Richmond, Va. - The all-time CAA Tournament scoring record does not belong to NBA Hall of Famer David Robinson, longtime NBA player John Newman, former NBA'er Blue Edwards or current NBA player Eric Maynor.  It belongs to Tribe junior Quinn McDowell as he led the William and Mary men's basketball team to a 72-68 victory in the opening round of the 2011 Virginia 529 College Savings Plan CAA Championship on Friday night at the Richmond Coliseum.

The Tribe (10-21), which won for the sixth time in the CAA Tournament over the last four years, advances to the CAA Quarterfinals where it will face the No. 3 seed Hofstra at 8:30 p.m. A limited number of tickets (less than 2600) are still available for the second quarterfinal session. For more ticket information call the Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000 or visit TicketMaster.com.

The recent recipient of the Dean Ehlers Leadership Award not only bested his career high but shattered the CAA Tournament record for points scored in a game with 35.  McDowell bettered the previous record of 34 points set by John Newman of Richmond (1984), Blue Edwards of East Carolina (1989), and Darren McLinton of James Madison (1996). McDowell was nearly perfect shooting the ball as he finished on 10-of-12 from the floor, 5-of-6 from 3-point range and 10-of-11 from the free throw line. He added five rebounds and a pair of assists in 35 minutes of action.

The Green and Gold received a strong effort from freshman guard Brandon Britt, who finished with 11 points, including what proved to be the game-winning free throws in the final minute. Senior big man Marcus Kitts, who battled in the post all night, scored eight points, pulled down six rebounds and blocked three shots, while junior guard Kendrix Brown had a nice floor game with a game-high nine rebounds and a team-best four assists.

With the Tribe leading 67-63, JMU (21-11) scored five straight points to take in the lead in the final two minutes. A Julius Wells 3-pointer cut the gap to a single point, before a driving lay-up by Devon Moore with 1:21 remaining gave the Dukes a 68-67 lead. As the clock hit 54.9 seconds remaining in the contest, Britt drove hard to his left, went up and drew the foul. The Tribe rookie came up clutch in the waning seconds, making both free throws to put the Tribe back ahead 69-68.

On the Dukes next possession, Wells missed a jumper and Brown came up with a huge rebound. Needing a foul to conserve time, the Dukes put sophomore guard Matt Rum on the line, and he connected on both free throws increasing the College's advantage to 71-68 with only 27 seconds left.

The contest would end after a Humpty Hitchens 3-point opportunity to tie the game missed, and the College came up with rebound. McDowell was fouled with 6.6 seconds remaining and he knocked down 1-of-2 to put the game out of receach, 72-68.

The Tribe finished the game shooting 45.5 percent (20-of-44) from the floor, while hitting on 7-of-13 from 3-point range. W&M got to the free throw line, connecting 25-of-36 from the charity stripe. JMU shot 49.1 percent (26-of-53) from the field and was 6-of-16 from downtown. The Green and Gold held a 31-29 advantage on the glass and committed just eight turnovers.

In a first half that saw eight lead changes and nine ties, it was only fitting for the half to conclude in a 34-all tie. McDowell paced the Tribe with 15 points in the opening 20 minutes and was a perfect 5-of-5 from the field, 2-of-2 from 3-point range and 3-of-3 from the foul line.

A stingy Tribe defense early gave way to a 13-7 Green and Gold lead. The six-point advantage was sparked by a Brown steal ultimately leading to a Julian Boatner coast-to-coast layup to extend the margin to 8-4, before a McDowell conventional three-point play push the advantage to its largest at six with 13:53 remaining. 

JMU pulled even for the second time at 13 on Moore's third first-half 3-pointer. With just under eight minutes to play in the first frame, Britt intercepted a Hitchens' pass, leading to a fast break foul that sent the Chesapeake, Va., native to the free throw line. Britt's two freebies gave to Tribe a 21-20 advantage with 7:44 left to play.

After JMU tied the game once again at 24, McDowell scored five straight points. His trifecta with 3:29 left increased the Tribe lead by four, 29-25. Eventually a 3-pointer from Hitchens knotted the contest up again at 29. After JMU took a 32-31 lead, the Green Gold answered when McDowell drilled another trey before a Moore lay-up with 50 second remaining sent the contest to the intermission deadlocked at 34.

As the second half opened the Dukes took control and led 45-40 with less than four minutes gone. The Tribe rolled with the punches and weathered the Dukes surge. Over the first 10 minutes of the second frame, it seemed like the Dukes were seizing control of the game as JMU led 51-47 with 11:14 remaining. 

The last 10 minutes and change, however, would belong to the Green and Gold. Two McDowell free throws once again would tie the game up at 51 at the midway point.  After a JMU missed layup resulted in a Kitts defensive rebound, the College would take the lead on the next possession. McDowell drained another triple giving the Tribe a three-point advantage.  After two JMU free throws cut the margin to just one, a Kitts two-handed putback dunk ignited the Coliseum crowd, re-establishing the Tribe lead back to three.

An Andrey Semenov layup cut the Tribe lead to 56-55 with 8:07 remaining, before the Green and Gold answered the call with its season on the ropes. McDowell drilled another trifecta and increased the College's lead to four with 7:53 left.

A JMU 3-pointer by Hitchens cut the Duke deficit to 63-61 with under five minutes to play. With the Tribe leading 65-63, W&M made a defensive stop and as the College advanced the ball up court, the JMU bench was whistled for a technical foul. McDowell hit both of the freebies to push the Tribe cushion to 67-63 at the 2:51 mark, setting up the back-and-fourth ending. 

First Team All-CAA center Denzel Bowles, who was hampered by foul trouble, finished with five points for the Dukes on just 2-of-3 from the field to go along with two rebounds. Moore led the JMU attack with a career-high 22 points, while Semenov added 15 and Wells chipped in 13.