Williamsburg, Va. - The William and Mary men's basketball team's second-half rally came up short in an offensive shootout against VCU, 87-78, on Wednesday night at Kaplan Arena. The Green and Gold trailed by as many as 19 in the second half, but sliced the deficit to just seven and had possession with under five minutes remaining, before the Rams were able to pull out the road victory. The Tribe's 78 points were a season best and the most allowed by VCU this season. W&M fell to 4-20 overall and 2-10 in CAA play, while VCU won for the eight straight time in improving to 19-5 on the year and moved into a first-place tie in the CAA standings at 10-2.



The Tribe backcourt of freshman Marcus Thornton and sophomore Brandon Britt were sensational on the night, combining for 47 points and six assists. Thornton poured in a career-high 28 points on 10-of-12 from the floor and 5-of-6 from 3-point range. Britt scored 19 points and added a team-high four assists to go along with four rebounds and three steals. Junior Quinn McDowell and sophomore Tim Rusthoven each just missed a double-double. McDowell tallied eight points and a season-high eight rebounds to go along with four assists, while Rusthoven chipped in seven points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

W&M came out of the gates firing as it hit four of its first five shots from the field, including a perfect 3-of-3 from long range. Sophomore Matt Rum drilled a triple from the right wing to give the College a 12-5 cushion just over five minutes into the contest. The Rams responded with a 14-0 run as Treveon Graham scored five straight points, before his steal led for a fast-break dunk for Rob Brandenberg. The VCU lead was 19-12 following a Brandenberg free throw at the 10:17 mark of the opening half.

Britt canned a long 3-pointer for W&M, and Thornton hit on a pair from the free throw line to close the gap to 19-17 less than a minute later. VCU scored eight of the game's next 10 points to push the margin back to eight as Brandenberg and Graham knocked down back-to-back threes. Juvonte Reddic's dunk at the 7:49 mark gave VCU a 27-19 advantage.

The VCU lead reached as many as 12 following Troy Daniel second straight 3-pointer, but a Thornton triple on the break closed the gap to 37-30 with 1:19 remaining in the opening half. Out of its own 30-second timeout, the Rams seized control of the contest with a seven-point spurt to end the half. Reddic started things with a conventional 3-point play, before a Bradford Burgess offensive putback at the buzzer sent VCU to a 44-30 halftime advantage.

In the second half, the VCU lead reached as many as 19, 55-36, following a Reddic jumper less than four minutes into frame. An 11-4 run by the College closed the gap back to 12 as McDowell, Thornton and sophomore Julian Boatner each hit 3-pointers on the run. Boatner's long-distance bucket from the left corner made it 59-47 with 13:12 remaining.

The VCU margin was 14, 75-61, after Graham's third 3-pointer of the contest with 6:44 remaining, before the Green and Gold went on a run. Seven straight points from the Tribe drew W&M within single digits for the first time in the second frame. Britt scored on a coast-to-coast fastbreak lay-up, and Rum found McDowell for a 3-pointer from the right wing to narrow the margin to 75-68 with 5:06 remaining.

After a defensive stop, the Tribe had possession with a chance to cut the gap further, but VCU came up with a big steal. On the ensuing Ram possession, Briante Weber followed up his own miss to push the lead back to nine. A fast-break dunk by Thornton off a steal and feed ahead by McDowell closed the gap back to seven, 77-70, but VCU again answered as Reddic lowered the shoulder in the post and got an NBA-style conventional 3-point play to extend the Ram lead to 10. VCU hit seven of its final eight free throws to put the game away.

W&M finished the game shooting 47.3 percent (26-of-55) from the floor, including 12-of-27 (44 percent) from 3-point range. The Tribe connected on 70 percent (14-of-20) from the charity stripe and outrebounded VCU, 33-31. The Tribe also dished out 14 assists and only turned the ball over 13 times against a VCU team that averages nearly 18 forced turnovers per game.

The Rams countered with 53.2 percent (33-of-62) from the floor, 40 percent (8-of-20) from 3-point range and 81.3 percent (13-of-16) from the free throw line. Reddic led VCU with 20 points to go along with seven rebounds while Brandenberg added 17 and Daniels scored 16 on 4-of-8 from 3-point range.

The Tribe will return to action when it travels to UNCW on Saturday, Feb. 4. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. at Trask Coliseum. Fans can 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. The live video stream can be purchased at both TribeAthletics.com and UNCWSports.com. W&M fans that have already purchased a Tribe Athletics TV membership will be able to view the game as part of regular package at no further cost.