Williamsburg, Va. - After returning to the court following the near two-week final examination break at the College, the William and Mary men's basketball team used an 11-point run spanning both halves and some second-half marksmanship from 3-point range to outdistance Wesley College, 70-47, on Thursday night. W&M scored the final six points of the first 20 minutes and the opening five points of the second half to gain the advantage, before putting the game away with a 13-1 spurt midway through the final half. W&M improved to 2-8 on the year, while Wesley fell to 2-5.

Sophomore guard Brandon Britt scored 17 of his game-high 20 points in the second half to lead the way for the Green and Gold. He finished 7-of-11 from the field and 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Freshman guard Marcus Thornton added 14 points on 4-of-6 from the floor off the bench, while senior forward Quinn McDowell chipped in 12 points to go along with team highs in rebounds (8) and assists (3).



W&M opened up a back-and-forth first 20 minutes of play, scoring the final six points of the half. With the game tied at 18 with 2:14 remaining, sophomore forward Tim Rusthoven converted 1-of-2 from the free throw line, before Thornton scored on a leaning jumper in transition to extend the margin to 21-18. After a pair of McDowell free throws, the Tribe had possession in the final 10 second of the opening half. Thornton drove the right side of the lane and was fouled on his lay-up attempt just missing an opportunity for a 3-point play chance. The Upper Marlboro, Md., native knocked down the first of two from the free throw line, and the College took a 24-18 advantage to the locker room.

W&M wasted little time pushing the advantage to double-digits for the first time, scoring the first five points of the second half. Senior guard Kendrix Brown found Rusthoven for a jumper from just inside the top of the 3-point arc on the opening play of the half, before Britt dished to McDowell for a 3-pointer in front of the Tribe bench to stake the Tribe to a 29-18 advantage less than two minutes into the second frame.

The Tribe lead was nine, 38-29, following a Darrell Johnson jumper at the 13:29 mark of the second half, before W&M put the game out of reach with a 13-1 run sparked by the play of Thornton and Britt. The young backcourt pair combined for 11 of the Tribe's 13 points on the spurt, including six fastbreak points. Thornton started the run with a leaner in the lane, before two McDowell free throws push the margin to 13.

Wesley cut into the gap back to 12 making 1-of-2 from the charity stripe, before Thornton scored on a fastbreak lay-up. Britt capped the run with seven straight points. After a coast-to-coast fastbreak lay-up off a defensive rebound, the sophomore guard made a steal and converted on a drive to put the College on top by 18. McDowell found Britt for a 3-pointer from the left wing to extend the margin to 51-30 and force a Wolverine timeout with 8:40 remaining in the contest.

The margin ballooned to as many as 26 over the remainder of the second half. McDowell and sophomore guard Julian Boatner knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead to 70-44 with 2:23 remaining as the adavantage reached its largest. In total, the Tribe knocked down seven 3-pointers in the second half of play, while shooting 48.4 percent (15-of-31) from the field.

For the game, W&M shot 39.3 percent (22-of-56) from the floor, while knocking down 10-of-29 from long range. The College also connected on 16-of-22 from the charity stripe and held a 40-37 advantage on the glass. Defensively, the Tribe limited Wesley to just 34.5 percent (20-of-58) from the field and 1-of-7 from 3-point range.

Brown turned in a nice all-round game for the Green and Gold, scoring eight points on a pair of 3-pointers, while adding five rebounds and a team-high three assists and two steals. Rusthoven equaled McDowell for team-high rebounding honors, pulling down eight, while adding seven points. Darrell Johnson, a transfer from Delaware, led the Wolverines with 11 points, while forward David Langan tallied a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Tribe will return to action when it hits the road to face No.8-ranked Missouri on Sunday, Dec. 18. The game will carry a 3 p.m. ET tipoff and be broadcast over the Internet on ESPN3.com. Tribe fans can also catch the action over the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley on the call. The Tide 92.3 FM in Williamsburg is the flagship station of the Tribe Radio Network and the broadcast can be heard over the Web at TribeAthletics.com.