WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary men's basketball team shot 72.7 percent and hit 7-of-11 from 3-point range in the second half to key an 88-85 come-from-behind victory over Elon on Thursday night at Kaplan Arena. The Green and Gold (8-6, 2-1 CAA), which trailed by double-digits in the opening 20 minutes after the Phoenix hit 11 first-half triples, used a 10-0 run to take the lead in the early minutes of the second half and then tallied a 10-1 run with the game tied at 70 to take the lead for good. Elon (8-8, 0-3) used a furious rally over the final two minutes, but the Tribe held on for its second-straight win and third in the last four games.
 
For the second time in the last four games, senior Daniel Dixon topped the 30-point mark, scoring a game-high 32 points on 11-of-15 shooting. He added a team and season-high eight rebounds to go with four assists. With his jumper at the 12:08 mark of the second half, Dixon became the 39th player in W&M history and 12th under head coach Tony Shaver to score 1,000 points in his career. Junior Greg Malinowski and classmate Jack Whitman tallied 11 points apiece. Malinowski scored all 11 of his points in the second half and pulled down a season-high seven rebounds. Freshman Nathan Knight added nine points off the bench.
 
Trailing by six at the half, W&M hit its first six shots from the floor in the final 20 minutes, scoring 10-straight points to take the lead for the first time since 4-0. Malinowski accounted for eight of the Tribe's first 13 points in the final frame, including a fast-break lay-up off a dish from junior David Cohn to give W&M a 48-46 lead just over two minutes into the half.
 
The Phoenix retook the lead behind an 8-2 run, sparked by Dainan Swoope. He scored five of the eight points during the spurt, but it was a Dmitri Thompson old-fashion 3-point play at the 13:13 mark of the second half that put Elon back in front. W&M pulled even at 60 on a Cohn 3-pointer from the left wing with 10 minutes remaining and the team's traded buckets on the way to a 70-all stalemate with 6:18 left.
 
It was again Cohn who had the answer with a wing 3-pointer to put the Tribe on top for good and start a 10-1 run. After an Elon free throw, Malinowski drilled a corner triple to extend the margin to five. Two free throws apiece from Dixon and Cohn put the home team on top, 80-71, with 3:10 remaining.
 
As rash of turnovers and missed free throws allowed Elon to draw within one, 86-85, on a Steven Santa Ana driving lay-up with 5.9 seconds remaining. Dixon connected on a pair of free throws to extend the lead to its final margin of three, and Tyler Seibring's deep buzzer-beating 3-point attempt was off the mark.
 
With its 72.7 percent (16-of-22) shooting effort in the second half, W&M finished the night at 56.6 percent (30-of-53) overall, including 10-of-23 (43.5 percent) from 3-point range. The Tribe was 18-of-28 (64.3 percent) from the free throw line and dished out 18 assists on its 30 made field goals. The Green and Gold also held a 35-28 advantage on the glass. Cohn finished with eight points on 2-of-2 from 3-point range to go along with four assists, while senior Omar Prewitt added seven points, four rebounds and a team-high five assists.
 
After shooting 53.3 percent (16-of-30) from the field in the opening 20 minutes, the Phoenix cooled to 43.8 percent (14-of-32) in the second half and ended the game at 48.4 percent (30-of-62) overall. Elon hit 16 3-pointers and shot 43.2 percent from deep, but only connected on 27.8 percent (5-of-18) in the second half. Santa Ana tied a Kaplan Arena record with nine 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 29 points. Swoope added 15 points, while Luke Eddy, Seibring and Brian Dawkins chipped in 11 points apiece.
 
After W&M scored the game's first four points, the Phoenix took over the opening 20 minutes, by hitting 10 of their first 12 shots from the floor, including 7-of-9 from 3-point range. Santa Ana, who hit connected on his first six 3-point attempts, drilled back-to-back triples to extend the Elon lead to 25-15 with 12:19 left in the first period. Santa Ana (15) and Seibring (7) combined for 22 of the Phoenix's first 25 points.
 
The Green and Gold used the fastbreak and an 8-2 run to draw within four. Back-to-back steals led to an Oliver Tot lay-up and a Connor Burchfield pull-up jumper, both on the break, to cut the gap to 27-23. W&M drew within three points on a pair of occasions via Dixon buckets off assists from Prewitt. His 3-pointer from the left wing cut the gap to 33-30 at the 5:21 mark.
 
The Phoenix re-established a double-digit cushion with an 8-2 run of its own. A Dmitri Thompson old-fashion three-point play pushed the lead back to double digits, 44-34, with 1:22 left. The Tribe scored the half's final four points and pulled to within six on a pair of Justin Pierce free throws in the closing seconds.
 
W&M continues it two-game homestand welcoming Drexel to Kaplan Arena on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. With the impending winter weather in the Hampton Roads area, fans are reminded to use caution and allow for extra time when traveling to and from the game. Stay tuned to TribeAthletics.com and all Tribe social media outlets for updated information.
 
Fans that attend either the Tribe men's basketball games on Thursday night or Saturday afternoon can receive FREE admission to check out the Tribe women's team on Sunday, Jan. 8, at 2 p.m. Under fourth-year head coach Ed Swanson, the Green and Gold is off to its best start in school history at 11-1. The Tribe has won 11-straight entering its road game at Charleston on Friday. W&M hosts Hofstra on Sunday, and fans that bring a ticket stub from either Tribe men's game receive FREE admission.
 
All Tribe basketball games are streamed 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.