SPRINGFIELD, Mass., December 9, 2006 – Springfield College senior co-captain Damian Farley (Natick, Mass.) scored a team-high 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the floor, but it was the Ephs of Williams College which slipped past the Pride, 67-65, in a non-conference men’s basketball contest this evening at Blake Arena.
Williams (5-4) was paced by junior forward Chris Rose (Middletown, N.Y.), who equaled Farley’s performance with 18 points of his own. Rose led four Ephs in double figures, as senior guard Brian Nelson (Holden, Mass.) added 15 points on five three-pointers, and junior guard Chris Shalvoy (Rochester, N.Y.) chipped in with 14 points and a team-best six assists.
The first half was neck-and-neck, with no team leading by more than five points. After the first 20 minutes of play, Williams held a 33-32 edge. The Pride then opened the second stanza on a 9-1 run to take a 41-34 lead with 17:33 left in the game. The two squads then traded buckets for the remainder of the second half as SC took a 65-61 lead with 1:46 left to play on two free throws from freshman guard Ryan Blackmon (Stamford, Conn.).
Williams’ Rose then canned a three-pointer to make it 65-64 in favor of the Pride with just 53 seconds to go in regulation. After a miss on a front end of a one-and-one by Farley, freshman guard Blake Schultz (Atherton, Calif.) gave the Ephs their first lead since halftime with a lay-up to put Williams up, 66-65, with just 21 seconds remaining.
Shalvoy then made one of two free-throw attempts with five seconds left to put the Ephs up two (67-65), and that proved to be the final as SC was unable to answer on its final possession.
The Pride falls to 3-5 overall on the young season with the loss. Blackmon scored 14 points off the bench for SC on 2-of-3 shooting from deep. Senior co-captain Anthony Pizzo (Clifton Park, N.Y.) added eight points, a game-high seven assists, and five rebounds.
SC will next play at Connecticut College on Tuesday evening, December 12th, beginning at 7:00 p.m.
Charlie Brock in 2013-14 will enter his 16th season as the head coach at Springfield College and his 34th season as a head coach overall. Brock’s achievements as a coach are certainly impressive. He has taken three schools to the NCAA Division III Tournament and has an overall, 32-year record of 440-397. Read more.