BUFFALO, N.Y. – William & Mary men's basketball closed a 14-point first-half deficit to as little as four in the final 20 minutes, but Buffalo connected on seven second-half 3-pointers to outdistance the Tribe, 88-77, on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Arena.
 
In his homecoming, senior Nathan Knight, who grew up just over two hours down the road in Syracuse, N.Y., put on a show finishing with a season-high 30 points to go with 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. The 6-10 center was 11-of-15 from the floor, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range, and added a trio of assists. Knight's 11 career 30-point games are a school record.
 
The Tribe hit its first four 3-pointers and led 14-11 five minutes into the contest as freshman Rainers Hermanovskis' driving lay-up beat the shot clock. Buffalo used a pair of runs to open up as much as a 14-point lead, 41-27, with just over a minute to play in the opening frame.
 
The Tribe clawed to within five on two occasions and four once in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Knight found graduate student Tyler Hamilton for an easy lay-up to cut the margin to 51-47 five minutes into the period. After an 8-0 Buffalo run pushed the lead back to 12, senior Andy Van Vliet's right-wing 3-pointer cut deficit to 63-58 midway through the second half.
 
Buffalo, who hit 10 3-pointers on the night including seven in the second half, put the game away with a 14-3 run. Antwain Johnson's triple extended the lead back to double figures during the spurt, and Ronaldo Segu's 3-pointer from the left corner capped it to push the margin to 77-61 with just over six minutes remaining.
 
Junior Luke Loewe turned in another strong performance for W&M with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 2-of-4 from 3. Jayvon Graves led Buffalo with 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting to go with five assists. He hit all three of his 3-pointers in the second half at key junctures. Four players finished in double figures with the Bulls, including Davonta Jordan's 18 points to go with a game-high seven steals.
 
How It Happened
- The Tribe hit its first four from beyond the 3-point arc, including a pair from Nathan Knight to take a 12-11 lead at the 15:22 mark.  
- The Bulls responded with a 7-0 run to move in front. Gabe Grant knocked down a 3-pointer during the spurt before a Jayvon Graves driving lay-up with 12:56 remaining extended the UB lead to 20-15.
- Knight scored four in a row for W&M and then found graduate student Bryce Barnes for a lay-up to cut the deficit 22-21 with 10:20 left.
- Grant knocked down a 3-pointer to start a nine-point Bulls run. Jeenathan Williams scored the final six of the spurt to give Buffalo a double-digit lead, 31-21, at the 6:51 mark.
- The lead reached as much as 14, 41-27, in the opening half on a Davonta Jordan steal and fast-break lay-up with just over a minute to play in the opening half. Luke Loewe's driving lay-up in the closing seconds cut the margin to 43-32 at the intermission.  
- The Tribe scored nine of the first 12 points in the second half to whittle the Buffalo lead to five. Knight scored the half's first four points, before Loewe canned a right-wing 3-pointer. Freshman Miguel Ayesa drove the left baseline for a reserve lay-up to slice the deficit to 46-41 just over three minutes into the half.
- Knight scored on a lay-up and then found Tyler Hamilton for an easy two to draw the Tribe within 51-47 at the 14:57 mark.
- Graves responded with back-to-back 3-pointers as part of an 8-0 run to push the Bulls lead back to 59-47 at the 12:54 mark.
- A Knight old-fashion 3-point play followed by an Andy Van Vliet triple at the 9:40 closed the gap to 63-58
- Buffalo put the game out of reach with 14-3 run. Antwain Johnson pushed it back to double digits at 71-60 with a 3-pointer. Ronaldo Segu capped it with a triple from the left corner to force a W&M timeout with 6:03 left and push the Buffalo advantage to 77-61. The Tribe could get no closer than the final margin of 11.  
 
Inside the Numbers
- Buffalo shot 54.8% (34-of-62) from the field compared to 50% (28-of-56) for the Tribe.
- The Bulls knocked down 10 3-pointers, including a 7-of-13 effort in the second half.
- Buffalo forced W&M into 18 turnovers and scored 22 points off those Tribe miscues. The Bulls finished with 15 steals as a team.
- UB held an 18-6 advantage in fast-break points.
- W&M connected on 76.5% (13-of-17) from the free throw line and hit each of its final eight at the charity stripe, shooting 90.9% (10-of-11) in the second half.
- Buffalo held a 34-30 advantage on the glass but had just eight offensive rebounds after entering the game at nearly 17 per contest.
 
Notes
Senior Nathan Knight produced his second 30-point game of the season and notched his sixth double-double in eight games … His 11 career 30-point games are a W&M record … It was his 28th career double-double … Knight moved past Quinn McDowell (1621) for eighth place on the Tribe's career scoring list with 1647 … Knight also surpassed 700 career rebounds … He ranks 10th on W&M's career list with 709 … Graduate student Tyler Hamilton started his fourth-straight game and finished with six points on 3-of-5 shooting, his best scoring game as a member of the Tribe … After missing the first six games of the year, junior Jihar Williams returned to the Tribe lineup, playing 18 minutes off the bench, and finishing with three points, a rebound and a blocked shot … Graduate student Bryce Barnes finished with a career-high three steals … W&M shot 50% from the floor for the second-straight game and the fourth time in the last six contests.
 
Up Next
- The Tribe returns home to host Hampton Roads rival Old Dominion on Tuesday, Dec. 3. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. from Kaplan Arena.
- The W&M-ODU game will be broadcast on Cox Communications in Virginia with Jay Colley and Charlie Woollum on the call. The game will be available throughout Hampton Roads on YurView Virginia, Cox's channel 1011, while additional outlets include Fairfax County (1074), Fredericksburg (1077) and Roanoke (1009). The game will be available in other Cox markets, checking your local listings for details.
- All Tribe home games will be streamed on FloHoops. A FloHoops subscription is $12.50 per month or $95.88 per year ($7.99 per month) and provides access to 130 CAA men's basketball games, as well as special features.
- Tribe fans can catch the men's basketball action over the Tribe Radio Network with Andrew Phillips and Julie Leach 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.