WILLIAMSBURG, VA - William and Mary freshman forward Corey Cofield (Wellesley, MA) scored four of his career-high 17 points in overtime, including the winning layup with five seconds remaining, to give the Tribe men's basketball team a thrilling, 67-66, overtime win against two-time defending Colonial Athletic Association champions UNC Wilmington at William and Mary Hall this evening. The Tribe improves to 3-2 (1-0 CAA) with the win, while the Seahawks drop to 3-2 (0-1 CAA).

UNCW started the game on a tear, as Aaron Coombs scored eight points to lead the Seahakws to their biggest lead of the game at 13 points, 24-11, with 8:59 on the clock. The Tribe responded by closing out the half on a 17-9 run, led by junior guard Nick D'Antoni (Myrtle Beach, SC) with six points and ending with a three by sophomore guard Taylor Mokris (Charlotte, NC) to close the half down just three points, 33-30.

Much like the Seahawks in the first half, the Tribe used a strong start to take a healthy lead in the second half. W&M opened the stanza on a 10-4 run, fueled by two three-pointers from senior forward and CAA Preseason Player of the Year Adam Hess (Grosse Pointe, MI), as the Tribe took its first lead since the early seconds at 40-37. W&M would run out to its biggest lead of the game, nine points, at 49-40 with 11:27 left, and held the lead until the Seahawks used a 9-1 run to reclaim a one-point lead, 57-56, with 37 seconds left, on a jumper by Ed Spencer. After two Spencer free throws upped the UNCW lead to three with 14 seconds left, the Tribe, with no timeouts, quickly raced down the floor. Hess tried a running three-pointer that was off target, but the ball came down to the waiting arms of redshirt freshman center Brian Hutt (Denver, CO). Hutt alertly kicked the ball out to walk-on freshman guard Adam Trumbower (Roanoke, VA), who drained a three-pointer, his only points of the game, to tie the score at 59 with 2.8 seconds remaining. UNCW had one last chance to win in regulation, but Halston Lane's jumper from 20 feet drew iron, sending the game into overtime.

UNCW took control early in the extra period, racing out to a 63-59 lead on two free throws by Taylor Lay and a jumper by Spencer. But the Tribe would not give up, as D'Antoni cut the lead to two with a wide-open layup off of a feed from Cofield. Lane sent the lead to five, 66-61, with a trifecta with two minutes left, the last Seahawk points of the evening. Cofield trimmed the lead to two with a wide-open layup with 1:38 left, and after a missed UNCW basket, Hess sank a layup the next time down the floor to close the UNCW lead to one at 66-65.

After a Tribe foul, Spencer missed the front end of a one-and-one and the rebound was corralled by senior forward Zeb Cope (Hopkins, SC). W&M sprinted down the floor and Hess fired up a short-range jumper that fell off the side, but he chased after the ball and deflected the rebound off of a UNCW player as he was going out of bounds. On the ensuing inbound play, Cofield broke free underneath the basket and took a pass from D'Antoni for a layup that would give the Tribe a 67-66 lead with just five seconds remaining. The Seahawks had one final chance, as Spencer took the inbounds pass, raced the length of the floor and pulled up for a 13-foot jumper, but it drew iron, allowing W&M to gain the win.

Hess finished with a game-high 20 points and eight rebounds in 41 minutes, as W&M controlled the glass, outre-bounding the Seahawks 32-26. Both teams shot well from the floor, as W&M shot 48.0% (24-50), while UNCW shot 44.4% (24-54). Coombs led the Seahawks with 13 points, while Spencer was close behind with 12.

"I'm very proud of our guys, it was a great night for our basketball team," commented Tribe head coach Tony Shaver. "It was a big moment for a lot of reasons, and one was we have to learn how to win games like that. I thought at the end of regulation we lost our composure a little but these guys did a great job of coming back in overtime and making plays when they had to make plays."

The Tribe returns to action at 7:00 PM on Saturday, December 6 at local conference rival Virginia Commonwealth. UNCW is off until Dec. 17, when the Seahawks host UNC Asheville.

Box Score | Photo Gallery