RICHMOND, Va. - A late rally fell short as the William and Mary men's basketball team dropped a 72-67 decision in the quarterfinals of the Colonial Athletic Association Championship, presented by Jani-King, on Saturday night at the Richmond Coliseum. W&M trailed by eight with 3:41 remaining and cut it to three points with a chance to tie in the closing seconds, but Marcus Thornton's 3-point attempt from the left wing was off the mark, preserving the JMU victory.

Thornton led all scorers with 25 points, the fifth-most for a Tribe player in a CAA Tournament game, on 8-of-12 shooting, including a 3-of-6 effort from 3-point range. It marked the 32nd straight game in which Thornton scored in double figures and his 14th 20-point effort of the season. Junior guard Brandon Britt scored 17 points and in the process became the 34th player in W&M history and the eight under head coach Tony Shaver to score 1,000 points in his career. Junior Tim Rusthoven also added 15 points in the loss.

JMU pushed a one-point halftime advantage to four, 42-38, on a Devon Moore 3-pointer just under three minutes in the second frame. The Tribe ripped off a 12-1 run, including 10 straight points, to surge ahead. Back-to-back lay-ups from freshman Terry Tarpey and Thornton put the Green and Gold on top, before junior Kyle Gaillard and Britt followed with consecutive 3-pointers to extend the Tribe lead to 50-43, forcing a JMU timeout with 13:35 remaining.

The Tribe advantage with 56-49 at the 9:35 mark following a pair of free throws from Thornton, but JMU answered with a run. The Dukes scored nine straight points, including six from Rayshawn Goins, to take a 58-56. After Thornton tied the game with a driving lay-up, JMU scored eight straight points to take a 66-58 lead with 3:41 remaining.

W&M would not go quietly as it scored five straight points to close within three points. Thornton drilled a triple and Gaillard scored a lay-up to narrow the margin to 66-63 with 2:36 remaining. The deficit was still three, 70-67, following a Thornton lay-up with 46 seconds remaining. The Tribe generated a turnover with 15.4 seconds remaining, setting up the final sequence. Off a high ball-screen, Thornton got a great look at a 3-pointer to tie from the left wing, but it hit off the right side of the rim, and JMU held on for the victory.

For the seventh time in the last six games, W&M shot 50 percent (21-of-42) from the floor, including 7-of-19 from 3-point range (36.8 percent). The Green and Gold got to the free throw line as well, hitting on 18-of-24 (75 percent). James Madison shot 49.1 percent (28-of-57) from the field and was 7-of-18 (38.9) from 3-point range. The biggest stat for JMU was its 34-23 advantage on the glass, including 14 offensive rebounds that led to a 17-5 advantage in second chance points.

A.J. Davis and Devon Moore led the Dukes with 20 points apiece. Moore added eight assists as well. Goins chipped in 13 points, all in the second half, and a team-high six rebounds.

The Tribe lead was 11-7 following a pair of Brandon Britt free throws with 12:47 left first half, before JMU went on a 10-2 run to take its first lead of the contest. Davis highlighted the run with eight straight for the Dukes, including back-to-back 3-pointers that gave JMU a 17-13 lead at the 9:29 mark.

W&M responded with a run of its own, scoring 12 straight points to take its largest lead at eight. Thornton got things going during the spurt with seven points. He followed a Brandon Britt 3-pointer with a jumper of his own, forcing a JMU timeout and giving W&M a 25-17 lead with 6:26 left in the opening frame. The 3-pointer for Britt gave him 10 points for the game and marked his 1,000th career point for the Tribe.

JMU scored seven straight points to pull back within one, 25-24, on an Andre Nation 3-pointer from the left corner less than a minute and a half later. JMU tied the contest at 27 on a Moore 3-pointer, before Ron Curry gave the Dukes a 29-27 lead with 3:04 left, capping a 12-2 run.

W&M pulled even at 31 on a pair of Britt free throws, but the Dukes took a one-point advantage to the locker room thanks to a conventional 3-point play from Davis at the 1:21 mark. Both teams shot better than 50 percent from the field in the first half as W&M connected on 50 percent (10-of-20), while JMU shot 51.9 percent (14-of-27). On the W&M side of things, Britt, Rusthoven and Thronton accounted for 30 of the Tribe's 33 first-half points, while Davis and Moore scored 27 of JMU's 34 in the opening frame.

W&M closes out the season at 13-17, while the Dukes improved to 18-14 on the year. JMU will meet Delaware in the second CAA semifinal on Sunday, March 10, at 4:30 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on the NBC Sports Network. Delaware advanced to Sunday's semifinals with a 62-57 win over Hofstra in the quarterfinals on Saturday.