NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – Despite a career-high 31 points from sophomore Nathan Knight and a 52.7-percent shooting night, the William & Mary men's basketball team could not overcome top seed and league regular season champion Charleston, 83-73, in the CAA Semifinals on Monday night. The Tribe finished the year with a 19-12 record, marking the 10th-most wins in school history.
 
Charleston's Grant Riller, who led CofC with 25 points, broke open a back-and-forth start, headlining a 15-3 run. Riller scored the final 13 points of the spurt, including three-straight 3-pointers, the final two of which pushed the Charleston (25-7) margin to 26-15 with 9:12 left in the opening half.
 
W&M used an 8-0 run thanks to back-to-back triples to narrow the gap to two. Knight, who scored 15 of W&M's first 21 points, started things with a top-of-the-key 3-pointer, before senior Connor Burchfield scored five-straight, including a deep three, to pull W&M within 28-26 at 3:28 mark of the first half.
 
After trailing by five, 39-34, at the intermission, the Tribe drew within a single point on back-to-back 3-pointers from Burchfield and junior Paul Rowley. Rowley's trifecta with 13:08 remaining cut the deficit to 47-46. Charleston responded with five-straight points, including an answering triple from Cameron Johnson to push the lead back to six.
 
W&M twice drew within three at 57-54 on a Rowley lay-up at the 9:15 mark and at 60-57 on a Knight free throw with 7:20 left. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Charleston's Marquise Pointer and Riller extended the lead back to double-digits at 69-59 with 5:20 to play. The Tribe could get no closer than six points over the closing minutes, cutting the deficit to 77-71 with just over a minute left on a Knight old-fashion 3-point play.
 
Individual Players Spotlight
Sophomore Nathan Knight equaled his career high with 31 points on 13-of-18 shooting  to go along with seven rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots. Junior Paul Rowley tallied 14 points, including a 4-of-8 effort from 3-point range, while senior Connor Burchfield added 10 points and a career-high eight rebounds. Senior guard David Cohn capped off his Tribe career with 11 points, seven assists and four rebounds.
 
Grant Riller led five Charleston players in double figures with 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range. Joe Chealey added 16 points and Jarrell Brantley tallied a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double.
 
Inside the Numbers
- The Tribe finished the night shooting 52.7 percent (29-of-55) from the floor, including 55.2 percent (16-of-29) in the second half.
 
- Charleston finished the game at 50 percent (31-of-62) shooting and was even more impressive in the second half. The Cougars shot 59.3 percent (16-of-27) in the final 20 minutes and hit 5-of-10 from 3-point range.
 
- The Tribe connected on double-digit 3-pointers for the 18th time in 2017-18 and finished the contest shooting 38.5 percent (10-of-26) from long range. Charleston knocked down one more 3-pointer, hitting 11, and shot 37.9 percent from 3.
 
- Charleston converted 11 W&M turnovers into 17 points, outscoring the Tribe by 13, 17-4, in points off turnovers. By contrast, the Cougars turned the ball over only four times.
 
Notes
W&M became the first team in the history of the NCAA to shoot 50 percent from the field (51.1), 40 percent from 3-point range (43.4) and 80 percent from the free throw line (81.0) … The Tribe's free throw percentage was a CAA record and the sixth-best in NCAA history … The Tribe appeared in the CAA Semifinals for the fifth-straight season and seventh time under head coach Tony Shaver … W&M is 4-3 in those semifinal appearances … Sophomore Nathan Knight scored a career-high 31 points for the fourth time this season … It was the sixth 30-point performance in the Tribe's CAA Tournament history and ranks fourth on the school list … His 13 made field goals rank as the second-most for a Tribe player in the CAA Tournament … Senior David Cohn tied the Tribe's single-game CAA Tournament assist record for the second-straight game with seven … With its 29 made field goals, the Tribe topped last year's school record of 887 and finished the year at 910 …The Green and Gold dished out 16 assists and established a new school record with 548 on the season … With its 10 3-pointers, the Tribe moved into second-place on the CAA list for single-season 3-pointers made with 337 … With his steal against Charleston, Cohn became the fourth player since 1986, when steals became an official stat, to register 50 in a season … Knight totaled 573 points in 2017-18, which ranks 10th on the Tribe's single-season list … With his two blocked shots, Knight moved up to fourth on the single-season list with 61 … Knight tallied his 200th made field goal in the first half and finished the season with 206, which is 10th in program history … Senior Connor Burchfield established new CAA records for single-season 3-point percentage (52.0) and career 3-point percentage (50.7).