LEWISTON – Heartbreak is never easy to talk about – especially when the No. 1 men’s basketball team in the nation caused it.

Coach Joe Reilly and Bates College were hard-pressed in finding the words to describe an emotionally draining 86-83 conference loss to Williams College Friday night.

“You are never happy with a loss,” said Reilly. “We are a good enough team to beat Williams, the number one team in the nation. We are extremely disappointed.” Bates dropped to 16-7, 4-3 NESCAC, while Williams improved to 22-1 (8-0). On Friday night, the final statistics looked more like a photocopy than two different teams.

The one exception, and the key to the narrow three-point Ephs victory? The charity stripe, where Williams was a consistent 84.2 percent from the line while Bates connected on a mediocre 68.2 percent of its attempts.

“Alumni Gym is a tough place to play,” said Williams coach Dave Paulsen “We are thrilled to come away with a quality win here tonight against a very talented and extremely well-coached team.”

Alumni Gymnasium sounded more like Cameron Indoor Stadium as the packed bleachers cheered and chanted when Bates emerged from the locker room before the second half of play. The Bobcats went on a scorching 13-5 run, fueled by post-man Elliot Linsley, who took an offensive charge and put up four points during the four minute stretch. After a clutch Brian Gerrity trey, Zak Ray found Ramon Garcia on a breakaway lay up to tie the game at 65. Victor Rivera gave Bates its last lead of the game on two free throws.

Gerrity, who was an unconscious 60 percent from long range, connected on his sixth three of the game with just under one minute on the clock, keeping Bates within two at 82-80. Williams’ Coffin connected on a short jumper before Bates turned the ball over and sent Crotty to the line where he missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity. Bates’ Brian Furbush drained a three with five seconds remaining to bring Bates within one point. Crotty then sealed the game, connecting on two free throws with just under two seconds to play.

“We want to change the culture at Bates so that losing close games to nationally ranked teams is not considered acceptable,” said Reilly.

In the first half Williams point guard and conference assist leader Michael Crotty dominated the floor, hitting on 3-5 from three-point land. 6’8″ teammate Ben Coffin outsized Bates in the paint, grabbing four rebounds and posting 10 points as Williams headed into halftime up 44-37.

“We made two major adjustments at halftime,” said Reilly. “First, we needed to take care of the ball better. Second, we needed to shut down Crotty because he is such a great player.”

Gerrity finished with a game-high 24 points, and was supported by a well-balanced offensive attack. Furbush and Linsley each chipped in 10 points, while Ray dished out 6 assists and Linsley grabbed 7 rebounds. Coffin paced Williams with 19 points and 6 rebounds. Crotty finished with 16 points and 6 assists.

“This was a very emotional game,” said Reilly. “We’ll have to focus to put the game behind us tomorrow afternoon against Middlebury.”

Copy the Story Link