Men's Basketball

Final Rounds of NESCAC Men's Basketball Championship Set for Williams

HADLEY, Mass. – The Williams Ephs will host the remaining rounds of the NESCAC Men’s Basketball Championship for the first time since 2011. The Ephs face No. 6 Colby in the first semifinal on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 2 p.m. No. 5 Tufts takes on No. 2 Hamilton in the second semifinal at Chandler Gymnasium at 4:30 p.m.
2023 NESCAC Men's Basketball Championship Logo> Championship Central

2023 NESCAC MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Quarterfinals - Saturday, Feb. 18 at higher seeds
No. 1 Williams def. No. 8 Trinity, 62-47
No. 2 Hamilton def. No. 7 Conn. College, 64-59
No. 6 Colby def. No. 3 Wesleyan, 82-80 (OT)
No. 5 Tufts def. No. 4 Middlebury, 89-80 (2OT)
Semifinal - Saturday, Feb. 25 at Williams
No. 6 Colby at No. 1 Williams - 2 p.m.
No. 5 Tufts vs. No. 2 Hamilton - 4:30 p.m.
Final - Sunday, Feb. 26 at Williams
Semifinal Winners - 12 p.m.

 
Ticket Info
Semifinals: Tickets for the semifinal games are $6 for adults, $3 for students/seniors/children 3 and older, and children under 2 are free. One ticket is good for admission to both semifinal games. Tickets can be purchased online (CLICK HERE) until 7p.m. on Thursday (Feb. 23). A limited number of tickets (purchased with cash only) will be available at Chandler Gymnasium on Saturday (Feb. 25) starting at 1 p.m.

Final: Tickets for Sunday’s championship game are $6 for adults, $3 for students/seniors/children 3 and older, and children under 2 are free. Tickets (purchased with cash only) will only be available onsite at Chandler Gymnasium starting at 11 a.m. for the 12 p.m. (noon) game.
No. 6 Colby at No. 1 Williams
Top-seeded Williams advanced to the NESCAC Semifinals for the second consecutive season following a 62-47 win over No. 8 Trinity. The Ephs used a 17-7 run coming out of halftime to erase a nine-point deficit and take a 38-37 lead in the first eight minutes of the second half. Williams went on to outscore Trinity, 41-17, in the second stanza. Nate Karren led the Ephs with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Williams, the 2022 NESCAC Runners-Up, boasts four players averaging double figures. Spencer Spivy leads the way at 13.6 points per game while shooting 54.0 percent from the field (3rd in the NESCAC) and 42.0 percent from 3-point land. Spivy also leads the team in steals (34 – T4th in the NESCAC) while handing out 54 assists. Karren is the leading rebounder for the Ephs (6.3 rpg – 9th in the NESCAC) and contributes 12.3 points per game. Karren leads the league from the charity stripe, shooting 94.5 percent for the season, and ranks third in the NESCAC in blocks (36).

Colby, the No. 6 seed, stunned No. 3 Wesleyan with an 82-80 overtime victory in the quarterfinals. The Cardinals led for 36 minutes but the Mules used a 10-2 run to tie the game at 67 with 1:26 left. Colby’s Noah Tyson made two free throws with 13 seconds left and converted a layup in the closing seconds to force overtime. The Mules were able to hold off the Cardinals in the extra session to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2020, the same year Colby made its only appearance in the championship game.

Max Poulton leads four Mules in scoring at 12.7 points per game. Poulton is shooting 45.1 percent from the field and has made 56 3-pointers (37.6 3FG%). Tyson is the team’s leading rebounder (6.2 rpg) and ranks second on the squad in scoring (12.1 ppg). Will King ranks second in the conference in assists per game (6.3 apg) and has the best assist-to-turnover ratio (3.5) in the NESCAC.

The Ephs earned a 79-70 win over Colby in Williamstown, Mass. on January 13. Spivy was 8-for-9 from the field and finished with a team-high 20 points to pace Williams. Poulton led all scorers with 27 points, 22 in the second half, and seven rebounds to lead the Mules. The 2023 semifinal matchup marks the first time the teams will meet in the NESCAC Tournament.

No. 5 Tufts vs. No. 2 Hamilton
Hamilton, the No. 2 seed, is in the semifinals for the first time since 2019, the same year it advanced to the championship game. The Continentals, who finished the regular season in a tie for first place in the NESCAC standings with a 7-3 record, held off No. 7 Conn. College in the quarterfinals. Eric Anderson posted his third double-double of the year with 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead Hamilton.

Anderson (13.9 ppg) and Hank Morgan (13.8 ppg) lead the team in scoring and rank 10th and 11th, respectively in the NESCAC. Conner Rood is the team’s leading rebounder (7.1 rpg – 5th in the NESCAC) and contributes 11.6 points per contest. Teja Singh is shooting 36.4 percent from 3-point range and 43.5 percent from the floor while chipping in 12.7 points per game.

Tufts is making its first NESCAC Semifinal appearance since 2020, the same year the Jumbos won their only NESCAC title. The Jumbos outscored No. 3 Middlebury, 18-9, in the second overtime period to pull out an 89-80 double-overtime win. Dylan Thoerner scored a game-high 30 points, including 14 in the overtime sessions, to lead Tufts.

Thoerner is averaging a team-best 15.7 points per game (5th in the NESCAC) while shooting 52.0 percent from the floor and 44.3 percent from beyond the arc. Tyler Aronson leads the Jumbos in steals (224) and is chipping in 8.9 points per game. Trumann Getings is the team’s leading rebounder (5.0 rpg) and chips in 8.7 points per game.

Hamilton dropped a 57-54 decision at Tufts on January 14 on the second weekend of conference play. Anderson led Hamilton with 22 points and seven rebounds while Aronson led three Jumbos in double figures with 19 points, five rebounds, and four steals. The NESCAC Tournament series is knotted at 2-2. The Jumbos earned an 83-66 win in the 2020 quarterfinals in the most recent meeting between the teams in the championship.