RICHMOND, Va. - The William and Mary men's basketball team dropped a tough double-overtime game at rival Richmond, 86-78, on Wednesday night. W&M rallied from a seven-point deficit with eight minutes remaining and led toward the end of regulation and the first overtime before the Spiders pulled out the double-overtime victory. W&M falls to 3-3 on the season, while Richmond improves to 5-2.

Sophomore guard Marcus Thornton led four Tribe players in double figures with 22 points, including a 4-of-8 effort from 3-point range, while junior forward Tim Rusthoven added 20 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Junior Kyle Gaillard tied a W&M school record going a perfect 7-of-7 from the floor in scoring a season-high 16 points. He became the first player to go a perfect from the field with a minimum of seven attempts since 2004 and the ninth W&M player overall. Junior guard Brandon Britt rounded out the double-digit scorers with 14 points.

Richmond led by as many as seven points in second half, including a 56-49 advantage with 8:17 remaining following a Darien Brothers lay-up. The Green and Gold answered scoring 15 of the game's next 20 points to take the lead. Thornton started the spurt with a 3-pointer from the left wing as senior guard Matt Rum pulled down an offensive rebound and found an open Thornton for the triple.

Freshman Sean Sheldon tipped in a Thornton miss on the fast break, before the sophomore guard knocked down a jumper to close the gap to two points. After a Richmond 3-pointer, Britt found Rusthoven for a lay-up, before the junior guard made a steal that resulted in his own 3-pointer from in front of the Tribe bench to tie the contest at 61 with 3:17 remaining.

A Kyle Gaillard free throw gave W&M a 62-61 lead less than a minute later. Following a defensive stop for the Green and Gold on a Rusthoven block and rebound, Thornton extended the margin to 64-61 with a pair of free throws at the 1:15 mark. The Spiders sent the game to overtime on a Cedrick Lindsay 3-pointer from the right wing with just 31 seconds remaining. Thornton had a chance for the game-winner at the end of regulation, but his attempt from just inside the top of the key hit off the back iron.

In the first extra session, W&M raced out to the advantage, scoring the first five points. Rusthoven scored on a tip-in, before Thornton knocked down a jumper. A Britt free throw at the 2:36 mark gave W&M a 69-64 lead. The Tribe lead was three points, 71-68, following a pair of Rusthoven free throws, but Kendall Anthony pulled the Spiders even with a conventional 3-point play. The UR sophomore guard drove the right side of the lane and converted on the floater, while drawing the foul. His free throw with 47 seconds left tied the contest at 71. Both teams had chances to win it in the final 27 seconds of the first extra period, but neither could convert.

Richmond took the early lead in the second OT on a pair of Anthony free throw less than a minute into the period. The lead jumped to four points after a Lindsay 3-point play at the 3:15 mark. Thornton canned a triple pulling the College back within one, 76-75, with 2:07 remaining, but the Spiders answered with an 8-0 run on the way to the 86-78 victory.  It marked the Tribe's first double-overtime game since falling in triple-OT to Harvard on Nov. 15, 2009 and the first extra session game in the series with Richmond since 1985.

W&M finished the game shooting 48.3 percent (29-of-60) from the floor, including a 6-of-13 effort (46.2 percent) from 3-point range. The Tribe held a 33-29 advantage over UR on the glass. The Spiders placed five guys in double figures led by Brothers 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including a 4-of-6 clip from 3-point range. Derrick Williams added a double-double for Richmond with 17 points and 11 rebounds. UR shot 50 percent (28-of-56) from the field and was 11-of-25 (44 percent) from 3-point range. The Spiders also connected on 90.5 percent (19-of-21) from the free throw line.

After Richmond opened the game with a 3-pointer from Brothers, W&M reeled off an 11-2 run to take an early six-point advantage, 11-5. Gaillard sparked the spurt for the Green and Gold with six points, all on drives to the basket.

The Spiders pulled even at 21 on a Greg Robbins 3-pointer at the 7:04 mark, before taking a two-point advantage on a Brothers jumper. The lead bounced back and forth with neither side taking more than a two-point advantage over the remainder of the half. UR took a 34-32 lead to the intermission following a pair of Lindsay free throws with eight second left in the frame.

The Tribe returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 1, when it opens Colonial Athletic Association play against instate rival Old Dominion. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. in Kaplan Arena and five points will be up for grabs in the Optima Health Challenge. The game will also mark the Shoeless Showdown as both W&M and ODU along with C&F Bank and Chick-fil-A team up to raise awareness for children and adults in the area in need of shoes. Both coaching staffs will be barefoot for the game and fans that bring a new pair of children or adult shoes to the game will receive a free ticket to the game.  In addition, each person donating a new pair of shoes will also get a voucher for a free Chick-fil-A sandwich, a $10 voucher toward a new C&F checking account and a ticket to either the upcoming Tribe home games against Howard University on Wednesday, Dec. 6, or Salisbury University on Friday, Dec. 21. All shoes will be donated to the Williamsburg Salvation Army. 

Fans can also follow the action on 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 found over the Internet at TribeAthletics.com. The Tribe Athletics TV video stream for the event can be purchased at TribeAthletics.com as well.