NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Playing without its leading scorer, the William & Mary men's basketball team battled tough with an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent, before falling to Notre Dame, 73-64, on Saturday afternoon at Purcell Pavilion. The Tribe (1-3) led by one at the half, 28-27, and three, 47-44, midway through the second half, but the Irish (3-1) used a late 16-2 run to pull out the victory in the team's third game of the Gotham Classic.  
 
The Green and Gold played without the services of junior Justin Pierce, who suffered an injury late in the game at UIC on Thursday and is expected to return this week. He entered Saturday averaging 22.3 points, 11.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game, all team highs. Junior Nathan Knight led the Green and Gold on Saturday, finishing with a game-high 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
 
W&M shook off a slow start behind the play of its freshmen. Rookies Chase Audige (6), L.J. Owens (6) and Quinn Blair (5), who made his first collegiate start in place of Pierce, combined for 17 of the Tribe's 28 first-half points. The Green and Gold closed the opening 20 minutes on a 7-2 run to take a 28-27 cushion in the locker room on a pair of Knight free throws with 31 seconds left.
 
The Tribe led 47-44 after Knight found sophomore Jihar Williams for a right wing 3-pointer with 10:58 remaining, but the Irish found its footing behind the ability to get to the free throw line and force Tribe turnovers. Notre Dame surged in front behind a 16-2 run led by John Mooney and T.J. Gibbs. The pair combined for 14 of the Irish's 16 points on the run, and Notre Dame was 8-of-8 at the charity stripe during the stretch. In total, ND turned 10 second-half W&M turnovers into a 12-0 advantage in points off turnovers in the final 20 minutes.
                                    
Junior Matt Milon scored nine W&M points in a row to pull the visitors back within striking distance at 70-64 with just 1:03 remaining. Unfortunately, the Tribe turned it over with 30 seconds left and a chance to cut the deficit to a single possession. Gibbs, who led Notre Dame with 18 points, hit 3-of-4 at the charity stripe to close the contest out.
 
How It Happened
- Both teams got off to slow starts, but Notre Dame's D.J. Harvey scored the first five points to push the Irish out to the early lead to 2:18 into the contest.
- The Tribe used a 9-0 run to move in front at the 13:01 mark. Owens and Audige capped the run with back-to-back 3-pointers.
- Notre Dame answered with a seven-point run to take a 12-9 lead on a Juwan Durham lay-up midway through the opening half.
- A Durham jumper and Prentiss Hubb lay-up pushed Notre Dame's lead to its largest of the first half at 22-15, forcing a W&M timeout at the 5:29 mark.
- Blair and Owens knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to draw W&M within one. Audige drove the lane and kicked to Owens in the corner for a triple to narrow the gap to 22-21 with 4:26 left in the half.
- W&M scored 13 of the final 18 points of the first half, including a 7-2 run over the final 2:48 to take a 28-27 lead into the locker room. Audige canned his second 3-pointer of the opening 20 minutes and Knight connected on four free throws, including the final two with 31 seconds left to give the Tribe the one-point advantage.
- A Harvey 3-pointer followed by a Gibbs steal and fastbreak dunk at the 13:26 mark of the second half put the Irish on top 43-40 and forced a W&M timeout.
- Milon pulled W&M even at 44 on a pair of free throws. An inside-out, right wing 3-pointer from sophomore Jihar Williams off a kickout from Knight gave W&M a 47-44 lead with 10:58 left in the game.
- The Irish took the game over with a 16-2, flipping a one-point Tribe lead into a 64-51 advantage with 4:40 left. ND scored 10-straight points to end the run and was 8-of-8 from the free throw line during the stretch. Mooney (8) and Gibbs (6) combined for 14 of the Irish's 16 points during the run.
- Milon scored nine-straight W&M point to close the Tribe within 70-64 with 1:03 remaining. He canned a pair of 3-pointers and added an old-fashion 3-point play. The Tribe had a chance to potentially cut it to a single-possession game with 30 seconds remaining, but Notre Dame forced a turnover and hit 3-of-4 from the free throw line to post the win.  
 
Inside the Numbers
- The Tribe finished the day at 45.8 percent (22-of-48) from the floor, including a 56-percent (14-of-25) clip in the second half. The Irish shot 41.3 (26-of-63) from the floor, including 50 percent (15-of-30) in the final 20 minutes.  
- Notre Dame forced W&M into 16 turnovers, including 10 in the second half, converting those miscues into a 17-2 advantage in point off turnovers.  
- The Irish connected on 14-of-19 at the free throw line in the second half, while the Tribe was 11-of-13 (84.6 percent) for the game.
- Notre Dame held a 40-30 advantage on the glass, including 16 offensive rebounds. The Irish turned its rebounding edge into a 16-7 cushion in second chance points.
- The Tribe connected on nine 3-pointers on the day and shot 34.6 percent (9-of-26) from long range.
 
Notes
Freshman Quinn Blair made his first career start against Notre Dame and finished with a career-high seven points to go along with two rebounds … For the third time in the first four games, junior Nathan Knight led the Tribe in assists with six … Making his second-straight start, freshman L.J. Owens scored in double figures for the third time in his first four collegiate games … He tallied 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range, in a team-high 33 minutes … W&M's freshman class played a combined 104 minutes on Saturday and totaled 26 points, 14 rebounds and six assists … Freshman Chase Audige tallied eight points, four rebounds and three assists in a career-high 26 minutes … One game after a career-high 30 points at UIC, junior Matt Milon finished in double figures for the third time in the opening four games … He tallied all 11 of his points in the second half.
 
Up Next
- The Tribe returns home to close out the Gotham Classic with reigning Big South Champion Radford on Tuesday, Nov. 20. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. from Kaplan Arena.
- The game will be broadcast online at Tribe Athletics TV via Stretch Internet. 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.