WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Oliver Tot's 50-foot half-court heave found nothing but the bottom of the net and sent the William & Mary men's basketball team to a thrilling 79-77 victory over Hampton Roads rival Old Dominion on Saturday night at Kaplan Arena. Tot's triple capped a back-and-forth, tit-for-tat, big shot-for-big shot close that featured eight lead changes and two ties over the final 2:21. It marked the Tribe's sixth win over the Monarchs (4-2) in the last seven years and fourth-straight inside Kaplan Arena.
 
The Tribe (3-2) hit its last five shots over the final 4:02, including four 3-pointers. Old Dominion countered with four of its final five, and its lone miss of the stretch was followed up by Randy Haynes to put the Monarchs on top 77-76 with just 1.5 seconds remaining. Following an official review, the Tribe needed to go the length of the court. After setting a screen for David Cohn, who was double-teamed, Tot received the inbounds pass from sophomore Justin Pierce, took one dribble and let fly from beyond half court. It swished through the net to incite a celebration in the Colonial Capital.
 
W&M opened up a six-point lead just over five minutes into the contest thanks to the 3-ball. Back-to-back triples from Cohn and senior Connor Burchfield gave the Green and Gold a 16-10 advantage. It was a common theme on the evening as the Tribe finished with 15 3-pointers.
 
The Monarch used an 18-4 run to open up an eight-point first-half advantage. ODU scored 10-straight points, but W&M pulled even at 20 on a thunderous two-handed slam by Pierce with 7:06 left in the opening half. The visitors responded with eight-straight points, before four in a row from B.J. Stith extended their margin to as much at nine, 34-25, with a minute to play in the opening half.  
 
The Green and Gold, which shot a remarkable 73.9 percent, including 10-of-12 from 3-point range, over the final 20 minutes, used a 9-0 run kick-started by back-to-back Matt Milon triples to surge in front. Cohn scored on a fast-break lay-up and W&M led 60-54 with 6:09 left. The Monarchs answered with back-to-back 3-pointers from B.J. Stith and Haynes to tie the game at 60 and set up the hectic back-and-forth finish.
 
Individual Player Spotlight
Senior David Cohn enjoyed a career night, scoring 25 points on 8-of-10 shooting, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range. The Tribe point guard added nine assists compared to just two turnovers in 36 minute and finished with a career-high four steals. Sophomore Justin Pierce produced his second double-double in the last three games with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
 
ODU's B.J. Stith connected on 11-of-12 from the field and 4-of-5 from 3-point range on the way to a game-high 26 points. Randy Haynes added 14 points, while Ahmad Caver tallied a 13-point, 10-assist double-double.
 
Inside the Numbers
- The Tribe shot a sizzling 73.9 percent (17-of-23) from the floor in the second half on the way to 58.3 percent (28-of-48) for the game.
- W&M canned 10-of-12 from 3-point range (83.3 percent) in the second half, including each of its final six attempts from long range. For the game, the Tribe connected on 60 percent (15-of-25) from distance.
- ODU, who came into the game shooting 42.3 percent from the field, hit at a 61.1-percent (33-of-64) clip for the game. The Monarchs shot 65.4 percent (17-of-26) over the final 20 minutes, including 7-of-13 (53.8 percent) from 3-point range.
- W&M turned 13 Old Dominion turnovers into 19 points.
- The Tribe outscored ODU, 8-4, at the free throw line. W&M was 8-of-10 (80 percent) at the charity striped compared to just 4-of-14 (28.6 percent) for the visitors.  

Notes
W&M's 15 3-poiners comes on a heels of a school-record 20 3-pointers vs. Shenandoah on Tuesday night … In program history, W&M has 22 games of 15 or more 3-pointers with 18 of those coming under head coach Tony Shaver … The 15 3-pointers are tied for ninth in school history … W&M's 60 percent from 3-point range was seventh in program annals … The Tribe defeated Old Dominion for the sixth time in the last seven years and fourth-straight time in Kaplan Arena … The Green and Gold extended its home-court non-conference win stream to 21 games … Senior Connor Burchfield and sophomores Matt Milon and Justin Pierce connected on three 3-pointers apiece … The trio of 3's were a career-high for Pierce … Pierce (15 points) and sophomore Nathan Knight (14) each scored in double figures for the fifth-straight game to start the season … Pierce tallied his second double-double of the season and second in the last three games … Knight added two blocked shots and set career-highs with three assists and three steals … Senior David Cohn tallied career-highs in points (25), field goals made (8), 3-pointers made (5) and steals (4) … Milon (11) scored in double figures for the fourth-straight game, while Burchfield (10) added his second game in a row with double figures.
 
Up Next
The Tribe wraps up its three-game homestand, squaring off with its second-straight Conference USA opponent in Marshall on Wednesday, Nov. 29. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., from Kaplan Arena, and the contest will be streamed online at Tribe Athletics TV via Stretch Internet.