WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The saying goes, 'the best part about freshmen is they become sophomores.' While the William & Mary men's basketball team's rookie group might not have gained a year experience on Saturday afternoon, they took a major step as the Tribe (2-4) rallied from as much as a 20-point, second-half deficit to upset one of the Atlantic 10 Conference favorites Saint Joseph's, 87-85, at Kaplan Arena.
 
Junior Nathan Knight scored on a banking left-handed hook shot with 1.7 seconds remaining to cap the Tribe's thrilling comeback over the final 17 minutes. Knight finished with a team-high 21 points despite being limited by foul trouble to 21 minutes. The freshman quartet of Chase Audige, L.J. Owens, Thornton Scott and Quinn Blair combined for 33 of W&M's 52 second-half points to go along with six rebounds, seven assists, five steals and two blocked shots over the final 20 minutes.
 
Audige scored 16 of his career-high 20 points in the second frame, hitting 5-of-7 from 3-point range on the night. He added three steals and a pair of blocked shots on the defensive end. Junior Justin Pierce recorded his 10th career a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds, while Owens scored nine of his 12 points in the second half and Scott tallied eight of his career-high nine in the final 20 minutes.
 
Saint Joseph's (3-3) scored the first six points of the second period to extend its lead to 20, 55-35. W&M tallied 12-straight points to cut the deficit to single digits. In total, W&M used an extended 37-12 run over a 10-minute stretch, flipping the 20-point deficit into a five-point lead, 76-71. The Green and Gold made 14 of 17 shots, including six 3-pointers, during the run.
 
Audige (13), Scott (8) and Owens (7) combined for 28 of the Tribe's 37 points during the stretch. Audige scored 10 points in a row, including back-to-back 3-pointers, to draw the Green and Gold within 63-57 with 12:32 remaining, before Owen's scored seven straight capped by a left corner 3-pointer at the 8:33 mark to give the home team a 72-70 lead.
 
Saint Joseph's retook the lead twice in the final 2:08, but each time a Tribe rookie came up big. Charlie Brown Jr., who finished with a game-high 37 points, converted a four-point play with 2:08 remaining to put the visitors back on top, 82-80,  After the Tribe pulled even on an Owens jumper, Lamarr Kimble's old-fashion 3-point play gave SJU an 85-82 lead with 1:18 remaining. Kimble finished with 18 points for the Hawks. This time it was Audige who knocked down his fifth triple of the contest to tie the game at 85 with 48 seconds remaining.

The Tribe forced a stop on the defensive end as Knight pulled down the defensive rebound off a Brown missed left corner jumper with 20 seconds remaining. After a timeout, the Tribe executed to perfection in the final seconds. Pierce fed to Knight on the left block, and the junior center did the rest, spinning baseline and finishing with the left hand off the glass over Saint Joseph's Pierfrancesco Olivia with 1.7 seconds left to give W&M the 87-85 victory.
 
How It Happened
- The Tribe hit its first four shots, including a trio of Knight buckets, to lead 9-4 after a Knight hook shot at the 17:21 mark.
- Saint Joseph's used a six-point spurt to take its first lead at 17-15. Brown scored four of SJU's six during the run, including two free throws at the 12:42 mark to put the visitors on top.
- Back-to-back Pierce buckets pulled the Tribe even at 23 with 7:18 remaining in the half.
- Saint Joseph's seized control of the opening half with a 12-0 run sparked by Jared Bynum and Brown. Bynum scored the first five points of the spurt to give the visitors the lead, before Brown tallied seven in a row, including a right wing 3-pointer to stretch the margin to 35-23 with 5:26 left in the opening half.
- In total, the Hawks hit nine of their final 12 shots from the floor in the first half, including five 3-pointers, to take a 49-35 lead into the break.
- SJU scored first six points of the second half to stretch the lead to 20, 55-35, on a Taylor Funk free throw at the 18:38 mark.
- W&M scored 12 in a row to cut the gap to single digits. After Scott knocked down a fastbreak 3-pointer off a SJU turnover, the Tribe made a pair of steals and Scott found Audige on the break for back-to-back buckets to draw W&M with 59-51 with 14:07 remaining.
- Audige scored 10-straight Tribe points adding back-to-back 3-pointers just over a minute a part. His second triple from in front of the Tribe bench at the 12:32 mark closed the margin to 63-57.
- W&M made 15 of 18 shots over a 10:45 stretch (from 15:38 to 4:53), including six 3-pointers, in the second half to flip a 20-point deficit to a five-point lead.
- The Tribe took its first lead since the 10:54 mark of the first half on an Owen's fastbreak corner 3-pointer. The triple gave W&M a 72-70 lead with 8:33 remaining.
- Owens scored seven-straight Tribe points pushing the Tribe lead to 76-71 with 5:54 left on a free-throw line jumper.
- Kimble and Brown combined for Saint Joseph's final 12 points. A Kimble 3 and a pair of Brown free throws tied the game at 78 with 3:14 remaining. Brown's four-play play at the 2:08 mark gave the visitors an 82-80 lead, while Kimble's old-fashion 3-point play made it 85-82 in favor of SJU with 1:18 left.
- W&M scored the game's final five points to pull out the win. Audige knocked down his fifth 3-pointer with 48 seconds remaining to draw the Tribe even after Kimble's 3-point play.
- Knight converted the game-winner on a banking left-hand hook with 1.7 seconds. He tallied 11 of his 21 points in the second half.
 
Inside the Numbers
-The Tribe shot 67.7 percent (21-of-31) in the final 20 minutes to finish the game at 57.1 percent (32-of-56) overall. Saint Joseph's shot 47.4 percent (27-of-57) from the floor.
- W&M outscored SJU from 3-point range connecting on 11-of-24 (45.8 percent) from distance compared to 10-of-25 (40 percent) for the Hawks. W&M was 7-of-12 from 3 (58.3 percent) in the second half.
- The Tribe dished out 22 assists on its 32 made field goals, including 14 dimes on 21 second-half field goals. Thornton Scott led W&M with four assists off the bench as eight different played dished  out at least two assists.
- W&M outscored the Hawks, 25-19, in fastbreak points and held a decisive 31-6 advantage off the bench.  
 
Notes
It marked the Tribe's third comeback of 20 or more points under head coach Tony Shaver and 27th double-digit comeback overall … The Tribe came from back down 20 at home last season against JMU and from 22 down in 2015 against UNCW … Juniors Matt Milon (one game) and Justin Pierce (two games) returned to the Tribe starting lineup after missing time due to injuries … Senior Paul Rowley, who sat out the first five games of the year due to injury, made his season debut against the Hawks … Rowley finished with two points, four rebounds and three assists in 10 minutes of action during his return … Pierce notched his third double-double in four games this season and the 10th of his Tribe career with 20 points and a game-high 12 rebounds … Despite being limited to 21 minutes due to foul trouble, junior Nathan Knight tallied 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting … Freshman Chase Audige scored a career-high 20 points, including 16 in the second half … The Tribe connected on double-digit 3-pointers for the second time this season and the 136th time under head coach Tony Shaver … W&M is 87-49 in those games.
 
Up Next
- The Tribe hits the road to take on defending Conference USA Champion Marshall on Wednesday, Nov. 28, at 7 p.m.
- The teams played the highest scoring game in Kaplan Arena history last season with the Tribe posting a 114-104 victory.
- 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.