ATLANTA, Ga. - In a tale of two halves, the William and Mary men's
basketball team fell on the road at Georgia State, 74-58, on Wednesday night.
The Green and Gold led by as many as 14 in the first half and five at the
intermission, before the Panthers rallied behind 51.9 percent shooting and a
perfect 14-of-14 from the free throw line in the second half to outdistance the
Tribe. W&M fell to 7-9 overall and 1-4 in CAA play, while GSU improved to
7-11 on the year and 2-3 in league action.
Junior forward
Tim Rusthoven produced his second
double-double of the season with 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field
and 6-of-7 from the free throw line to go along with 10 rebounds. Sophomore guard
Marcus Thornton was the only
other Tribe player in double figures with 13 points, while adding a team-best four
assists compared to just one turnover.
The Tribe broke open a 9-all contest with eight straight points. Thornton scored back-to-back buckets, before a
Rusthoven lay-up and a pair of free throws gave the College a 17-9 lead midway
through the opening half.
A dump down pass from Thornton to Rusthoven extended the
Tribe lead to double digits for the first time at 23-12 with 6:10 left in the opening half. The Green and Gold cushion ballooned to 14 as sophomore
Tom Schalk pulled down an offensive rebound, got the putback and drew the foul in
the process. He completed the conventional 3-point play at the 3:01 mark to
give the College a 32-18 advantage.
Georgia State closed the half on a 10-1 run to narrow the
gap to five at the intermission. A Kevin Shaw 3-pointer as time expired cut the
Tribe lead to 33-28.
The Panthers carried the momentum over into the second half
as GSU hit eight of its first 10 shots from the floor, including a pair of
3-pointers. The hot streak flipped the Tribe's five points lead at the break
into a five-point Panther advantage. Rashaad Richardson scored nine of GSU's
first 20 points of the half. A Manny Atkins steal led to a fastbreak lay-up from Richard at
the 13:51 mark to give the Panthers a 48-43 lead.
W&M twice cut the deficit to three points, including at
the 9:52 mark on a lay-up from junior
Kyle Gaillard. GSU responded with a 10-0
scoring run. A Richardson 3-poiner pushed the cushion to double-digits for the
first time, before a James Vincent dunk capped the run at 60-47 with 4:46
remaining. W&M could get no closer than 10 points the rest of the way, and
the Panthers put the game out of reach, going a perfect 12-of-12 from the foul
line over the final 1:41 of the contest.
W&M finished the contest at 37.7 percent (20-of-53) from
the field and dished out 14 assists on 20 made field goals. The College was
14-of-16 from the charity stripe. Junior guard
Julian Boatner knocked down a pair of 3-pointers off the bench, finishing with six points, while freshman
Terry Tarpey added five rebounds.
Georgia State finished the game shooting 43.1
percent (22-of-51) from the floor and was an impressive 23-of-25 (92 percent)
from the free throw line. GSU held a 34-28 advantage on the glass. Atkins led
all scorers with 21 points from Georgia State to go along with five steals.
Richardson added 12 points, while Devonta White chipped in 11 points and five assists.
The Tribe returns home to face the Drexel Dragons on
Saturday, Jan. 19. The contest carries a 2 p.m. tip and will be televised Comcast
SportsNet Mid-Atlantic and New England as well as Comcast Sports Southeast and The
Comcast Network Philadelphia with Tony Limarzi and John Feinstein on the call. Tribe
fans can 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 heard
at TribeAthletics.com as well.
