WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – Williams junior guard James Wang got the Ephs off to a hot start netting the first seven points of the game with two jumpers and a three pointer and assisting on a three from Nate Robertson to give Williams an early 10-3 lead.
After a 10-foot baseline jumper by Taylor Epley Williams led 22-8 and Westfield called time out at 11:58.
A deep three by James Wang at 8:18 from the left side made the score 30-17 Ephs and forced the second timeout by the Owls.
Matt Devine led the Owls in the first half with 9 points and he opened the contest by netting 9 of Westfield's first 16 points.
At 7:10 Harlan Dodson drew a charge on Matt Devine and in his frustration Devine received a technical for intentionally dropping the ball on the prone Dodson.
Devine's charge and the technical gave him 3 fouls on the day and sent him to the bench. Wang hit one of the two technical free throws and Williams lead 35-18.
A three-point play by Taylor Epley and a three from the right corner by James Klemm off a feed from Nate Robertson with 4:54 left boosted the Eph lead to 41-21.
Westfield packaged a traditional three-point play by Travis Nally and two jumpers by Marcellus Lee to cut the Ephs lead to 15 at 43-28 with 2:59 to go.
Williams held a 17-point lead 48-31.
James Wang led all scorers with 16 points and Eph first year Taylor Epley was the only other player in double figures in the opening 20 minutes tallying 12.
Williams won the battle of the boards 25-19 and sophomore guard Nate Robertson was tops with 6. Westfield was led on the glass by Devine who collected 5.
The Eph defense held Westfield to just 32% from the floor 11-34, while the Ephs were 16-33 for 48.5 % and 9-15 from beyond the arc.
Matt Devine hit a deep two from the left baseline at 14:43 of the second half and Westfield coach John Sutter called a quick timeout with Williams leading 55-38. Out of the timeout the Owls came with full court man to man pressure.
An Andrew Morgan layup cut Westfield's deficit to 15, 55-40 but James Wang went coast to coast and hit a fall away jumper from the left baseline to make it 57-40 in favor of the Ephs.
At 10:33 James Wang hit two free throws, giving him 20 on the night and Williams a 17-point lead, 59-42.
A James Klemm three from the left corner off a pass from Nate Robertson lifted the Williams lead to 20, 64-44, with 9:09 to play and prompted Westfield State to take a full timeout.
Two free throws by Harlan Dodson gave Williams a 74-53 lead at 4:52.
Williams went on to win 80-65 collecting their 12th straight win of the year (12-0), while Westfield fell to 4-8.
James Wang led all scorers with 22 and Westfield's Matt devine scored 21. Devine led all rebounders with 9 and Nate Robertson led the Ephs on the glass with 7. Robertson also posted a game-high 7 assists.
Both teams ended up shooting 40% from the floor in the game with Westfield connecting on 24 of 60 and Williams hitting on 24-59.
"Give Westfield a lot of credit, they were well-prepared to play today and we weren't," said Eph head coach Mike Maker. "We didn't play Williams basketball. I don't care about wins and losses I care about team chemistry and supporting your teammates… I saw a team out there that was stale and running on empty… this is only the second time I've been disappointed at Williams in our approach to a basketball game. A lot of teams are circling us on their schedules, we need to prepare better."
Williams will play Elms College tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m., while Westfield will battle Clarkson University at 3:00 p.m.