FAIRFAX, Va. – Behind a strong second-half performance, the William & Mary men's basketball won its fifth straight, 77-70, over former Colonial Athletic Association rival George Mason on Wednesday night at EagleBank Arena. After trailing for most of the night and by as many as 16 in the first half, the Tribe (6-2) used a 10-0 run in the final three minutes to surge past the Patriots (4-5).
 
Trailing 68-65 with less than three minutes remaining, the Tribe founds it closing kick. Sophomore Nathan Knight, who led all scorers with 27 points, tallied four-straight points to put W&M in front. After David Cohn forced a turnover on the defensive end, the senior point guard found Knight for a lay-up, giving W&M the lead for good, 69-68, with 2:11 left.
 
Maintaining the same margin with less than a minute to play, senior sharp-shooter and reigning CAA Player of the Week Connor Burchfield buried the dagger from the top of the key to extend the cushion to four, 72-68. The Tribe connected on 5-of-6 from the free throw line in the closing seconds to secure the victory. It was W&M's defense that made the difference over the final four and a half minutes, holding Mason to 1-of-6 from the floor with three turnovers.
 
The Patriots shot 56.7 percent in the opening 20 minutes to take a double-digit lead. The home side took its largest lead of the first half, 34-18, and forced a W&M timeout with 7:45 remaining. Goanar Mar scored the Mason's final five points of the run. Sophomore Matt Milon, who scored 22 points, and Cohn answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to draw the Tribe within 10, which was the margin at the intermission, 43-33.

W&M trailed by 12 points, 58-46, with 11:28 remaining, W&M answered with seven-straight points over a near three-minute stretch. Sophomore Justin Pierce scored on a lay-up, before knocked down a triple. Senior Oliver Tot found Knight for a two-hand stuff to cut the margin to 58-53.
 
Individual Player Spotlight
Sophomore Nathan Knight led the Tribe charge with 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting and 7-of-9 at the free throw line. He added seven rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots. Classmate Matt Milon scored 22 points, his most in a Tribe uniform, hitting 4-of-8 from 3 and a perfect 6-of-6 at the free throw line.
 
Jaire Geyer led the Patriots with 24 points and seven rebounds, while Otis Livingston tallied 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting to go with five assists.
 
Inside the Numbers
- W&M shot 48.2 percent (27-of-56) from the floor, including 51.9 percent (14-of-27) in the second half. Mason connected on 50 percent (29-of-58) for the game, but hit just 42.9 percent (12-of-28) in the second half. The Tribe hit seven of its final 10 shots, while Mason was just three of its last 10.
 
- W&M outscored Mason at the free throw line, 15-6, and connected on more 3-pointers, 8-6.
 
- After hitting on just 3-of-11 from 3-point range in the opening half, the Tribe connected on 5-of-9 from distance in the second, including 3-of-5 from Matt Milon. W&M finished the night at 40 percent (8-of-20) from 3 compared to Mason's 27.3 percent (6-of-22). The Patriots were only 2-of-11 from distance in the final 20 minutes.
 
Notes
The Tribe pushed it win streak to five games, its longest since November of 2014 … Sophomore Justin Pierce led W&M in rebounding for the sixth time in the Tribe's eight games with nine … He added a career-high tying five assists … With Knight's 27 points and Milon's 22, the Tribe had two players scored at least 20 points for the third-straight game … With his four assists, senior David Cohn moved into eighth on the Tribe's career assists list with 340 … The Tribe's sophomore class of Knight (27), Milon (22) and Pierce (7) accounted for 72.7 percent (56-of-77) of the team's scoring against Mason … The Tribe rallied from as much as a 16-point deficit on Wednesday night to pull out the win … It marked the 23rd double-digit comeback under head coach Tony Shaver and the seventh on the road … The Tribe has trailed by at least six points in four of its six wins this season.
 
Up Next
The Tribe wraps up its three-game road trip at Big Ten foe Ohio State on Saturday, Dec. 9. The game carries a noon tip from Value City Arena at The Jerome Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio. The contest will be televised on Big Ten Network Plus. Tribe fans can 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.