NORFOLK, Va. – The road can be difficult. It often deals out tough lessons and leaves bumps. Playing its fifth contest in the opening nine on the road, the youthful William & Mary men's basketball team experienced another challenging setting on Wednesday nigth, falling at Old Dominion, 71-53.
 
The Tribe's five road opponents to this point in 2018 are a combined 23-3 inside their own gyms. W&M showed grit once again, closing a 16-point ODU (6-3) first-half lead to as little as three less than four minutes into the second half. The Green and Gold (2-7) trailed 31-15 with 2:53 remaining in the opening period, but thanks to an 8-0 run, capped by a Matt Milon leaner less than four minutes into the second half, the margin was only 37-34.
 
The game, as it usually does, changed on the simplest of plays. After a missed ODU free throw, the Tribe did not pull down the defensive rebound as it instead bounced out of bounds and went the way of the Monarchs. Marquis Godwin splashed a momentum-changing triple to stretch the lead back to seven, 41-34.
 
W&M again closed to five, 48-43, as junior Justin Pierce found classmate Nathan Knight for a dunk with 11:18 to play, but the Monarchs responded with a 17-2 run to put the game out of reach. It was Ahmad Caver (6) and B.J. Stith (5) who highlighted the run with 11 of ODU's 17 points. The duo finished with 20 points apiece as Stith registered a double-double collecting 11 rebounds.
 
Knight led W&M with 14 points and added six rebounds, while Milon was the only other Green and Gold player in double figures with 13.
 
How It Happened
- Caver (5) and Xavier Green (3) combined for eight of the Monarchs' first 10 points, and ODU led 10-5 following a Stith jumper at the 12:35 mark of the first half.
- Milon scored five of the Tribe's first nine, drawing the Tribe within 13-9 midway through the opening half. A 14-2 Monarch run stretched the home team's lead to double figures. Marquis Godwin scored eight points during the run, including a pair of 3-pointers. Stith's fastbreak lay-up extend the advantage to 24-9 at the 5:05 mark.
- ODU's first-half lead reached as much as 16, 31-15, on a Godwin 3-pointer at the 2:53 mark.  Godwin scored 11 of his 14 points in the first half.  
- W&M hit its final four shots from the floor of the half and used an 8-2 run over the final 2:29 to close the gap to 10 at the half. Freshman Thornton Scott and Milon both canned 3-pointers, before rookie Chase Audige beat the halftime horn with a jumper to bring W&M within 33-23.
- The Tribe used an 8-0 run to close the gap to three just four minutes into the second half. Knight scored five of the Tribe's first 11 points in the second frame, before a Paul Rowley 3-pointer and a Milon leaner in the lane cut the deficit to 37-34 at the 16:20 mark.
- ODU stretched its lead back to double figures with a 17-2 run. After W&M cut the gap to 48-43 as Pierce found Knight for a dunk, Jason Wade answered with an old-fashion 3-point play to start the spurt. Caver (6) and Stith (5) combined for 11 of the Monarch's 17 during the run.
 
Inside the Numbers
- W&M struggled from the floor, shooting just 28.1 percent (9-of-32) in the first half and finished the game at 35 percent (21-of-60) overall.
- The Green and Gold was just 5-of-26 (19.2 percent) from 3-point range. By comparison, ODU connected on 10-of-23 (43.5 percent) from distance.
- ODU finished the game at 50 percent (27-of-54) from the floor, including 53.8 percent (14-of-26) in the second half.
- W&M scored 17 points off 16 Old Dominion turnovers. As a team, the Tribe had a season-low nine turnovers.
 
Notes
The loss snapped W&M's three-game winning streak in the series … The Tribe had won six of the last seven against the Monarchs … Junior Nathan Knight led W&M in scoring for the sixth time this season with 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting … Junior Justin Pierce led W&M with seven rebounds, his fifth time leading the Tribe in his seven games … Freshman Thornton Scott led W&M with three assists, marking the third time that he topped the Tribe … Freshman Chase Audige had a career-high tying three steals … He earned his second start of the season.
 
Up Next
- The Tribe wraps up its two-game Hampton Roads trip at Hampton on Saturday, Dec. 8. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. from the HU Convocation Center.
- The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
- 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.