Archived Edition: February 15, 2005 | Back to Current	Sep 09, 2010

Kain scores 1000th as men’s hoops wins two
Katie Baldiga - SENIOR WRITER

Men’s basketball (16-8, 4-5 in the NESCAC) grinded out tough wins at home over conference foes Colby (13-7, 4-5) and Bowdoin (12-11, 3-6) this weekend to secure itself a place in the NESCAC Tournament. After downing the Mules by a 80-74 score on Friday night, the Ephs topped the Polar Bears in their regular season finale on Saturday, 88-81. Tri-captain Tucker Kain ’05 topped 30 points in both wins, surpassing the 1000-point mark for his career in the process.

After a shootout of a first half in which the Polar Bears shot 60 percent from the floor, the Ephs buckled down to hold the Polar Bears to 35 second half points on just 35.3 percent shooting. The defensive adjustment helped turn a narrow 48-46 halftime advantage into a more comfortable lead of around eight for most of the second half.

The Ephs used an efficient fast break attack to get open looks all afternoon. Chris Shalvoy ’08 played his most solid game of the year, effectively controlling the tempo of the contest and running the break. Brian Nelson ’07 was a big spark off the bench for the Ephs in the first half, knocking down all three of his 3-point attempts, while Chris Rose ’08 also provided a boost, pulling down seven boards (four offensive).

Kain, who finished with 32 points, broke the milestone with 18:30 to play in the second half when he knocked down a 3-pointer to extend the Eph lead to 53-49. He did not stop there, however, and had two more hoops over the next minute of play to power the Ephs to their first double-digit lead of the contest.

With momentum solidly in their favor, the Ephs slowed down the pace of the contest over the last 10 minutes of play and gutted out the victory. Kain and Shalvoy both sunk free throws in the final minutes to seal the win.

Before the game, the team honored its four seniors, who were playing in their final home game. Kain, fellow tri-captains Michael Graham ’05 and Jaris Cole ’05 and forward Charles Baschnagel ’05 were recognized for their contributions to the Eph success over the past four seasons. An impressive 99-17 in their time at Williams, the foursome helped set a new Div. III record for consecutive home victories earlier this year (64). They won a national championship as a part of the 2002-2003 team and then played a big part in leading the Ephs back to the title game last season.

“I have been blessed to stay healthy and play with some great point guards and other great players who have gotten me the ball,” Kain said. “[Scoring 1,000 points] is definitely something I’ll be proud of once this season is all said and done, but for now my focus is just trying to improve and make a run in the conference tournament. We haven’t peaked yet, but we’re hoping we’re peaking at the right time here and that we can put it all together.”

Entering the weekend just 2-5 in conference play and locked in a seventh-place tie, the Ephs needed at least one win over the weekend to guarantee themselves a spot in the conference tournament. Williams was able to avoid a pressure-packed must-win against Bowdoin by sneaking past fifth-place Colby, 80-74, on Friday night.

Kain was again the catalyst for the Ephs as he has been nearly all season, scoring 30 points and pulling down 15 rebounds. After the first half closed with Colby clinging to a 39-38 advantage, Kain took control in the second half, scoring 20 of his game-high 30 points over the final 20 minutes of play. He was aided by Cole and Graham, who both contributed great performances down the stretch. Cole shutdown Mule standout Pat McGowan, who finished with just seven points, and led the fast-pace Eph attack, dishing out nine assists and scoring 15 points.

Graham, reliable as ever for the Ephs, came up with some big stops on the defensive end and chipped in 13 points, including two big free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.

It was not a spectacular offensive performance for the Ephs, who shot just under 40 percent from the field. Their strong showing on the foul line (20-of-22), especially in the second half, helped secure the win.

“We wanted to re-establish ourselves at home [this weekend],” Kain said. “We slipped a little bit at home this season, not playing with the intensity we needed to at some points. We wanted to come out and make a statement about what it means to play basketball at Williams College and end with a couple of wins here.”

“We’re happy with the wins,” Head Coach Dave Paulsen said. “We had some very clutch performances. It was fitting that our three seniors really carried us, each in their own ways … We were all feeling a little bit of pressure. The bar has been set so high over the past couple of years. To some degree that’s not fair to our guys, but on another level, that’s what we want – we want to have those high expectations.”

Williams’ high hopes of pulling off upsets at No. 25 Trinity and No. 4 Amherst were dashed the previous weekend. The Ephs recovered from a horrific offensive outing against the Jeffs to play a solid game against the Bantams but fell, 91-84.

The Ephs kept themselves in the game with an aggressive defensive effort. They held the Bantams (17-6, 6-3) to just 41.1 percent shooting from the floor and posted a 37-35 advantage on the boards. In the end, however, the strong inside attack powered by junior forward Tyler Rhoten, who scored a game-high 36 points, was simply too much for the Ephs.

Forward Andrew Newton ’06 had a team-high 21 points and eight rebounds for the Ephs, while Cole racked up 16 points and eight assists. Rose was an impressive 6-of-7 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from behind the arc. He finished with 15 points.

The Trinity loss came on the heels of a crushing 72-45 defeat at Amherst (22-1, 9-0) the night before. The Ephs were ice cold on the offensive end all night in front of a full house at LeFrak Gymnasium. Despite getting some good looks, the Ephs knocked down just 21 percent of their shots in the first half with Kain, Cole and Graham combining to go just 2-of-15 from the field. Eight turnovers rounded out a truly dismal first half offensive performance that saw the Jeffs take a 41-13 halftime lead.

Williams recovered to shoot over 50 percent in the second half and outscored Amherst over the final 20 minutes, 32-31. The turnaround, however, was hardly enough to cut into the comfortable 28-point Jeff lead.

On Jan. 29, Williams posted a sound 72-54 victory over Middlebury. Dana Leary ’07 came off the bench to score 16 points and grab 12 rebounds, while Kain and Rose each scored 13 points.

The Ephs will be the No. 6 seed in the NESCAC Tournament. They’ll face the No. 3 Bates Bobcats on the road in a quarterfinal matchup at 2 p.m. on Saturday.