the Pride, which shot 21-for-69 (30%) and 7-for-29 (24%) from beyond the arc. Wiliams held a slight 42-39 edge on the glass despite Springfield snagging 14 offensive boards and Daryl Costa (East Providence, R.I.) pulled down a team-high seven caroms in the setback. 

After Zeke Blauner (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.) came up with a steal and finish at 16:58 to pull Springfield within 8-5, the hosts would score the next six points to open up a nine-point edge midway through the half.  Neither team was able to find its offensive rhythm in the early going and the Ephs were able to push their advantage to 23-9 with 6:29 remaining in the frame on their fourth three-pointer of the half. A 7-2 Springfield surge capped off by an inside bucket from Josh Hartley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) made it a 25-16 contest at the 4:16 mark, only to have Williams close the stanza on an 8-2 push to take a 33-18 lead into the break.  

The lead would grow to 19 in the early minutes of the second half before Panayiotis Kapanides (Beford, Mass.) drilled consecutive three-pointers which brought Springfield within 42-29 at the 16 minute mark.   Springfield would get as close as 11 points when Josiah Evely (Toronto, Ontario) scored inside at 8:16, but Williams would have one final answer, scoring seven-straight points to put the game out of reach for good. 

Springfield will close out the first semester when it hosts Mitchell on Tuesday at 7 pm.

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