ELON, N.C. – The William & Mary men's basketball team fell on the road at Elon, 71-62, on Saturday night. The Tribe (9-9, 3-4 CAA) erased a 10-point second-half deficit, tying the game at 58 on a Daniel Dixon old-fashion 3-point play with 2:52 remaining. The Phoenix (12-9, 4-4) responded by scoring 13 of the game's final 16 points, including 10-straight from Dainan Swoope, to pull out the victory.
 
Senior Omar Prewitt led W&M with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Dixon finished with 13 points and six rebounds. Junior Connor Burchfield added 12 points on 3-of-6 from 3-point range off the bench, and sophomore Paul Rowley chipped in eight points and four rebounds.
 
After Elon scored seven-straight points to open up a 10-point lead, 56-46, with 6:02 left, W&M came roaring back. Rowley and junior David Cohn connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to dwindle the margin to four, before a Dixon coast-to-coast lay-up at the 4:16 mark made it a two-point game. Trailing 58-55, Dixon again cut across the lane, finishing with the right hand and was fouled. He completed the 3-point play to pull W&M even at 58 with 2:52 remaining.
 
Swoope took over for the Phoenix. He answered Dixon's 3-point play with one of his own on the other end. After a Jack Whitman lay-up cut the gap to one, 61-60, Swoope buried a left wing 3-pointer with 1:42 left. In total, Elon scored 10-straight points, including 7-of-8 from the free throw line, to pull away. On the other side, the Tribe missed its final seven shots from the floor.
 
The Tribe shot only 33.3 percent (22-of-66) from the floor, its lowest since a 31.1-percent clip at Louisville in the second game of the season. W&M was 9-of-27 (33 percent) from 3-point range and outrebounded Elon, 46-42.
 
The Phoenix ended the game at 35.7 percent (20-of-56) from the floor, but connected at a 52-percent clip (13-of-25) in the second half. Elon was 8-of-25 (32 percent) from 3-point range and held a decisive advantage at the free throw line, connecting on 23-of-29 (79.3 percent) and outscoring W&M by 14 points at the charity stripe. Swoope led all scorers with 20 points, including 10-of-12 at the free throw line, while Tyler Seibring added 19 points and six rebounds.
 
It was an uncharacteristic first half with both teams not shooting the ball well from the floor. Elon scored eight straight, including five from Steven Santa Ana, to open up an 8-2 advantage less than five minutes into the contest. The Tribe took control of the opening 20 minutes with a 12-0 run. Rowley and Burchfield canned back-to-back 3-pointers, the latter at the 12:10 mark to give W&M a 17-10 lead and force an Elon timeout.
 
After the Phoenix pulled within three on a Seibring 3-pointer, the Green and Gold took its largest lead of the first half with eight-straight points. Burchfield and junior Greg Malinowski bookended 3-pointers around a Prewitt jumper during the run. Malinowski's triple in transition gave the Tribe an 11-point cushion, 30-19, with 1:45 remaining in the first half. W&M limited Elon to just 22.6 percent (7-of-31) in the opening 20 minutes, but shot just 30.6 percent (11-of-36) on the other side.
 
Elon scored the first seven points of the second half to draw within 30-29 on a pair of Dmitri Thompson free throws. The Phoenix finally moved in front for the first since 10-9 on four-straight free throws from Swoope. The final two of the sequence gave Elon a 35-34 lead just three and a half minutes into the period.
 
Burchfield, from the right side, and Prewitt, from the left, hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Green and Gold back on top, 40-35, with 15:36 left. Elon though answered with an 8-0 run to surge in front. A Christian Hairston lay-up at the 11:41 mark extended the Phoenix lead to 43-40 and forced a W&M timeout. The home team pushed its lead to 10, 56-46, with 6:02 remaining. Luke Eddy scored five-straight points, before a pair of Seibring free throws pushed the margin to double-digits for the first time.
 
The Tribe returns to Williamsburg to open up a four-game homestand on Thursday, Jan. 26, when it welcomes Delaware to Kaplan Arena. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed online for FREE in HD on Tribe Athletics TV via Stretch Internet. Tribe fans can 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.