Williamsburg, Va. - Sophomore Brandon Britt knocked down a 3-pointer with 18.1 seconds remaining to propel the William and Mary men's basketball team to a 75-71 victory over Hofstra on Wednesday night at Kaplan Arena. The Green and Gold shot a season-high 55.6 percent from the floor and drilled 10 3-pointers on the way to the victory. The College improved to 6-24 overall and 4-13 in CAA, while the Pride dropped to 9-21 and 2-15 in league action.

Senior forward Quinn McDowell led the Tribe with 21 points on 6-of-12 shooting to go along with a team-best seven rebounds, while Britt added 14 points and a season-high five assists. The sophomore guard was 4-of-6 from the floor and 2-of-3 from 3-point range against the Pride. Senior forward JohnMark Ludwick provided the College with a huge lift on the bench, scoring 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including a pair of 3-pointers, to go with five rebounds and three assists in 17 minutes of action.



The Green and Gold lead never reached more than seven points in the second half, but was five, 70-65, following a Tim Rusthoven 3-point play with 5:11 remaining. Back-to-back buckets from Hofstra's Nathaniel Lester closed the gap to 70-69 less than a minute later, and the W&M advantage was still just a single-point, 72-71, after two Mike Moore free throws with 49.3 seconds remaining.

On the ensuing Tribe possession, the Green and Gold worked the clock, before Britt came off a ball screen at the top of the key and calmly knocked down a triple from straight on with just four remaining on the shot clock and 18.1 seconds left on the game clock. Hofstra missed its final two attempts from the field, and the Tribe celebrated the 75-71 victory.

W&M shot a season-high 55.6 percent (25-of-45) from the floor and hit 10-of-25 from 3-point range (40 percent). The Green and Gold dished out 15 assists on its 25 made field goals and blocked a season-high seven shots. Sophomore forward Tim Rusthoven led the way in the blocked shot category with three on the night to go along with nine points and six rebounds while being limited due to foul trouble. Freshman guard Marcus Thornton chipped in nine points off the bench for the College, while senior Kendrix Brown added four points, five rebounds and three assists.

The Tribe limited Hofstra to 31.3 percent (10-of-32) from the floor in the second half, and the Pride finished the game at 40 percent (24-of-60). Hofstra was 18-of-24 from the charity stripe (75 percent) and held a 33-31 advantage on the glass. Moore led all scorers with 25 points, doing most of his damage from the free throw line at 11-of-12. Lester finished with 18 points on 8-of-17 from the floor to go along with a team-high eight rebounds.

W&M raced out of the gates, scoring the first seven points of the game capped by a Matt Rum 3-pointer from the right corner less than two minutes into the contest. The Pride bounced right back with an 11-0 run of its own as Stevie Mejia scored five straight points, before a Moore lay-up put the away side on top 11-7 at the 15:13 mark.

The College regained the lead with six straight points as Ludwick knocked down his first triple of the game, and McDowell cashed in a steal for a fast-break 3-point play to give the home team a 13-11 lead just under 30 seconds later. The Pride regained the advantage on a 3-point play from Moore, before a Stephen Nwaukoni dunk off an inbounds pass gave Hofstra a 20-16 lead at the 12:32 mark.

The Pride lead reached its highest at 27-21 on a jumper from Moore with 9:41 remaining, but W&M put together 16-5 spurt to surge ahead for good. Brown and sophomore Julian Boatner hit back-to-back 3-pointers, before a pair of McDowell free throws evened the contest at 29. After the teams traded buckets, W&M scored six of the game's next seven points to take a five-point lead. Brown found Rusthoven for a lay-up, before Ludwick dished out McDowell at the 5:50 mark. A Thornton jumper from just inside the free throw line gave the College a 37-32 with 3:45 remaining in the first frame.

The Tribe lead jumped to six points after a Thornton 3-pointer at the 2:07 mark and following a Ludwick offensive putback with 54 seconds remaining, but Hofstra took momentum to the intermission. Moore banked in a 35-footer at the halftime horn to send W&M to the locker room with just a three-point advantage, 42-39. Both teams shot the ball well in the opening 20 minutes of play as the College hit for 65 percent (13-of-20) from the floor, while Hofstra shot 50 percent (14-of-28). The College was also 6-of-10 from 3-point range in the first half.

After Moore's lone field goal of the second half sliced the Tribe lead to one just 30 second into the frame, the Tribe built its lead back to six with five straight points. Britt found McDowell for a 3-pointer, before Thornton scored in transition on a take to the rim, giving the College a 47-41 lead less than two minutes into the half.

Hofstra again cut the Green and Gold margin to one on five straight points from Lester, before Britt and Ludwick knocked down back-to-back triples extending the lead to seven, 53-46, with 15:46 remaining. The lead remained seven, 63-56, as Ludwick rifled a pass to McDowell for a nifty lay-up at the 8:42 mark. Hofstra closed the gap to 67-65 with 5:39 remaining, before Rusthoven's 3-point play at the 5:11 mark made it a five-point W&M lead and set up the final sequence. 

The Tribe returns to action when it hosts Georgia State in the final 2011-12 regular season game on Saturday, Feb. 25, at Kaplan Arena. The afternoon tip-off is slated for 2 p.m., and it mark Senior Day as the final home games in the careers of Tribe seniors Kendrix Brown, JohnMark Ludwick and Quinn McDowell. W&M will honor its trio of seniors prior to tip-off with the Panthers so fans are ask to arrive early for the pregame festivities.

Fans can 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 will be available over the Web at TribeAthletics.com. The Tribe Athletics TV feed can be purchased at the home for W&M Sports as well.