ELON, N.C. – Seniors Nathan Knight and Andy Van Vliet combined for 43 points as William & Mary won a second-half shootout at Elon, 74-73, on Monday night in the Colonial Athletic Association opener. The Tribe (9-5, 1-0 CAA) won its league opener on the road for the first time since 1991.
 
Knight led all scorers with 25 points on 9-of-14 from the floor, scoring 13-straight W&M points at one point in the second half. In the final 20 minutes, he tallied 17 points and was perfect from the floor (5-of-5), 3-point line (1-of-1) and free throw line (6-of-6). Van Vliet added 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 2-of-4 from 3-point range.
 
After the Tribe pulled even at the break with seven points in the final 70 seconds of the first half, the teams lit up the scoreboard in the second frame. In the end, W&M held the upper hand, hitting at a 65.2% clip (15-of-23), including 5-of-9 (55.6%) from 3 compared to Elon's 57.7% (15-of-26), including 7-of-12 (58.3%) from 3, in the second half. The Tribe was 12-of-15 (80%) at the free-throw line, outscoring the Phoenix (4-10, 0-1 CAA) by three at the charity stripe over the final 20 minutes.
 
With 3:15 left and the game tied at 63, the Tribe used an 8-2 run to pull out its nation-leading fifth road win. Junior Luke Loewe drove baseline for a lay-up to put the Tribe up for good, and sophomore Thornton Scott, who returned after missing the last nine game due to injury, scored six straight, his only six points of the night, including a dagger 3-pointer to beat the shot-clock with 55 seconds remaining.
 
Graduate student Marcus Sheffield II led Elon with 21 points, while freshman Hunter McIntosh had 18.
 
How It Happened
-W&M made five of its first six inside the 3-point arc and scored 10 of the game's first 13 points. A steal and Tyler Hamilton fastbreak lay-up gave W&M a 10-3 lead and force an Elon timeout just under four minutes into the game.
- Elon used 8-0 run to take its first lead. The Phoenix received buckets from four different players and Hunter Woods driving lay-up that just beat the shot clock to give Elon a 17-15 at the 8:42 mark.
- W&M led 20-19 after a Luke Loewe free throw, before another 8-0 Elon run stretch the home team's lead to its largest at seven. Zac Ervin and Woods both knocked down 3-pointers during the spurt, before Hunter McIntosh's pull-up baseline jumper pushed the margin to 27-20 with 2:18 left.
- The Tribe scored the final seven points of the first half to pull even. Senior Andy Van Vliet started the run with a 3-pointer before a Bryce Barnes steal and fastbreak lay-up closed the gap to two. On W&M's final possession, senior Nathan Knight hit a hook shot with less than two seconds remaining to draw the Green and Gold even at 27.
- Back-to-back 3-pointers from Van Vliet and Barnes to start the second half gave W&M a 33-29 lead. The Tribe hit five of its first six from the floor in the final 20 minutes and led 39-33 after a Barnes steal and fastbreak lay-up at the 17:04 mark.
- Elon pulled even at 41 on a Woods 3-pointer just over five minutes into the second half.
- Hunter McIntosh knocked down a 3-pointer and a Marcus Sheffield pull-up jumper gave Elon the lead 54-52.
- Knight was the answer for W&M scoring 13-straight points as the lead bounced back and forth with six ties and six lead changes from the 8:55 mark until 3:15 remaining in the game.
- The game was tied for the final time at 63 with 3:15 left following a McIntosh free throw.
- Loewe drove the left baseline for a reverse lay-up to give W&M the lead for good with 2:48 remaining.
- W&M picked up back-to-back defensive stops and a pair of Thornton Scott free throws stretched the lead to 67-63 with 1:37 left.
- Scott scored six in a row, including a shot-clock beating dagger 3-pointer from the left side to push the Tribe lead to 70-65 with 55 seconds remaining.
- In total, the Tribe hit 6-of-8 at the free-throw line over the final 1:37, including a pair with 4.1 seconds remaining from Van Vliet to ice the game. McIntosh's buzzer-beating 3-pointer provided the final margin of 74-73.
 
Inside the Numbers
- The Tribe shot 52.9% (27-of-51) from the field, including 7-of-19 (36.8%) from 3-point range.
- On the other side, Elon connected at a 50% clip (27-of-54) and was 10-of-24 (41.7%) from 3.
- W&M outscored Elon, 32-20, in the paint and 13-9 at the free-throw line.
- The Tribe dished out 14 assists compared to 10 turnovers.
 
Notes
Nathan Knight posted his eighth game of 20 or more points this season and the 34th of his career … With his 25 points on Monday, Knight is just three points away from seventh on the Tribe's career scoring list (1762) … W&M Hall of Famer Thomas Roberts '93 is currently seventh on the career scoring list at 1,765 points … The Tribe connected on 50% from the floor for the sixth time this season and second-straight game … W&M finished with 10 turnovers, which marked the third time in the last four games that the Tribe had 10 or fewer turnovers … The Tribe won its CAA opener for the sixth time in the last eight years … The last time W&M won its CAA opener on the road was 1991 … Graduate student Bryce Barnes scored in double figures for the third-straight game and sixth time overall this season.
 
Up Next
- The Tribe continues its CAA opening road trip with a pair of games in the Northeast. W&M heads to Hofstra on Thursday, Jan. 2, for a 7 p.m., before closing out the opening three-game league road swing at Northeastern on Saturday, Jan. 4, at 4 p.m.
- Both games will be broadcast on FloHoops. All Tribe home games and the program's remaining 17 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 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.