Williamsburg, Va. - On the strength of its most complete game of the season, the William and Mary men's basketball team thumped Northeastern, 79-54, at Kaplan Arena on Saturday night. The Green and Gold broke open a close contest with a 15-0 run to end the first half and poured in on in the second half, leading by as many as 32, on the way to the lopsided victory. The 79 points were the most for the Tribe this season and the most allowed by the Huskies in CAA play. W&M improved to 5-22 on the year and 3-12 in CAA play, while Northeastern fell to 11-14 overall and 7-8 in league action.

Sophomore guard Brandon Britt turned in a sensational performance, leading four Tribe players in doubles figures with a season-high 24 points on 10-of-14 from the floor to go along with two assists.  Freshman guard Marcus Thornton scored 14 points, including a 3-of-4 effort from 3-point range, and added a pair of assists, while sophomore forward Tim Rusthoven just missed a double-double with 14 points and eight rebounds. Senior forward Quinn McDowell rounded out the Tribe double-digit scorers with 13 points on 3-of-6 from 3-point range to go along with four assists.



Leading 26-22 with 4:47 remaining in the opening half following a Northeastern fast-break lay-up, the Green and Gold ratcheted up the pressure on both ends of the court to sezie conrol. Britt and Thornton ignited a 15-0 W&M run to end the first frame. On the defensive end, the College limited NU to 0-of-4 from the floor over the final 4:47, while pressuring the Huskies into four turnovers.

Britt started the spurt by driving the left side of the lane and finding junior guard Matt Rum for a triple along the left wing. After a W&M free throw, Thornton hit a nice floater in the lane to push the lead to double-digits for the first time. Britt converted an old-fashion 3-point play, before a steal and fastbreak lay-up by the Chesapeake, Va., native extended the W&M cushion to 16 and forced a Northeastern timeout with 51.6 seconds remaining. After a W&M defensive stop, Thornton canned a triple from the top of the key to send the Green and Gold to the locker room with a 41-22 advantage.

The Tribe shot 51.7 percent (15-of-29) from the field in the opening 20 minutes, while hitting on 6-of-10 from 3-point range. Britt (13) and Thornton (11) led the way, combining for 24 first-half points. Defenisvely, W&M limited NU to 36 percent (9-of-25) from the floor.

Northeastern could only close to within 17 points on three occasions in the opening two and a half minutes of the second half, but the Tribe continually beat the Husky full-court pressure for easy lay-ups to extend the lead. Five straight points pushed the margin to 24 as Britt and Rusthoven both scored on fastbreak lay-ups, before Thornton knocked down a free throw to give the College a 54-30 lead with 15:26 left.

Leading 63-41 following a Quincy Ford jumper at the 7:05 mark, the Tribe dropped the hammer with a 14-4 spurt. After a Rusthoven jumper off a feed from senior Kendrix Brown, McDowell returned the favor, finding Brown for a 3-pointer from the left side. On the ensuing Northeastern possession, Brown made a leaping steal, which resulted in a fast-break bucket for Britt to push the lead to 70-41. Brown added a nifty banking jumper in the lane, before Britt capped the run by hitting McDowell for a 3-pointer from the right side. The trifecta gave W&M its largest lead of the night, 79-47, on the way to the lopsided win.

The Tribe just missed hitting 50 percent from the floor, finishing at 49.2 percent (30-of-61). The Green and Gold knocked down 10-of-20 from 3-point range, while dishing out a season-high 18 assists and dominating the glass with a 38-24 advantage over the Huskies. Brown turned in a nice all-around performance with eight points on 3-of-4 from the floor and 2-of-3 from 3-point range to go along with a team-high four assists, five rebounds and three steals. Rum led the Green and Gold charge on the boards with a team-high nine rebounds to go along with a pair of 3-pointers and three assists.

Defensively, Britt and Brown both turned in standout performances, limiting Northeastern's junior backcourt of Jonathan Lee and Joel Smith to a combined six points on 2-of-10 from the floor and  just two assists compared to eight turnovers. Britt hounded Lee into a 0-of-5 shooting night with four turnovers and just one assist. Lee entered the game ranked among the CAA top 10 in CAA at 14.8 points and 3.6 assists per game. Brown held Smith, who entered the contest at nearly 12 points per game, scoreless in the second half.

Freshman Quincy Ford led the Huskies with 21 points on 10-of-16 from the floor, while fellow classmate Reggie Spencer added 10 points and a team-high six rebounds. Northeastern finished at 44.9 percent (22-of-49) from the floor, but were just 3-of-13 from 3-point range and committed 16 turnovers.

The Tribe returns to action when it hits the road to face CAA-leading Drexel for a Valentines Day televised affair. The contest is slated for a 7 p.m. tip-off in the City of Brotherly Love on Tuesday, Feb. 14, and will be televised on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic and Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia. Tribe fans can also catch the action on the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley and former Tribe player John Leone 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 Web at TribeAthletics.com.