WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary men's basketball team used a strong second-half performance on both ends of the court to blow past Delaware, 82-58, on Thursday night at Kaplan Arena. In the first of a four-game homestand, W&M (10-9, 4-4 CAA) shot 64.3 percent in the final 20 minutes and 56.9 overall, while limiting Delaware to 34.6 percent shooting. After the Blue Hens (8-14, 1-8) drew within three points early in the second half, the Tribe used a 14-0 run to break the game open.
 
Senior Daniel Dixon topped W&M with 21 points on an efficient 7-of-9 shooting, including a 4-of-4 effort from 3-point range, to go along with a team-high seven rebounds. Junior Jack Whitman tallied 16 points, connecting on seven of his eight attempts from the floor, while adding six rebounds and three blocked shots. Senior Omar Prewitt dished out a career-high eight assists compared to zero turnovers and chipped in nine points, four rebounds and two blocked shots.
 
Delaware scored the first nine points of the second half and also hit six of its first eight shots to whittle a 13-point halftime deficit to three. Devonne Pinkard, who led the Blue Hens with 21 points, scored eight of the UD's first 12 points in the second half, including a pair of 3-pointers. His triple from the left corner at the 16:40 mark, cut the W&M advantage to 37-34.
 
It remained a three-point gap five minutes into the frame, before W&M scored on 12 of 14 possessions to break the game open. Sophomore Paul Rowley started a stretch of seven-straight made field goals and a 14-0 run with a left wing 3-pointer. Prewitt took over from there, accounting for the next 11 points with four of his own and a trio of assists. He found Whitman and Dixon for back-to-back dunks, before splitting a ball screen and throwing down a two-handed stuff. Dixon canned a left wing triple off a Prewitt dish to extend the margin to 53-36 at the 10:49 mark.
 
A Cohn corner 3-pointer followed by a Dixon fastbreak, spinning lay-up pushed the advantage to 20 points for the first time, 62-42, and forced another UD timeout with 7:53 remaining. After a Pinkard 3-pointer, junior Greg Malinowski canned back-to-back triples to increase the margin to 68-45 just a minute later.
 
The Tribe cushion ballooned to its largest and the final gap of 24 on back-to-back Justin Pierce buckets. Junior Oliver Tot found the Tribe rookie for both lay-ups, extending the lead to 80-56 with 1:59 remaining.
 
The Tribe shot better than 50 percent from the floor for the fifth time in the last seven games, connecting on 29-of-51 (56.9 percent). W&M dished out 23 assists on its 29 made field goals and also knocked down 11 3-pointers, while shooting 47.8 percent (11-of-23) from distance. As a team, the Tribe blocked 11 shots, the ninth most in school history, including three from freshman Nathan Knight.
 
Delaware shot just 34.6 percent (18-of-52) and were only 5-of-20 from 3-point range (25 percent). Ryan Daly, who entered the game averaging nearly 20 points per game in CAA play, was limited to just nine points on 3-of-12 shooting, his second worst field goal percentage in CAA play and second lowest of the season, to go with eight rebounds and five assists. Darian Bryant added 10 points off the bench for UD.
 
W&M jumped out to an early lead, scoring the game's first nine points. The Tribe used its defense to spark the offense. Delaware missed its first five shots from the floor and turned the ball over on four occasions. Offensively, Whitman scored the team's first four points on back-to-back dunks. Dixon capped the spurt with five straight, including a left wing 3-pointer to extend the margin to 9-0 at the 15:14 mark.
 
After Delaware closed to within five, the Tribe increased the lead to its largest of the first half thanks to a 10-0 run. Dixon and Whitman scored all 10 points during the spurt. Dixon canned a pair of 3-pointers, while Whitman's free throws with 5:35 remaining gave W&M a 24-9 advantage.
 
In total, Dixon (14) and Whitman (8) combined for 22 of W&M's first 26 points and 26 total in the opening 20 minutes. Defensively, the Green and Gold held Delaware to 29.2 percent (7-of-24) shooting in the first half, while shooting 47.8 percent (11-of-23) on the other side to lead 35-22 at the break.
 
Malinowski was 3-of-6 from 3-point range to finish with nine points and three assists. Junior David Cohn chipped in seven points and three assists, while Rowley added six points and four rebounds. Tot handed out four assists and blocked two shots in 11 minutes of action.
 
W&M continues its four-game homestand by hosting CAA leader UNCW, who improved to 20-2 overall and 9-0 in CAA play with a 87-76 win over JMU, on Saturday, Jan. 28, in a regionally televised game at 4 p.m. The contest will be televised on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic with Al Koken and John Feinstein on the call. Tribe Athletics TV and CAA.TV will also have the broadcast 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.