He needed one last shot.
When Robert Morris senior guard Josh Williams’ try at tying the NCAA’s single-game 3-point record banged off the rim with 10 seconds left on the clock Wednesday, he thought it was over. But the ball ricocheted off a tangle of legs under the hoop and wound up in teammate Chris Coalmon’s hands. Williams took the pass, dribbled once and knocked down his 15th 3-pointer.
The shot, scored with 0.7 seconds left in the Colonials’ 104-57 trampling of Mount Aloysius at North Athletic Complex, tied an NCAA record for most 3-pointers in a game set by Marshall’s Keith Veney Dec. 14, 1996. Williams scored a school-record 49 points on 16-of-26 shooting — 15-of-25 from 3-point range, plus a layup. Robert Morris’ 22 3s also were a program record.
“Out of the 25 threes Josh took, maybe the last two were forced,” Colonials head coach Andy Toole said. “For the most part, they were all really good looks.”
For Williams, who sat out last season after transferring from Akron, Wednesday was a home debut he’d been anticipating. He shot 39 percent on 3-pointers at Akron, and Toole believes he’ll be an important perimeter presence for the Colonials. But in losses to USC and Missouri State last week, Williams made just four of 17 3-point attempts. He was frustrated.
Before Wednesday’s game, Williams needed to shoot. He asked Sam Fredland, a third-year student manager for the team, to rebound. The shooting session lasted 90 minutes.
“This is really [Fredland’s] night,” Williams said. “That was his 49-point game right there.”
The Colonials controlled the opening tip — and just about everything after it. Williams and his brother Jon, a sophomore guard, both splashed 3-pointers before Mount Aloysius hit its first bucket, and Josh Williams immediately answered that with another 3-point. By halftime, he’d made a career-high seven 3-pointers. He had 23 points at the break; the Mounties had 24.
Williams said teammates told him at halftime to keep shooting. He wasn’t aware he was approaching any records, and neither was Toole. The Colonials’ previous scoring record was held by Maurice Carter, who scored 42 on Nov. 26, 2002. Three players in their history had topped out at nine 3-pointers in a game. Josh Williams would smash both records.
In the second half, each time Williams shot, the crowd exploded before the ball landed, and the Colonials bench burst into hysterics. Toole brought his starters to the bench just past the midpoint of the second half, shortly after Williams hit No. 12. It didn’t take long before a chant — “We want Josh! We want Josh!” — spread through the crowd. The starters returned.
With 6:09 left, Williams hit his 13th 3-pointer and climbed to 41 points, one off the school record. He made No. 14 to set the record, but on the next possession he passed up a deep look to dish to a teammate in the paint. With 2:58 remaining, Toole pulled Williams again. The move was met with boos and a resurgence of the chant: “We want Josh! We want Josh!”
“Like most of the time, coaches ruin stuff,” Toole admitted afterward, smiling. “So I took him out. I didn't know he was one short of the record.”
As fans pleaded their case from across the court, a student manager informed Williams he was one 3-pointer away from the NCAA record. A teammate heard and told Toole. That’s when it clicked for the head coach — no wonder the fans were angry. With 1:24 left, Williams checked back in. He passed on a deep three and instead made two free throws.
At the free-throw line, Williams heard Mounties guard Josiah Jones say, “You didn't want to shoot that one? Didn't want to Steph Curry me?” Williams smiled and said he’d shoot it. So on the next possession, the defender backed off and Williams shot. It clanged off the iron. The Colonials got the ball back, and he missed again from the corner with 10 seconds left.
“I thought I was done,” Williams said.
But he got one last shot, and he buried it. Afterward, Williams said it was his best shooting performance ever, but not his best ever. He can play better defense. He can distribute. Toole liked the way Williams attacked open looks. He can’t pass up open looks, Toole said, because teams will be looking for new ways to shut him down. Especially now.
“I think the unselfishness is rubbing off on everybody,” Williams said after securing his spot in NCAA history. “Next game, I’m going to find the hot hand just like they found me.”
Stephen J. Nesbitt: snesbitt@post-gazette.com and Twitter @stephenjnesbitt.
First Published: November 15, 2018, 2:51 a.m.
Updated: November 15, 2018, 3:48 a.m.
