PHILADELPHIA – William & Mary men's basketball had its three-game win streak snapped at Saint Joseph's, 84-69, on Thursday night. The Hawks knocked down 16 3-pointers to hold off a number of Tribe rallies.
 
Seniors Nathan Knight led W&M with 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting to go with six rebounds, while classmate Andy Van Vliet tallied his third-straight double-double behind 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting and a career-high 14 rebounds. Graduate student Bryce Barnes rounded out the Tribe's double-digit scorers with 12 points.
           
After the Tribe took its only lead of the game at 10-9 on back-to-back 3-pointers from Van Vliet and Barnes, Saint Joseph's (3-9) used a 21-7 run to open up as much as a 13-point first-half lead. The Hawks closed the run with four-straight 3-pointers to stretch the advantage to 30-17 and force a W&M timeout with 8:10 left in the first half.
 
The Tribe (8-4) closed to within eight at the intermission and opened the second half with a Knight conventional 3-point play to cut the deficit to 41-36. Saint Joseph's responded with a 13-0 run highlighted by a pair of Ryan Daly 3-pointers to extend the lead to 18, 54-36, less than three minutes in the final frame. Daly led all scorers with 27 points.
 
Last season, the Tribe rallied from a 20-point deficit to upend the Hawks in Williamsburg, and the visitor would not go quietly this time either. A 10-2 Tribe run, capped by a Miguel Ayesa 3-pointer with 12 minutes remaining, drew W&M within 61-54 and forced an SJU timeout.
 
Saint Joseph's answered with an 11-2 run, featuring three of the Hawks' nine second-half 3-pointers, to push the lead back to 16, 72-56, and the margin never dipped below 10 the rest of the way.
 
How It Happened
- Saint Joseph's hit two of its first three from the floor and scored the game's opening five points. A Myles Douglas 3-pointer from the left wing at the 18:15 mark gave the Hawks a 5-0 lead.
- Senior Andy Van Vliet and graduate student Bryce Barnes knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to give W&M the lead. Barnes kissed his home from the left side just five minutes into the game to put the Tribe in front 10-9.
- The Hawks used a 21-7 run to move back in front for good. Ryan Daly scored on back-to-back lay-ups, and Douglas scored eight-straight points. A Lorenzo Edwards left-corner 3 extended the Hawks lead with 24-15 with 10:34 remaining in the first half.
- In total, SJU hit four-straight 3-pointers to push the lead to double-digits. Edward added a second triple and Anthony Longpre connected on one from the right wing to give the home team a 30-17 and force a W&M timeout with 8:10 left.
- Junior Luke Loewe answered with back-to-back 3-pointers from the left wing. His second at the 6:45 mark closed the gap to 30-23 and force a Saint Joseph's timeout.
- The Hawks responded with an 8-2 run to extend the margin back to 13. Greg Smith banked in a 3-pointer from the right wing, and Edwards' putback 3-point play pushed the SJU lead to 38-25 at the 3:48 mark.
- The Tribe scored eight-straight points to close the gap. Senior Nathan Knight started the spurt with back-to-back 3-pointers before Van Vliet's hook narrowed the margin to 38-33 with 1:41 remaining.
- Daly, who led all scorers with 13 in the first half, closed the opening period scoring with a 3-pointer at the 1:17 mark to give the Hawks a 41-33 lead at the break.
 - After a Knight conventional 3-point play out of the locker room, SJU scored 13 in a row to push the lead to its largest. Douglas scored five in a row, before a Daly steal and 3-pointer at the 18:18 mark extended the Hawks lead to 13 and force a W&M timeout. Another Daly triple at the 17:27 mark push the margin to 54-36.
- The Tribe used a 10-2 run to claw to within seven points with 12 minutes remaining. Knight scored four during the run, and freshman Miguel Ayesa's corner 3-pointer cut the gap to 61-54 and forced a SJU timeout.
- Longpre and Chereef Knox answered with back-to-back 3-pointers as part of an 11-2 run to push the lead to 16. Knox's second triple of the sequence at the 8:49 mark gave the home team a 72-56 lead.
- The Tribe closed to within 10 with just under five minutes remaining. Ayesa capped a 9-2 spurt with a left-wing 3-pointers on to cut the deficit to 77-67 with 4:43 remaining, but it would be as close as the Tribe would get.
 
Starters
W&M – #2 Hamilton, #5 Barnes, #11 Van Vliet, #12 Loewe, #13 Knight
Saint Joseph's – #0 Knox, #1 Daly, #2 Douglas, #3 Brown, #12 Longpre
 
Inside the Numbers
- The Tribe shot just 39.3% (24-of-61) from the floor compared to 42.9% (27-of-63) for Saint Joseph's.
- The Hawks knocked down 16 3-pointers, shooting 37.2% from long range (16-of-43). Nine of SJU's 3-pointers came in the second half.
- W&M connected on 13-of-16 (81.3%) from the free throw line.
- Saint Joseph's outrebounded the Tribe, 38-37 on the night and outscored W&M, 13-11, in second-chance points.
- The Green and Gold held a 32-20 advantage in the paint.
 
Notes
Senior Nathan Knight posted his seventh game of the season and 33rd of his career with 20 or more points … Knight became the eighth player in school history to surpass 1,700 career points and he is now 40 points away from seventh on the career scoring list … Senior Andy Van Vliet posted his third-straight double-double and his sixth this season … His 14 rebounds were a career-high … Junior Luke Loewe dished out a career-high six assists compared to just one turnover.
 
Up Next
- The Tribe takes part in the DC Holiday Hoops Fest Showcase against Saint Francis (Pa.) on Sunday, Dec. 22, at 1 p.m. The game will be streamed on FloHoops.
- All Tribe home games and 17 of the program's 18 CAA 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 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 via the Tune-In app.
- Tickets for the DC Holiday Hoops Fest are now on sale through the event's Web site and Ticketmaster.com.  The Tribe-Red Flash match-up will be played at the Entertainment and Sports Arena, located at 1100 Oak Dr. SE, Washington DC 20032, which is the same site as the 2020 CAA Championship.