TOWSON, Md. - The William and Mary men's basketball team led by 13 points with seven minutes remaining, but Towson rallied to pull out a 99-86 double-overtime victory on Wednesday night. A Matt Rum tip-in gave the College a 60-47 lead in the second half, but the Tigers scored the final seven points in regulation to send the game to OT. In the first extra session, sophomore Marcus Thornton knocked down two 3-pointers in the final 20 seconds to extend the game into a second OT period, where Towson was 4-of-6 from the floor and 10-of-12 from the free throw line to down the Tribe. W&M fell to 7-7 on the year and 1-2 in CAA play, while the Tigers improved to 8-8 and 3-0 in league action.

Sophomore guard Marcus Thornton led five Tribe players in double figures with 24 points, including a 6-of-14 from 3-point range, to go with a career-high four steals. The six 3-pointers tied a career-high and are the ninth most in a single game by a Tribe player in school history. Junior guard Brandon Britt added 17 points, all after halftime, while fellow classmate Kyle Gaillard just missed a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds to go with a team-high five assists. Senior guard Matt Rum chipped in 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including a pair of 3-pointers, and junior forward Tim Rusthoven finsihed with 12 points, five rebounds and three assists.

After a defensive-minded opening half where both teams struggled to find rhythm offensively, W&M charged out of the gates to start the second frame. Britt scored 10 points in the opening five minutes and change of the second half. Six straight Green and Gold points, including four from Britt, snapped a 33-all tie. Rusthoven dove for a loose rebound on the floor and found a cutting Britt for a short jumper at the 16:24 mark to force a Towson timeout and put the Tribe on top, 39-33.

Towson closed to four, 43-39, on a fastbreak lay-up by Rafriel Guthrie at the 13:54, before the Tribe answered with back-to-back 3-pointers. Gaillard knocked down a triple from the right corner, before a Thornton three from the right side extended the Green and Gold margin to double digits for the first time at 49-39 with 12:47 remaining.

The Tribe lead was nine, 56-47, before a Rusthoven jumper pushed the advantage back to double figures. Rum tipped in a Britt missed lay-up in transition, giving W&M its largest lead of the contest at 60-47 with 7:13 remaining.

Towson responded with eight straight points to close to 60-55 with 4:44 left. The Tribe lead was four, before Thornton knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key to extend the lead back to seven, 64-57, with 3:45 remaining. A Britt driving lay-up at the three-minute mark gave the College a nine-point cushion.

A Marcus Damas 3-pointer cut the Tribe lead to 68-64 with 1:09 remaining. Following a missed Towson 3-pointer with 24 seconds remaining, W&M was whistled for a loose ball foul on a rebound that ended up in the hands of Britt. Damas connected on both free throws to narrow the gap to two. Towson's Kris Walden stole the ensuing inbounds pass and tied the game at 68 with 17.7 seconds remaining. The Tribe could not get off a game-winning attempt at the end of regulation, and the teams headed to overtime.

W&M scored the opening four points of overtime as Britt made a steal at the 3:29 mark that resulted in a fastbreak lay-up, putting the College on top 72-68. The Tigers scored eight straight points and a pair of free throws from Mike Burwell with 15 seconds remaining gave Towson a 76-72 advantage. It was Thornton to the rescue in the closing seconds of OT. The sophomore guard knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key to close W&M within one. After two more Towson free throws, he canned a triple over a Tiger defender from the right wing with just six-tenths of a second remaining to tie the game at 78 and force a second overtime.

The second overtime period was all Towson as the Tigers scored 11 of the session's first 12 points to take an 89-79 lead with just over a minute remaining in the period. W&M closed to 92-86 on a Thornton 3-pointer with 43 seconds left, but the College could get no closer.

The Tribe finished the game shooting just 39.5 percent (30-of-76) from the floor and was 13-of-33 from 3-point range (39.4). The College shot 60.9 percent (14-of-23) from the field in the second half, but was only 6-of-24 (25 percent) in overtime. The Tribe was 13-of-15 (86.7 percent) from the charity stripe and finished with 18 assists.

Towson finished the game shooting 48.6 percent (34-of-70) from the floor and was 27-of-33 (81.8 percent) from the free throw line. The Tigers held a 44-42 advantage on the glass and tallied 13 steals with 11 blocked shots. Jerrelle Benimon led Towson with 26 points to go with 12 rebounds and seven blocked shots. Damas added 19 points, while Burwell and Guthrie chipped in 18 and 15 points, respectively.

The Tribe continues its three-game road trip at Hofstra on Saturday, Jan. 12. The game is slated for a 4 p.m. tip. Tribe fans can follow 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 at TribeAthletics.com as well. GoHofstra.com will offer a live video stream of the contest for purchase. Tribe fans that have already purchased Tribe Athletics TV will have access to the stream under their current package at no addition charge.