MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The William & Mary men's basketball team fell in a shootout at Central Michigan, 91-81, on Tuesday night. The Tribe (3-3) jumped out to a 45-42 halftime lead behind 53.1 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes, but the Chippewas (6-2) answered with 16 3-pointers to rally back. The CMU duo of Marcus Keene (36) and Braylon Rayson (23) combined for 59 points, including 36 in the second half, to lead Central Michigan to the victory.

Senior Omar Prewitt led the Tribe posting his fourth career double-double with 26 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Prewitt, who recorded his second-straight 20-point game, finished the night shooting 9-of-18 from the field and 3-of-7 from 3-point range. Junior Greg Malinowski enjoyed his best game of the season, scoring 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting and 3-of-6 from 3-point range to go along with six rebounds. Junior Jack Whitman posted his fourth-straight double-digit night, tallying 12 points and just missing a double-double with eight rebounds
 
The teams traded 11-2 runs to start the contest. Central Michigan jumped on top early as Rayson scored the game's first five points and Keene knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers give the home team an 11-2 cushion. W&M answered to pull even at 13. Prewitt and Whitman each scored four points during the run as Prewitt's jumper at the 14:41 mark tied the contest.
 
After a CMU triple, W&M hit three-straight 3-pointers to take its first lead. Prewitt, who scored 15 first-half points, connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Green and Gold a 22-16 lead with 11:44 remaining in the opening half.
 
The Tribe lead reached as many as seven, 25-18, on another Prewitt 3-pointer, but the Chippewas used the long-range arsenal to climb back into the contest. David Dileo connected down a pair of triples, before a Josh Kozinski 3-pointer at the 6:27 mark put CMU back on top, 32-30.
 
A 10-2 Tribe run gave the Green and Gold the advantage going into the locker room. Junior guard Connor Burchfield scored the final five points of the run, including a driving lay-up with 22 ticks left to extend the W&M lead to 45-39. Keene provided the margin at the break, hitting a top-of-the-key 3-pointer at the buzzer to close the gap to 45-42 at the intermission. W&M shot 53.1 percent (17-of-32) from the floor, including 8-of-14 (57.1 percent) from 3-point range, in the first 20 minutes, while Central Michigan responded with 10 3-pointers.  
 
After a Prewitt lay-up in the opening seconds of the second half gave W&M a five-point cushion, Keene, the nation's leading scorer at nearly 30 points per game, and Rayson led the Chippewas on a comeback surge. The duo sparked an 18-2 run over a seven-minute stretch after Prewitt's opening bucket of the half. Keene (8) and Rayson (7) combined for 15 of Central Michigan's 18 points during the stretch. A Kozinski 3-pointer tied the game at 47, before CMU scored 11-straight points to take a double-digit lead. Keene scored the final five points of the run, including a pair of free throws at the 12:58 mark to extend the lead to 60-49.

Back-to-back Keene 3-pointers at the 11-minute mark of the second half pushed the CMU lead to 16 points, 70-54. The Tribe could not get any closer than the final margin of 10. In total, Keene (23) and Rayson (13) scored 36 of the Chippewas' 49 second-half points, hitting 12-of-20 from the field.
 
W&M shot just 33.3 percent (12-of-36) in the second half and finished the night at 42.6 percent (29-of-68). The Green and Gold connected on 10-of-28 (35.7 percent) from 3-point range and hit 86.7 percent (13-of-15) from the free throw line. The Tribe outrebounded CMU, 42-35. Burchfield finished with eight points off the bench on 2-of-4 from 3-point range. Freshman Justin Pierce and junior David Cohn added seven points apiece, while junior Oliver Tot scored a season-high five points.
 
Central Michigan shot 47.8 percent (32-of-67) from the field, including 51.6 percent (16-of-31) in the second half. The Chippewas connected on 16 3-pointers, shooting 42.1 percent from long range. Keene led all scorers with 36 points on 13-of-23 from the floor and 5-of-11 from 3-point range. Rayson finished with 23 points, while Kozinski connected on 5-of-7 from 3-point range for 15 points. 
 
W&M returns to action with a short trip down I-64 on Saturday afternoon to face in-state foe Hampton. The Tribe and Pirates meet for the 19th time in the last 22 years at 4 p.m.
 
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.