BALTIMORE, Md. – Sparked by 29 points off the bench and a 20-0 first-half run, the William & Mary men's basketball team advanced to the Colonial Athletic Association semifinals for the third-straight year, downing James Madison, 79-64, on Saturday afternoon. The Tribe (20-10) held the Dukes scoreless for nearly an 11-minute stretch in the first half, and connected on 92 percent (23-of-25) at the free throw line, including 17-of-18 in the second half, to hold off the Dukes (21-11). It marked the third-straight season that W&M won 20 or more games, the second time in W&M history and first since 1951.
 
Junior Omar Prewitt scored 18 of his game-high 25 points in the second half to lead the Tribe for the ninth time in the last 10 games. He was 9-of-16 from the field. Senior Sean Sheldon tallied 11 points and six rebounds, and sophomore Connor Burchfield added 11 points off the bench on a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor and 3-of-3 from 3-point range. Sophomore David Cohn chipped in 10 points and five assists, while sophomore Jack Whitman had nine points and five rebounds as a reserve.
 
After JMU hit three of its first five shots from the floor to open up a 6-1 lead, the Tribe surged in front thanks to a 20-0 run. It was the Tribe defense and bench that sparked the spurt. Defensively, W&M held JMU scoreless for nearly 11 minutes, while the bench scored 11 straight during the run.
 
A Prewitt steal led to a run-out dunk for senior Terry Tarpey to jumped start the the Tribe. Sophomores Oliver Tot (3), Jack Whitman (4) and Greg Malinowski (4) combined for the next 11 Tribe points. Whitman scored four straight, including a pair at the line, to give W&M its first lead. Tot canned the Tribe's first 3-pointer of the contest, before Malinowski scored four straight, including a nice reverse lay-up off a no-look dish from Tot.
 
Sheldon's old-fashion three-point play extended the run to 20-0 and put W&M in front, 21-6 with 6:55 left in the first half. The margin ballooned to its largest at 19, 31-12, on a pair of Sheldon free throws. JMU's Jackson Kent hit a 3-pointer from the right side to narrow the margin to 31-15 at the break.  The Tribe finished the opening 20 minutes, shooting 48 percent (12-of-25), including 11-of-16 inside the arc. Defensive, W&M limited the Dukes to 25.9 percent (7-of-27) from the floor and only 1-of-12 from 3-point range.
 
JMU used a 10-1 run early in the second half to draw within 12. Tom Vodanoivch scored six during the spurt, and a Ron Curry 3-pointer closed the gap to 37-25 with 13:56 remaining.
 
The lead was again 12 for the Green and Gold, 44-32, following a Yohanny Dalembert lay-up, before the Tribe ripped off seven straight to extend the cushion back to 19. Burchfield scored five of those seven points, including a 3-pointer from deep on the right wing to give W&M a 51-32 advantage and force a JMU timeout with 9:40 left.
 
The Dukes used the longball to get within single digits for the first time since early in the opening half. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Curry and Winston Grays cut the Tribe lead to 13, before Joey McLean connected on back-to-back triples of his own. McLean's second trey of the sequence cut the W&M advantage to 58-51 with 5:45 remaining.
 
The Tribe answered with seven straight points to extend the lead back to double-digits. Whitman scored in the post, before a Prewitt 3-pointer from the left corner extend the lead to 65-51 at the 4:09 mark.  
 
JMU did not go quietly and closed the gap thanks to a 13-4 run. Curry hit five straight at the free throw line, while McLean and Grays knocked down triples. A Vodanovich lay-up with 1:36 to play closed the gap to 69-64. W&M held off the Dukes, scoring the game's final 10 points at the free throw line. Cohn, Tarpey, Prewitt and Sheldon combined to go 10-of-10 at the charity stripe over the final 1:33.  
 
The Tribe finished the night shooting 51 percent (25-of-49) from the floor, including 6-of-19 from 3-point range. JMU connected on just 35.5 percent (22-of-62) from the field and 9-of-32 (28.1 percent) from 3-point range. The Green and Gold outrebounded the Dukes, 35-33, and dished out 15 assists on its 25 made field goals. Tarpey led the Tribe with six assists. W&M outscored JMU in the paint (32-24), off turnovers (23-11), on the break (8-0) and in bench scoring (29-13). Curry led JMU with 20 points and 11 rebounds, while McLean finished with 13.
 
The Tribe advanced to face top seed and regular season champion Hofstra in the first semifinal on Sunday afternoon. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. from Royal Farms Arena, and the game will be televised nationally on the NBC Sports Network with Mike Corey and Ron Thompson on the call. It will be the second-straight year for a W&M-Hofstra semifinal as the Tribe defeated the Pride, 92-91, in an epic two-overtime contest last season.

Tribe fans can also catch the 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. For all the CAA Tournament information, Tribe fans can visit TribeAthletics.com/MarchOnTribe.

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