WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Experience is everything, and the short-handed William & Mary men's basketball team could not overcome the seasoned gap on Tuesday night despite flashes of brilliance against reigning Big South Champion Radford. The Highlanders (4-1), featuring one of the most experienced rosters in college basketball, used a late 14-3 run to overcome a spirited effort from the Tribe, which was missing three upperclassmen starters, in the final game of the Gotham Classic, 81-72, at Kaplan Arena.
 
RU started four upperclassmen and a redshirt sophomore and seven of its 10 players that saw action were either juniors or seniors. On the other side, the Tribe (1-4) countered with three freshmen starters for the first time under head coach Tony Shaver and just one upperclassman, junior Nathan Knight, played minutes due to injuries. W&M was without the services of captains and starters Matt Milon, Justin Pierce and Paul Rowley. In their stead, Knight turned in a valiant performance to spearhead the Tribe attack with a career-high 32 points on 13-of-20 shooting to go with a game-high nine rebounds in a career-high 36 minutes.
 
The Highlanders, which won at Notre Dame last week, 63-60, jumped out to an 11-point halfime lead, 46-35, thanks to 71.4-percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes. Sophomore Jihar Williams and freshmen Thornton Scott and Chase Audige sparked a pair of runs midway through the second half to give the Green and Gold the lead. Williams scored all 10 of his points in the second half, while Audige had eight of his career-high 14 in the final 20 minutes.
 
Scott assisted on three-straight W&M buckets as part of a 7-0 run to give the Green and Gold a 64-61 lead on an Audige 3-pointer from the left corner with 9:43 remaining.  In total, Scott dished out eight assists, marking the most for a W&M freshman in 19 years.
 
The Highlanders, which are 28th nationally in experience according to KenPom.com, used a late 14-3 run to pull out the road win. Radford retook the lead for good on a Carlik Jones banking jumper with 6:12 remaining, and Travis Fields, Jr. scored six-straight points over the final two minutes of the contest to cement RU's win. Jones led the Highlanders with 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Fields, Jr. added 12 points.
 
How It Happened
- The game started in back-and-forth fashion with a Knight old-fashion 3-point play giving W&M a 10-8 lead less than four minutes into the contest.  
- The Highlanders scored seven-straight points as part of a 10-2 run to open up a 20-12 lead. Ed Polite, Jr. scored four in a row, before Leroy Butts capped it with five straight. His 3-pointer stretched the margin to eight with 11:58 left in the half.
- Five-straight Knight points, including another 3-point play, cut the deficit to 20-17 at the 10:50 mark.
- Back-to-back Radford triples from Donald Hicks and Caleb Tanner pushed the lead to 38-30 with 3:09 left in the opening half.
- Knight scored seven W&M points in a row, including his third 3-point play of the first half, to close the gap to 40-35 with just two minutes left in the frame. He finished the opening 20 minutes with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting.
- Radford scored the half's final six points, including four from Jones, to open up an 11-point halftime advantage, 46-35.
- The Highlanders lead was nine, 54-45, just four minutes into the second half, before the Tribe used a 10-3 run, highlighted by Williams, to close within two. Williams scored eight of the Green and Gold's 10 points during run, including a pair of triples. Audige, who had a putback dunk during the spurt as well, found Williams on the break with 12:36 left to cut the margin to 57-55 and force a Radford timeout.
- The Tribe scored seven in a row all off of Scott assists to open up its largest lead of the contest at 64-61 with 9:43 remaining. Audige scored five during the spurt, including the go-ahead 3-pointer from the left corner, and Williams added a spinning lay-up on the break to tie the contest at 61.
- Radford scored four-straight points on buckets from Jones and Devonnte Holland, but the Tribe led 68-67 with 6:29 remaining following a Knight dunk.
- The Highlanders used a 14-3 run, before a last second Tribe free throw, to pull out the road win. Radford retook the lead for good on a Jones banking jumper, before Hicks' 3-pointer extended the advantage to 72-68 with 5:19 remaining.
- W&M pulled within 72-70 on an L.J. Owens driving lay-up at the 4:49 mark and to 74-71 on an Audige free throw. Radford's Travis Fields, Jr. scored six points in a row to put the game out of reach, including a triple with 1:47 left.
 
Inside the Numbers
- Radford shot 71.4 percent (20-of-28) from the field in the opening 20 minutes and finished the game at 58.2 percent (32-of-55) overall.
- The Tribe finished the contest at 48.2 percent (27-of-56) from the floor but was just 5-of-20 (25 percent) from 3-point range. W&M outscored Radford, 40-32, in the paint.
- W&M connected on 86.7 percent (13-of-15) from the free throw line against the Highlanders, including a perfect 6-of-6 for Knight.
- Radford converted 14 W&M turnovers into 20 points, outscoring the Tribe by 11 (20-9) in points off turnovers.
- The Tribe dished out 18 of 27 made field goals, including a game-high eight from Scott.
 
Notes
Freshman guard Chase Audige earned his first career start on Friday night … For the first time under head coach Tony Shaver, the Tribe started three freshmen (Chase Audige, Quinn Blair and L.J. Owens) … Senior Nathan Knight scored a career-high 32 points on 13-of-20 from the floor and a perfect 6-of-6 at the free throw line … He had four 3-point plays and four dunks in the contest … Freshman Chase Audige scored a career-high 14 points … Freshman Thornton Scott's eight assists were the most for a W&M freshman since Sherman Rivers had nine in 1999 against Wofford … Sophomore Jihar Williams produced his second career double-digit scoring game with 10 points, all in the second half … The loss snapped W&M's 24-game homecourt non-conference winning streak which dated back to 2013 … The Tribe ranked as the 18th least experienced team in the country according to KenPom.com following the contest with the Highlanders.
 
Up Next
- The Tribe continues its two-game homestand against Atlantic 10 foe Saint Joseph's on Saturday, Nov. 24. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. from Kaplan Arena as W&M faces its second of three A-10 opponents this season.
- 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.