CHARLESTON, S.C. – Playing without its leading scorer and on the road for the sixth time in the last seven games, the William & Mary men's basketball team dropped a 77-67 decision at Charleston on Saturday afternoon. The Green and Gold (8-8, 2-3 CAA) led by as much as nine points in the second half, but the Cougars (15-4, 6-0) used a 19-5 run to surge to the victory.
 
Senior Omar Prewitt led all scorers with 25 points on 10-of-20 shooting to go along with a team-high eight rebounds and three assists. Junior Greg Malinowski just missed a double-double with 12 points and eight rebounds, while classmate David Cohn added 11 points, four assists and three steals. W&M was forced to play without leading scorer Daniel Dixon, who was averaging 16.1 points per game, due to injury.
 
Trailing 35-33 at the half, Malinowski knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers in the opening two and a half minutes to give W&M the lead. His second triple sparked an 11-2 W&M run. Cohn found Prewitt for a 3-pointer from the right corner, before banking in a top of the key trey to push the Tribe lead to 50-41 with 13:59 left.
 
The lead remained nine, 56-47, following Prewitt's second triple of the game at the 10:20 mark, but Charleston began its comeback. Buckets from Cameron Johnson and Jarrell Brantley narrowed the margin to five, before an Evan Bailey corner 3-pointer made it a one-point contest, 61-60, with 5:23 remaining.
 
CofC completed the comeback on a Brantley lay-up at the 4:30 mark to take the lead for good. Grant Riller scored eight-straight Charleston points to extend the home team's lead. He connected on four-straight three throws, and then drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing, while getting fouled with 2:08 remaining. His rare 4-point play to push the lead to 70-63 after W&M had pulled within a single possession. Joe Chealey and Brantley hit 7-of-10 from the free throw line over the final 1:22 to preserve the victory.
 
W&M finished the day at 43.1 percent (25-of-58) from the floor, including 8-of-19 (42.1 percent) beyond the 3-point arc. Freshman Nathan Knight added eight points off the bench, while junior forward Jack Whitman chipped in seven points and four rebounds while battling foul trouble.
 
Charleston shot 42.4 percent (25-of-59) from the field and connected on 20-of-26 (76.9 percent) at the free throw line. The Cougars held a 40-33 advantage on the glass. Riller led four CofC players in double figures with 20 points, while Brantley added a 17-point, 12-rebound double-double. Chealey finished with 14 points and Bailey tallied 11 points on 3-of-5 from 3-point range off the bench.
 
Prewitt scored six of the Tribe's first eight points, but a Brantley dunk just over five minutes into the game tied it at eight. Cohn led a 9-0 Tribe run to open up the Green and Gold advantage. He found Malinowski in transition for a 3-pointer and then scored six-straight points. Prewitt hit Cohn for a reserve lay-up at the 13:26 mark to give the visitors a 17-8 lead and force a Charleston timeout. 
 
CofC responded with a 13-2 run to take its first lead of the contest. Riller led the way scoring seven points during the spurt. His 3-pointer at the 10:22 mark tied it at 19, before his free throws a minute later gave the Cougars the lead.  
 
W&M briefly retook the advantage, 27-26, on a Knight triple from the top of the key. After a Brantley bucket, W&M scored six straight as part of a 9-2 run to extend the margin to five. Knight took the ball to the basket to beat the shot clock, Prewitt connected on a free-throw line jumper and Malinowski scored in transition to give W&M a 33-28 advantage with 4:31 left in the half.
 
Charleston scored the final seven points of the opening 20 minutes to take the lead to the locker room. After a Bailey 3-pointer tied the game at 33 with 2:51 remaining, Chealey made a steal and converted it into fastbreak lay-up to sent the home team the locker room with a 35-33 cushion.  
 
The Tribe returns home to face in-state rival James Madison on Thursday, Jan. 19. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m., from Kaplan Arena and the game will be broadcast live 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.

The Tribe hosts the fifth annual Shoeless Showdown on Thursday night against James Madison. W&M Athletics once again partners with C&F Bank and Chick-fil-A in helping to raise awareness for children and adults in the area in need of shoes. Fans that donate a new pair of shoes (children or adult) at the game, will receive a free ticket to the contest. In addition, each person donating a new pair of shoes will get a ticket to another upcoming Tribe home game, a coupon for a free Chick-fil-A sandwich and a $10 voucher toward a new C&F checking account.