PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Williams College men's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season Sunday on the road at Rhode Island College.
The Ephs were edged 70-63, fading down the stretch of what was a tie game with 9 minutes, 24 seconds left in the second half.
Williams actually led 47-45 with 9:34 on the clock on a Hudson Hansen free throw. RIC knotted the game 10 seconds later on an and-1 layup by Noe Bom. The foul shot put the hosts in front for good.
Williams was within 53-52 on an Aidan Yates 3-pointer with 7:01 left, but Jalen Claude answered with a 3-ball of his own. The Ephs then went on a scoreless stretch of nearly 2 1/2 minutes and didn't make another field goal until 2:20 of the game when Justin Belcher's layup got them within 62-55.
Jackson Rein led the Ephs with 18 points, while Handel went for 16 and seven rebounds. Onyeraluobu Chibuogwu had 8 points, seven boards and four assists in 22 minutes. Williams shot just 22 of 66 from the field and a rough 11 of 25 from the foul line (44 percent).
The Ephs (5-1) are back home Tuesday night against Vassar with a 7 p.m. tip.
Women's Ice Hockey
KEENE, N.H. -- The Ephs did their level best to keep their train on the tracks this weekend, coming out of two road tilts with a shootout loss and a resounding 4-1 win at Keene Sunday.
The Ephs are now 3-1-2. They'll be back on road at Plattsburgh State Saturday for their final game of 2025. The women return to campus for a Jan. 2 home game against Lake Forest College.
Saturday's matchup at Wesleyan goes down as a 2-2 draw, while the home team did score a 2-0 win in penalty shots. It was, however, a tough tie to swallow as the Ephs went up 2-0 with a pair of quick second-period goals.
Williams' Zoe Rosenberg and Keira Harder scored just two minutes apart at 13:35 and 15:25 of the second period to grab a two-goal lead. Charlotte Fetherston, Reese Luber, Becca White and Savana Littlewood had assists.
However, the flurry swung both ways; all four of the game's goals were scored in a span of 4:07. Wesleyan got on the board just nine seconds after Harder's goal, and at 17:42 of the second, Parker Caldara evened the game.
Williams' Erin Pye was in net and made 28 saves.
As for Sunday's victory, a goal late in the second period by Jaelyn Keiver put the Ephs up 2-1. Noa Diop and Littlewood scored in the third period to put Keene away.
Keiver scored the opener as well, unassisted earlier in the second. Celine Mayer had two assists in the game, while Fetherston and White had two on the weekend.
Sophomore goalie Eva Bentley got her first collegiate start to spell Pye, playing all 60 minutes and making 13 saves for the win. It was also the first collegiate goals for Diop and Littlewood, both first-years.
Men's Ice Hockey
WILLIAMSTOWN -- It was a tough weekend for the Ephs, who were looking to build off consecutive wins the prior weekend.
But a pair of games against nationally-ranked foes left Williams in a hole. A 4-2 loss at No. 11 Babson Saturday was followed up with Sunday's scorching by No. 9 SUNY Geneseo at home.
At Babson, Williams (2-4-0) got a goal from Liam Jones in the second period and one from Brady Welsch to start the third. Welsch’s tally, off assists from Connor Berg and Jared Lambright tied the game 2-2, but the hosts scored twice withing six minutes and pulled away.
Berg had two assists.
The hole on Sunday was 4-0 in the first period. The Ephs chipped away with consecutive goals by jackson Krill and Gates Omicioli, but then fell back behind 6-2.
Conner Fitzpatrick scored the final Williams goal. Welsch added an assist in the game.