NEWARK, Del. – The William & Mary men's team limited Delaware to 38.2 percent shooting, but the Blue Hens used a late 11-2 run to pick up a 58-56 win on Thursday night at the Bob Carpenter Center.
 
The Tribe (6-9, 2-1 CAA) turned in another stout defensive performance, holding a CAA foe below 60 points for the first time in nearly two years. After shooting just 32 percent in the opening 20 minutes, the Blue Hens (10-6, 2-1 CAA) bounced back behind five second-half 3-pointers and turned eight W&M turnovers into 15 points in the final period.
 
W&M jumped out to as much as a 12-point first-half lead. Five different players scored during a 12-0 run as the Green and Gold hit 5-of-7 from the floor during the stretch. Freshman Chase Audige found junior Nathan Knight, who finished with 12 points, for a lay-up at the 11:57 mark to extend the lead to 17-5.
 
Junior Matt Milon, who led all scorers with 19 points, paced W&M with 11 in the first half as the Tribe led by a 28-21 margin at the break.
 
The Tribe lead ballooned back to 12, 33-21, to start the second half following an Audige 3-pointer, but UD whittled the margin down to one midway through the frame.
 
Delaware senior Darian Bryant sparked an 11-2 run to give the Blue Hens its first lead since the opening bucket of the contest. He tallied seven points during the spurt, including the final five, to give the home team a 53-49 lead with 4:38 remaining. Byrant finished with 11 points, while Ithiel Horton led UD with 15 points.
 
W&M closed to within 58-56 on a Milon lay-up with 24 seconds remaining. The Tribe had a pair of chances at the win in the final 10 seconds, but both 3-point attempts were off the mark.
 
How It Happened
- Freshman Chase Audige (4) and Milon (6) combined for W&M's first 10 points.
- The Tribe used a 12-0 run to take the lead, hitting 5-of-7 from the floor during the stretch. In total, five different players scored as part of the spurt. Freshman Thornton Scott hit a corner triple to extend the lead to double-digits forcing a Blue Hen timeout with 12:32 left, before Audige found Knight for a layup to expand the margin to 17-5.
- Delaware scored six in a row, including four from Horton. Kevin Anderson's lay-up with 8:32 remaining in the first half closed the gap to 17-11.
- W&M responded with an 8-2 run to push the margin back to 12. Milon scored five during the spurt, including a deep right wing 3-pointer. His steal and pass to Audige led to a fastbreak lay-up extending the lead to 25-13 with 4:36 remaining.
- Eric Carter, who posted a 12-point, 13-rebound double-double, sparked a six-point Delaware spurt with four in a row, before Horton's jumper cut the Tribe lead to 25-19 at the 2:01 mark.
- W&M led by seven, 28-21, at the intermission after a Paul Rowley 3-pointer with 1:35 remaining. Freshman Mehkel Harvey came off the bench after fouls mounted along the Tribe front line and made an impact with two blocked shots in three minutes of action, including the final block with less than a second left.
- The Tribe scored the first five points out of the half to push the lead back to 12. Junior Justin Pierce scored in the paint, before Knight found Audige for a top of the key 3 to give W&M a 33-21 lead just over a minute into the second half.
- Ryan Allen and Anderson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to draw UD within three, 37-34. After a Milon 3, Allen scored five in a row to make it an 11-3 Blue Hen run. His 3-pointer from the left side with 11:59 left closed the gap to 40-39.
- W&M led 47-42 after back-to-back Knight buckets. Junior Luke Loewe found Knight on the break with 9:47 left to extend the margin to five.
- Delaware answered with an 11-2 run to take its first lead since the opening bucket of the game. Bryant sparked the spurt with seven of the Blue Hen's 11 points. His corner 3-pointer at the 5:40 mark gave UD the lead for good, and his layup push it to 53-49 with 4:38 left.
- The teams traded free throws as the Tribe drew within one, 53-52, on a trio of freebies, but Delaware answered with four straight to push the advantage to its largest at 57-52 with 39 seconds left.
- W&M drew within two, 58-56, on a MIlon driving lay-up with 24 seconds remaining. After Allen missed a pair of free throws for UD, W&M had a chance to tie or take the lead, but a pair of 3-point attempts in the final 10 seconds were off the mark.
 
Inside the Numbers
- The Tribe held UD to just 32 percent (8-of-25) shooting in the first half and 18.2 percent (2-of-11) from 3-point range. The Blue Hens finished the game at 38.2 percent (21-of-55) overall after shooting 43.3 percent (13-of-30) in the second half.
- W&M shot 42.9 percent (21-of-49) for the game, including 44 percent (11-of-25) in the second half.
- W&M outrebounded Delaware, 38-36. Both teams pulled down seven offensive rebounds, but the Blue Hens outscored W&M 13-2 in second-chance points.
- Delaware outscored W&M, 18-4, in points off turnovers. The Blue Hens converted eight second-half W&M turnovers into 15 points.
- The Tribe connected on just 6-of-17 (35.3 percent) from the free throw line for the game, including 3-of-11 in the second half (27.3 percent).
- W&M assisted on 18 of its 21 made field goals.
 
Notes
The loss snapped W&M's six-game win streak in the series with Delaware … The 58 points were the fewest for a Tribe CAA opponent since Delaware scored 58 points on Jan. 26, 2017 … The 38.2 percent shooting is the lowest for a W&M CAA opponent since Elon shot 38.1 percent on March 4, 2017 … Freshman Mehkel Harvey blocked a career-high two shots in three minutes of action in the first half … Senior Paul Rowley dished out a career-high five assists to lead W&M … Sophomore Luke Loewe pulled down a career-high seven rebounds in a career-high 29 minutes … Junior Matt Milon knocked down five 3-pointers in a game for the fifth time in his Tribe career.
 
Up Next
- The Tribe travels to Philadelphia to take on Drexel on Saturday, Jan. 5, at 4 p.m.
- The game will be streamed online at CAA.TV.
- 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.