Courtesy Williams Sports Information

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Williams College used the three-ball in the second half (8-12) and perfect foul shooting down the stretch (8-8) to knock of Maine-Farmington 83-64 in a Second Round game tonight in Chandler Gym.

With the win Williams improved to 27-1 on the year and won its 18th straight game. The 18 wins equals a Williams in-season record set by the 2003-04 Ephs. UMF, which opened the season with eight consecutive losses, saw its six-game win streak end and the Beavers finish with a record of 15-12.

Williams advances to the Sectional Round and will face SUNYIT, which downed Medaille 64-63 at a site to be determined.

With 3:17 to play UMF’s Eric Taylor scored inside to bring the Beavers within seven 69-62, but at 2:21 Alex Rubin knocked down a three to put Williams up 10, 72-62

With just under two minutes to play UMF scored its last points on jumper by Eric Taylor and Williams up 74-64. The Ephs Troy Whittington was fouled rebounding a missed Beaver shot and hit both free throws. Williams then hit six more free throws and James Wang buried a shot clock beating three with 17 seconds left to finish off the scoring and giving the Ephs an 83-64 win.

Leading 63-56 the Ephs got threes from James Wang and Blake Schultz from the top of the key to move out to a 69-56 lead.

The Beavers were led in scoring by Eric Taylor who netted 24 points, 19 in the second half and Eric Lelansky who tallied 18. Williams had three players with 20 or more points with Blake Schultz the top man with 23, James Wang had 22 and Alex Rubin added 21. Twenty of Wang’s 22 came in the second half. Eric Taylor also led UMF on the glass with 9, while Joe Geoghegan grabbed a Williams best 8. On the night UMF collected 32 rebounds and Williams grabbed 25.

The Beavers hit on 26-57 shots from the floor (46%), while Williams hit on 25-49 (51%). The Ephs were 13-26 from beyond the arc and a blistering 20-22 from the free throw line.

To open the game Maine-Farmington’s Eric Lelansky hit a three at 19:33 to give the Beavers a 3-0 lead and UMF did not score again until Kevin Leary nailed another three 6:12 later. In between the two UMF threes top-seeded Williams rolled out to 11-3 lead on five points from senior captain Blake Schultz.

Trailing 21-12 UMF fashioned a 13-2 run highlighted by two threes from Eric Lelansky and one from Andrew Dean to take a 25-23 lead with 5:51 to go before the intermission. Williams answered the Beavers’ run immediately with Schultz swishing a three from the left corner to put the Ephs back on top 26-25.

After a UMF miss the Ephs followed up with another three, this one from Alex Rubin.

Williams led at the intermission 35-29.

UMF’s Eric Lelanksy led the Beavers with 13 points on 5-7 from the floor and 3-5 from beyond the arc. The Ephs Blake Schultz led all scorers with 15 points connecting on 5-9 and 3-5 from beyond the arc.

Williams controlled the glass in the opening 20 minutes with a 20-14 advantage. Eric Taylor grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Beavers and Joe Geoghegan led Williams with 5.

The Beavers hit on 11-26 from the floor and 5-12 from three-point land. Williams went 12-28 and made 5 of 14 from behind the arc.