Williamsburg, Va. - The William and Mary men's basketball team led for the
majority of the contest on Wednesday night and held on late via the strength of
22-of-25 from the free throw line to upend James Madison, 68-61, at Kaplan
Arena. The College held the CAA's leading 3-point shooting team to just 2-of-23 and shot a season-best 60 percent in the first half to jump out to the early lead. The Green and
Gold improved to 3-12 on the season and 1-2 in CAA action, while the Dukes
dropped to 7-6 overall and 1-2 in league play.
Sophomore
Brandon Britt and freshman
Marcus Thornton paced
the Tribe attack with 16 points apiece, while senior
Quinn McDowell finished
with 14 points, including 12 in the second half. He was 5-of-8 from the field and knocked down 3-of-5
from 3-point range. Britt finished an impressive 10-of-11 from the free throw
line to go along with 3-of-6 from the floor, while Thornton was
5-of-11 shooting and a perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe. Senior guard
Kendrix Brown pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds, dished out a team-best three
assists and blocked a career-high two shots.
W&M increased its eight-point halftime lead to 10 in the
opening minutes of the second frame, before James Madison began chipping away.
The Dukes used a 10-2 run to close the gap to 36-34 six minutes into the second half. Devon Moore and A.J. Davis each scored four points of the run. McDowell answered with the 3-pointer from the Green and Gold
at the 13:07 mark to push the margin back to five at 39-34, but it was an Enoch Hood
jumper from the left elbow gave the Dukes its first lead, 41-40, since 2-0 at the 10:46
mark of the second half.
Brown answered on the offensive end with a 3-pointer from in
front of the Tribe bench, but a triple from the Dukes' Humpty Hitchens at the
9:16 mark of the second stanza gave JMU at 46-45 lead and forced a W&M timeout. Out of the break, the
Green and Gold embarked on a 10-1 run to retake the lead and extend it to eight. Britt put
the College back on top with a twisting lay-up, before McDowell canned
back-to-back 3-pointers. A pair of Britt free throws at the 5:32 mark gave the
College a 55-47 advantage.
Four straight Davis' points for the Dukes narrowed the gap to
four, but the College cushion jumped back to eight, 60-52, following a McDowell
layup with 3:18 remaining. James Madison would not go quietly, scoring seven straight
points to draw within a single point. Alioune Diouf, who finished with 10 rebounds, converted on a conventional
3-point play, before Moore hit a pair of jumpers with the second closing
the gap to 60-59 with two minutes remaining.
Following a Tribe timeout, Brown found Thornton with a
cross-court pass and the W&M rookie canned a big 3-pointer from the right
wing to extend the lead to four points, 63-59. The College was able to five of
their final six free throws to preserve the 68-61 triumph.
The Tribe finished the contest shooting 47.6 percent (20-of-42)
from the floor and 50 percent (6-of-12) from 3-point range, but the biggest
advantage for W&M came at the free throw line where it sank 22-of-25 (88
percent). The Green and Gold outrebounded JMU, 32-30, on the night and did a
remarkable job defending the 3-point line, holding the Dukes to 8.7
percent(2-of-23) from long range. JMU entered the game leading the CAA in both 3-point field
goal percentage (38 percent) and 3-pointers per game (8.6). W&M also
limited the Dukes to 36.2 percent (21-of-58) from the field.
After James Madison scored the opening points of the game on
an offensive putback, the Green and Gold scored nine straight points to take a lead it would not relinquish in the opening 20 minutes. Thornton highlighted the spurt for W&M with five points,
including a conventional 3-point play. He found sophomore forward
Tim Rusthoven,
who finished with eight points and five rebounds, for a lay-up to put the
College on top 9-2 at the 16:01 mark.
The Dukes closed the gap scoring eight of the game's next 10 points. Enoch Hood's
follow-up dunk with 11:55 left in the first half cut the deficit to 11-10.
Leading 15-14, the Green and Gold scored six quick points to push the advantage to
21-14. Junior guard
Matt Rum canned a 3-pointer from the right wing and was
fouled. He added the free throw, before McDowell cut to the basket for a lay-up
to give the Tribe the seven-point lead with 8:52 left in the first half.
JMU narrowed the margin to 23-22 following a free throw from
Devon Moore, before W&M extended its advantage. The College scored nine-straight points, sparked by seven points from Britt. After he converted a
3-point play on the fastbreak, Brown found him for another fastbreak lay-up to
push the lead to 32-22 with 50.9 seconds left in the half. The Dukes scored the
final points of the opening 20 minutes on a pair of free throws, but W&M
took a 32-24 advantage to the locker room. The College shot the ball exceptionally
well in the opening half, hitting on 60 percent (12-of-20) from the floor.
A.J. Davis led James Madison with 19 points to go along with
seven rebounds and four steals. Moore added 15 points, while the Tribe limited Hitchens
to just 10 points. He entered the contest ranked fourth in the CAA at 16.8
points per game.
The Tribe will return to action when it hosts Delaware, a 67-66 victory over Hofstra on Wednesday night, on
Saturday, Jan. 7. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m. at Kaplan Arena and the game
will be televised on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic and The Comcast
Network-Philadelphia with Mike Corey and Pat Kennedy calling the action. Tribe
fans can also catch the action over the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley,
Bill McDonald and Charlie Woollum 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 on the Internet at TribeAthletics.com.