Williamsburg, Va. - On Senior Day, the William and Mary men's basketball team's second-half rally came up short in a 64-60 setback to Georgia State Saturday afternoon at Kaplan Arena. Prior to tip-off, the College honored its trio of senior captains, Kendrix Brown, JohnMark Ludwick and Quinn McDowell, who played their final career home games. The Tribe fell to 6-25 overall and 4-14 in CAA play, while the Panther improved to 20-10 on the year and 11-7 in league action.

McDowell led a trio of Tribe players in double figures with 11 points and just missed a double-double with a team-high nine rebounds, three assists and two steals. Sophomore forward Tim Rusthoven finished with 10 points and seven rebounds to go along with three assists and two blocked shots, while freshman guard Marcus Thornton added 10 points, five rebounds and three assists.



After GSU jumped out of the gates to an early six-point lead, the Tribe answered with an 11-point spurt to take a five-point advantage. Trailing 10-4 following a Josh Micheaux lay-up, Brown knocked down a jumper from just inside the top of the key, before finding Rusthoven for a free throw line jumper at the 14:49 mark. The senior guard tied the game with a pair of free throws a minute later. Thornton knocked down a 3-pointer from the left side on the next Tribe possession, before dishing to Rusthoven for a lay-up to give the College a 15-10 advantage with 12:26 left in the opening half.

Six straight Georgia State points put the Panthers back on top 16-15 following a James Field offensive putback midway through the first frame. Brown cut through the GSU defense for a nifty lay-up to put the College back on top, 17-16, with 9:35 remaining. The Panthers put together a 15-0 run to take its largest lead of the first half at 31-17 with just 3:50 left. Jihad Ali scored five points during the spurt for GSU, before Devonta White capped it with a 3-pointer to give the Panthers the 14-point advantage.

W&M scored five straight points to pull back within nine. McDowell knocked down a 3-pointer from the left corner, before Ludwick hit a pair of free throws to make it 31-22 with 2:27 remaining. Georgia State, though, took a 33-22 advantage to the locker room on the strength of 44.8 percent (13-of-29) shooting in the opening stanza.

The Panthers hit on their first three 3-pointers of the second half, including a pair from Rashaad Richardson to extend its lead to the largest at 42-27 less then three minutes into the frame. W&M would not go quietly though and mounted a rally with seven straight points. After a pair of Brown free throws, McDowell hit Thornton for a fastbreak lay-up. On the ensuing GSU possession, McDowell made a steal and kicked to junior Matt Rum for a 3-pointer from the left wing to cut the deficit to 42-34 with 14:59 remaining.

Georgia State's lead was still just eight following a Julian Boatner 3-pointer from the left side. After a defensive stop for the Green and Gold, Thornton drove the right side of the lane and found Rusthoven for a lay-up to cut the deficit to 46-40 with 11:43 remaining in the contest.

The Panther lead ballooned back to as many as 13 points following White's fifth 3-pointer of the game at the 4:33 mark, but the Tribe reeled off 10 straight points to close the gap. Boatner drilled a triple from the left corner, before Thornton went coast-to-coast for a lay-up. Rum found McDowell for a lay-up off an inbounds pass at the 1:57 mark to cut the margin back to six, 58-52. Following the missed frontend of a 1-and-1 for GSU, McDowell kicked to Rum for a 3-pointer from the left side that sliced the deficit to 58-55 with 51 seconds remaining.

It was as close as the Tribe would get though. White hit a pair of free throws at the 40-second mark to extend the lead to five points, and the College missed three of its final four chances from 3-point range as Georgia State pulled out the four-point victory.

W&M shot 38.5 percent (20-of-52) for the game and finished 8-of-25 from 3-point range and 12-of-15 from the free throw line. The College dished out 15 assists on its 20 made field goals and held a 38-34 advantage on the glass. Georgia State connected on 40.4 percent (23-of-57) from the field, while hitting 42.9 percent (9-of-21) from 3-point range.

Rum finished with nine points, seven rebounds and three assists for the College, while hitting on 2-of-4 from 3-point range. Brown tallied eight points, four rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots on his senior day, while Boatner chipped in six on a pair of 3-pointers. White led all scorers with 22 points for Georgia State, hitting on 5-of-8 from 3-point range. Richardson finished with 11 on 3-of-6 from 3-point range, while Eric Buckner added 10 points and nine rebounds. Micheaux finished with a game-high seven assists for the Panthers.

The Tribe will be the No. 10 seed in the CAA Tournament, slated for March 2-5 in Richmond, Va. W&M will face the No. 7 seed Northeastern in the opening round of the league tournament at 6 p.m. on Friday, March 2. 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.