CHARLESTON, S.C. – In a match-up of the top two teams in the Colonial Athletic Association, the William & Mary men's basketball team dropped an entertaining, back-and-forth contest at Charleston, 82-77, on Thursday night. Sophomore Nathan Knight poured in 29 points for the Green and Gold (15-9, 8-5 CAA), but Charleston guard Grant Riller topped him with a career-high 37 points. Riller, who scored 28 first-half points, made a pair of big plays late with a steal and fast-break dunk and a 3-pointer to answer for Charleston (19-6, 9-3 CAA) when W&M twice pulled within four in the closing minutes.
 
Knight, who scored 16 of W&M's first 21 points in the second stanza, led an 8-0 Tribe run to put the Tribe on top early in the second half. He tallied six of the eight during the run, including a layup off a nice feed from sophomore Justin Pierce, to give W&M a 56-52 lead with 13:01 remaining.
 
Charleston flipped the game in its favor thanks to a 15-2 spurt led by Joe Chealey and Jarrell Brantley. The pair combined for 13 of the Cougars' 15 during the run. Brantley scored the final three, including a free throw with 7:43 left, to give Charleston its largest advantage at 67-58.
 
The Tribe would not go away, twice whittling the lead down to four, but Riller had the answer each time. A pair of David Cohn free throws cut the gap to 72-68 with 4:22 remaining, before a CofC free throw and a Riller steal and fast-break dunk pushed the margin back to seven. With a 1:30 left, Knight found Pierce for a cutting lay-up to close the gap to 76-72, but Riller canned a deep 3-pointer at the 1:01 mark and W&M could not get any closer the final margin of five.
 
After Charleston jumped out to an early lead, hitting five of its first seven shots, the Tribe responded with nine-straight points as part of a 12-2 run to move in front for the first time. Knight scored four during the spurt, while junior Paul Rowley and Cohn knocked down back-to-back triples to give W&M a 24-20 lead at the eight-minute mark.
 
The first-half lead reached eight when the Tribe turned defense into offense. A Pierce steal led to a run-out where Cohn found senior Oliver Tot for a lay-up and the foul. His 3-point play extended the margin to eight, 32-24, with 5:48 remaining.
 
Riller, who scored 28 of Charleston 41 first-half points, knocked down three-straight 3-pointers as part of an 11-0 Cougar run to put the home team back in front. Cohn found Rowley for a right-wing 3-pointer at the first-half horn to send the teams to the locker room tied at 41.
 
Individual Players Spotlight
Sophomore Nathan Knight led the Tribe with 29 points on 13-of-19 shooting. He added seven rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots. Senior Connor Burchfield finished with 12 points, while senior David Cohn and junior Paul Rowley added 11 apiece. Cohn tallied a game-high eight assists.
 
Grant Riller led all scorers with 37 points on 13-of-19 shooting, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range. He tallied 28 of his 37 in the first half. Jarrelle Brantley added 19 points for the Cougars.
 
Inside the Numbers
- The Tribe shot 51.8 percent (29-of-56) from the field, hitting for better than 50 percent in both halves. W&M shot 57.1 percent (12-of-21) in the second half.
 
 - Charleston shot 47.3 percent (26-of-55) for the game and hit eight 3-pointers compared to just seven ofr the Tribe.
 
- The Cougars outscored W&M at the free throw line, 22-12. The Tribe shot 92.3 percent (12-of-13) from the charity stripe, including 10-of-10 in the second half.
 
Notes
Senior guard David Cohn dished out a game-high eight assists, which moved his season total to 156 … The number ranks third in program history and is only three shy of No. 2 all-time and 12 short of the school record … Knight blocked four shots on the night to move his single-season total to 54, which ranks fifth on the Tribe's single-season list … The Tribe's team total of 101 blocked shots ranks 10th on the single-season list … With his two 3-pointers on the night, senior Connor Burchfield pushed his season total to 73, which ranks sixth on the Tribe's single-season chart …
 
Up Next
The Tribe returns home for the program's annual #WMGoldRush Game on Saturday, Feb. 10, welcoming Delaware to Williamsburg. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m., from Kaplan Arena. The game will be part of an exclusive linear broadcast partnership with Cox Communications in Virginia and be available in select out-of-town markets through Cox Yurview.
 
The game will be available throughout Hampton Roads on Yurview Virginia, Cox's channel 1011, while additional outlets in Virginia include Fairfax County (1074) and Roanoke (1009). Fans can check their local listings for availability in their area. Visit Zap2it.com, enter your zip code and provider to access your local listings and program guide to search for Cox Yurview. Like all Tribe home games, the contest will be available on CAA.TV as well. 
 
Tribe fans can catch the men's basketball action over the Tribe Radio Network with Andrew Phillips and Kris Sears 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.
 
Join the Rush to Kaplan! The annual Gold Rush Game is sponsored by For The Bold: The Campaign for William & Mary in conjunction with W&M Charter Day Weekend. Gold Rush tickets are going fast, so be sure to get yours today by visiting TribeAthletics.com/GoldRushTix or calling (757) 221-3340. A large crowd is expected to attend, so be sure to skip long lines by buying your tickets ahead of time online, printing tickets at home and entering the gates early. Gates open for fans at 12:30 p.m.