WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The I-64 rivalry was an old-school Colonial Athletic Association 'rock fight' with defense the feature on Tuesday night. In the end, William & Mary's defense reigned supreme, and thanks to a 15-1 second-half run, pulled away from its former league counterpart Old Dominion, 63-46, at Kaplan Arena. The Tribe (6-3) won for the seventh time in its last nine meetings with the Monarchs.
 
Defense was the name of the game, and the Tribe turned in its best performance on that end of the floor in five seasons. The Green and Gold limited the Monarchs (3-6) to just 26.8% from the field, only 2-of-20 from 3-point range and its lowest offensive output since 2016. The Tribe's defensive efforts in points allowed (46), field goal % and 3-point % (10) were the program's best since the 2014-15 campaign.  
 
The Tribe led throughout the first half and by four at the intermission but broke the contest open in the final frame. After a Jason Wade putback cut W&M's lead to 36-31 with 13:55 remaining, the Green and Gold held ODU to just two field goals over an eight-minute stretch and finally found its rhythm offensively. During the stretch, the Tribe hit six-straight shots, including three from 3-point range, to outscore the visitors 22-5 and push its lead to as much as 22.
 
Freshman Miguel Ayesa and graduate student Bryce Barnes came up big during a 15-1 spurt to put the game away. After not seeing any action in the opening 20 minutes, Ayesa made the most of his eight second-half minutes. He knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and scored all eight of his points as part of the back-breaking run.
 
Barnes capped things off with steals on back-to-back ODU possessions. He found Ayesa for an easy transition lay-up and then was fouled on the second, adding the two free throws to extend the Tribe lead to 58-36 with just 5:41 remaining.
 
The reigning CAA Player of the Week, senior Nathan Knight posted his third-straight double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds to lead a balanced Tribe attack. Fellow classmate Andy Van Vliet just missed a double-double with 13 points and eight rebounds, while junior Luke Loewe scored all 12 of his points in the second half. Barnes tallied career-highs with five steals and seven rebounds to go with 11 points and a team-high three assists.
 
For ODU, no player reached double figures as Xavier Green led the visitors with nine points, all in the first half.
 
How It Happened
- After ODU scored on its opening possession, the Tribe tallied seven in a row to take the early lead. Knight scored W&M's first four before Loewe found Van Vliet for a right-wing 3-pointer on the break to give the Green and Gold a 7-2 lead less than three minutes into the game.
- W&M held ODU scoreless for over a six-minute stretch and scored six in a row to push the margin to nine. Blair knocked down a right-wing 3-pointer and Barnes's free throw at the 10:25 mark gave the Tribe a 17-8 advantage.
- ODU closed the gap to 21-18 with five straight points. The final two came off Tribe turnovers via the fast break as Jason Wade's breakaway lay-up with 4:35 remaining in the opening half closed the gap to three and forced a W&M timeout.
- Knight knocked down a short jumper and Van Vliet connected on a 3-pointer to push the lead back eight, 26-18, with 2:16 left in the first half.
- Old Dominion scored the final four points of the period, including a pair of Joe Reece free throws with less than a minute remaining, to close the margin to 26-22 at the intermission.
- After an early Marquis Godwin 3 in the second half closed the Tribe lead to three points, Loewe scored six in a row to push the advantage back to seven. His fast-break lay-up layup at the 15:13 mark gave the home team a 34-27 advantage.
- The Tribe held ODU scoreless for four minutes and notched five in a row to push its lead to double digits for the first time. Van Vliet started things with a short jumper and Barnes added a pair of free throws at the 10:07 mark to push the Tribe advantage to 41-31.
- The Green and Gold's lead ballooned to 22 thanks to a 15-1 run. W&M hit a trio of 3-pointers during the spurt. Ayesa provided a huge spark off the bench with eight during the run, including a pair of 3-pointers.
- Barnes picked up back-to-back steals that W&M converted into four points. He found Ayesa for a fast-break lay-up to push the margin to 20, before being fouled on the next. His free throws at the 5:41 mark gave the Green and Gold a 58-36 cushion.
- ODU turned up the pressure and scored six in a row to cut the deficit to 16. The final two buckets came off steals in transition on an Aaron Carver dunk and a Reece lay-up to close within 58-42 with 4:12 left.
- Knight answered with a pair of free throws and Loewe knocked down his second 3-pointer of the half to push the margin to 63-42 with just 1:36 remaining.
 
Starters
W&M - #2 Hamilton, #5 Barnes, #11 Van Vliet, #12 Loewe, #13 Knight
ODU - #0 Godwin, #3 Curry, #10 Green, #13 Carver, #23 Dickens
 
Inside the Numbers
- The Tribe limited ODU to 28.6% shooting (18-of-63) and only 2-of-20 (10%) from 3-point range.
- Offensively, W&M shot 37.7% from the field (20-of-53).
- The Green and Gold doubled up ODU at the free-throw line, 16-8, and connected on 80% at the charity stripe (16-of-20).
- Despite only shooting 28% from 3-point range (7-of-25), the Tribe outscored the Monarchs, 21-6, from beyond the arc. W&M hit four of its 10 3-point attempts in the second half.
- ODU outrebounded W&M, 42-40, including 14 on the offensive end.
 
Notes
W&M won for the seventh time in the last nine meetings with the Monarchs and for the fifth-straight time in Williamsburg … The Tribe limited ODU to just 28.6% shooting, which is the best defensive effort for W&M since Nov. 25, 2014 when it held Western Illinois to 26.8% from the field (15-of-56) … Defensively, the Green and Gold held the Monarchs to 46 points, which was the best scoring defense performance for the Tribe since limiting Charleston to 45 on Jan. 3, 2015 … The 46 points were the fewest for ODU since it had 39 in December of 2016 against Rhode Island … W&M turned in its best 3-point field goal % defense since Jan. 24, 2015 when it held Northeastern to the same numbers as ODU - 10% on 2-of-20 from 3 … Graduate student Bryce Barnes had a career-high five steals and seven rebounds against ODU … It marked the most steals for a Tribe player since Terry Tarpey had six on Jan. 7, 2016 at Drexel … With his 10 rebounds, senior Nathan Knight (719) moved into seventh place on the Tribe's career rebounding list, passing Chuck Sanders '60 (717), Matt Courage '75 (714) and Kirk Gooding '63 (710) … Knight tallied his third-straight double-double and national-leading seventh of the season … He has 29 career double-doubles.
 
Up Next
- The Tribe hits the road for the final game before final exams at W&M on Sunday afternoon at Fairfield. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. from Alumni Hall in Fairfield, Conn.
- The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
- Tribe fans can catch the men's basketball action over the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley 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 for FREE via the Tune-In app.