WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Winners of three straight, the William & Mary men's basketball team opens Colonial Athletic Association play on New Year's Eve against the Towson Tigers. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. from Kaplan Arena, and the game will be broadcast for FREE in HD on Tribe Athletics TV via Stretch Internet.

Tribe fans can also catch the men's basketball action over the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley and Charlie Woollum on the call. The Tide 92.3 FM and 107.9 Bach FM are the flagship stations of the Tribe Radio Network and the audio is also available over the Web at TribeAthletics.com.

Catch up with the Tribe through social media. Follow the Tribe on Twitter @TribeAthletics and for in-game updates @TribeGameDay. Check in with the Tribe on Facebook at WMTribeAthletics, and see what happening with the Green and Gold on Instagram @TribeAthletics. Finally, along with the catalog of video content on TribeAtheltics.com, check out the Tribe YouTube page. Be social and share all the Tribe news and experiences, using the hashtag #RisingTribe.
 

News and Notes
- W&M leads the all-time series with Towson at 17-13, including a 10-4 mark in Williamsburg. The Tribe swept the season series last year and has won the last three meetings between the programs.
 
- Thursday's contest pits two of the top defenses in the CAA. Towson leads the league in scoring defense (62.8) and field goal percentage defense (38.9), while it ranks third in 3-point percentage defense (30.3). W&M leads the league in 3-point defense (27.5), ranks second in field goal defense (39.4) and third in scoring defense (67.3).
 
- W&M is 3-1 on New Year's Eve, including wins in each of their last three games on Dec. 31, all in Williamsburg.
 
- Junior Omar Prewitt, who leads W&M and ranks third in the CAA at 17.9 points per game, has scored in double figures in all 11 games this season. He became the 38th player in W&M to record 1,000 points in his career with a season-high 23 against Central Michigan.
 
- Senior Terry Tarpey leads the CAA in both steals (2.8) and blocked shots (1.6) per game. He ranks sixth nationally in steals per game, and according to KenPom.com, is 13th in the country in steal percentage.
 
- The Tribe is averaging 20.2 points per game off the bench and is 5-1 this season when outscoring its opponent off the bench. Sophomore Greg Malinowski is averaging 11 points and 6.3 rebounds per game over the last three games, while classmate Connor Burchfield is averaging 8.5 per contest over the last six, shooting 64.7 percent from 3-point range.
 
Scouting Towson
Towson enters CAA play at 9-4 on the year, marking its best start to a season since joining Division I in 1979-80. After dropping three of its first four games in 2015-16, TU has won eight of its last nine. Towson has won its last two games, upending Rio Grande, 88-47, and UMBC, 91-65 since falling to Fairleigh Dickinson, 69-68, on Dec. 18,
 
The Tigers sport one of the top defenses in the country, ranking 26th nationally in scoring defense (62.8). Towson leads the CAA in scoring defense and defensive field goal percentage (38.9), while coming in third in 3-point percentage defense (30.3). TU also dominates the glass, ranking 26th nationally in rebounding margin (+8.2). Included in its prowess on the glass, the Tigers average 15.5 offensive rebounds per game, which leads the CAA and ranks sixth nationally. Towson pulls down an offensive rebound on 40.5 percent of its missed shots. TU averages 73.7 points per game offensive, shooting 43.5 percent from the field and 32.9 percent from 3-point range.
 
Four Tigers average in double figures led by Byron Hawkins at 15.0 points per game, which ranks 12th in the CAA. He is TU's top 3-point threat at 37.7 percent (29-of-77) from long range. Wake Forest transfer Arnaud William Adala Moto ranks 17th in the CAA at 13.5 points per game and fourth in rebounding at 7.5 per contest. Mike Morsell and John Davis round out the double-digit scorers at 11.4 and 10.0 points per game, respectively.
 
W&M leads the all-time series with Towson at 17-13, including a 10-4 mark in Williamsburg. The Tribe has won each of the last three contests between the two teams. Last season, the Green and Gold downed Towson 85-72 in Maryland and 65-50 in Williamsburg.
 
CAA Openers
The Tribe opens CAA play with its first two games at home, beginning with Towson on New Year's Eve. It marks the fourth straight year in which the Green and Gold has opened CAA play inside Kaplan Arena. W&M won each of its last three CAA openers, downing Old Dominion, 71-62, in 2012-13, Drexel, 85-73, in 2013-14 and Charleston, 75-45, last season. Overall, W&M is 13-17 in CAA openers, but 12-6 when the league opener comes inside Kaplan Arena. Under head coach Tony Shaver, the Tribe is 5-3 in CAA openers played at home.
 
On New Year's Eve
W&M is 3-1 on New Year's Eve, including wins in each of their last three games on Dec. 31, all in Williamsburg. The Tribe defeated Richmond, 61-53, in 2006, before knocking off Fairfield, 71-50, the following season for head coach Tony Shaver's 400th career win. Most recently, the Green and Gold defeated Jeremy Lin and Harvard, 67-54, in 2008.
 
Rallying at the Half
Halftime deficits have not fazed the Tribe this season. The Green and Gold has trailed on six occasions at the break this season and are 5-1 in those games. W&M rallied from halftime deficits in each of its last three victories over Mary Washington, High Point and Central Michigan. It marked the first time the Tribe overcame halftime deficits in three straight games to pull out victories since 2008. It has been the offense that led the way after halftime recently. In the last three wins, W&M is averaging 55.7 points per game in the second half and overtime, while shooting 56.4 percent (57-of-101) from the field, 54.8 percent from 3-point range (17-of-31) and 75 percent (36-of-48) from the free throw line.
 
Prewitt Reaches the 1,000-Point Milestone
With his season-high 23 points in the win over Central Michigan, junior Omar Prewitt became the 38th player in W&M history to score 1,000 points in his career and the 11th under head coach Tony Shaver. The 11 1,000-point scorers are the most for a Tribe head coach. Prewitt is the fourth W&M player to reach the milestone in the last three seasons and currently ranks 37th in program history at 1,006 points. The Mount Sterling, Ky., native hit the 1,000-point mark against the Chippewas with a free throw at the 4:05 mark of the second half.
 
Burchfield Key off the Bench
Sophomore Connor Burchfield has become a key piece off the Tribe bench in 2015-16 and is playing some of his best basketball entering CAA play. Over the last six games, the 6-4 guard is averaging 8.5 points per game, while shooting 67.9 (19-of-28) from the field and 64.7 (11-of-17) from 3-point range. He has scored in double figures in three of the Tribe's last six games. At Howard on Nov. 28, Burchfield tied W&M school records going a perfect 7-of-7 from the floor and 5-of-5 from 3-point range on the way to a career-high 19 points. He became the ninth Tribe player to shoot a perfect 100 percent from the floor with a minimum of seven attempts in program history, while he is the sixth W&M athlete to connect on 100 percent from 3-point range with a minimum of four attempts. More recently, Burchfield scored 11 points and pulled down six rebounds off the bench against Mary Washington, before tallying 14 points on 4-of-6 from 3-point range in the win over Central Michigan.