BOSTON, Mass. – The William & Mary men's basketball team turned in a strong defensive second-half performance and whittled an 18-point deficit to as little as six with three minutes remaining. In the end, Northeastern converted 20 Tribe turnovers into 30 points and held the advantage beyond the 3-point arc (9-of-18) and at the free throw line (17-of-20) on the way to a 72-60 victory inside Matthews Arena on Thursday night.
 
The Tribe (9-15, 5-7 CAA) trailed by 15 midway through the first half, before using a 13-2 run capped by a Nathan Knight 3-point play to close to margin to 28-24 with 3:56 remaining in the frame. The Huskies (14-9, 8-3 CAA) scored the period's final 13 points to take a 17-point cushion into the locker room. NU connected on 7-of-11 from 3-point range in taking the first-half lead.
 
W&M rallied by shooting 57.7 percent in the second half and closed to within six, 63-57, on a Justin Pierce free throw with 3:21 left. Like it had for the majority of the contest, turnovers did in the Tribe. The Green and Gold turned it over four times in the final three minutes, and Northeastern hit 7-of-8 from the free throw line to put the game away. Defensively, W&M limited the Huskies to 31.8 percent (7-of-22) from the field and just 2-of-7 from 3-point range (28.6) in the final minutes, but couldn't overcome the early deficit. 

Knight tallied his ninth double-double of the year with 18 points and 14 rebounds to go along with a career-high tying six assists. Freshman Chase Audige added 14 points, while Pierce just missed a double-double with 11 points and eight rebounds. Vasa Pusica led five Huskies in double figures with 19 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
 
How It Happened
- The Huskies used an 11-0 run to open up a 17-5 lead just six and a half minutes into the contest. Pusica scored nine of the Huskies first 15 points and assisted on two other buckets to push the home team to the lead.
- Jordan Roland hit back-to-back 3-pointers, the second at the 9:17 mark, to extend the Huskies lead to 26-11.
- W&M responded with a 13-2 run to cut the margin to four. Pierce sparked the spurt with a cutting dunk before Audige and sophomore Luke Loewe knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers. Knight capped the run with an old-fashion 3-point play with 3:56 left in the period.
- Northeastern closed the first half on a 13-0 run. Roland and Tomas Murphy scored five points apiece during the run. Murphy, Donnell Gresham and Roland hit three-straight 3-pointers before Roland's deep two-point jumper to beat the halftime horn extended the NU lead to 41-24.
- W&M used an 8-0 run to draw back within single-digits six minutes into the second half. Audige scored on back-to-back fastbreak buckets, including a steal and dunk, to cut the gap to 47-38 with 14:03 left.
- Northeastern scored five in a row to push the margin back to 14, 52-38, following a Murphy 3-pointer and a Pusica lay-up with 11:33 remaining.
- Freshman L.J. Owens converted a 3-point play on a leaner along the baseline and junior Matt Milon's 3-pointer from the left side gave W&M six points in a row. The triple at the 9:41 mark closed the gap to 56-48.
- The Tribe drew as close at six, 63-57, with 3:21 remaining on Pierce free throw.
- Northeastern hit 7-of-8 from the charity stripe over the final three minutes to put the game away, and W&M turned it over four times during the stretch.
 
Inside the Numbers
- W&M shot 57.7 percent (15-of-26) in the second half and finished the game at 49 percent (25-of-51).
- The Tribe limited Northeastern to just 31.8 percent (7-of-22), and the Huskies ended up at 42.6 percent (23-of-54) overall.
- NU hit 9-of-18 (50 percent) from 3-point range, including 7-of-11 (63.6 percent) in the first half.
- Northeastern forced W&M into 20 turnovers and scored 30 points off the Tribe's miscues.
- The Huskies connected on 17-of-20 (85 percent) at the free throw line compared to 6-of-8 (75 percent) for the Tribe.
- W&M outrebounded NU, 31-29.
 
Notes
Junior Nathan Knight produced his sixth double-double in the last nine games and ninth overall on the season … He tied a career-high with six assists … Knight has led W&M in assists in seven of the last eight games … The Tribe hit four 3-pointers on the night and surpassed the 200 mark for the 12th-straight year … Junior Justin Pierce just missed a double-double with 11 points and eight rebounds … With his eight rebounds, he became the 33rd player in program history to pass the 500-rebound mark for his career … The Tribe dished out 12 assists and passed the 400-assist total as a team for the seventh-straight season … Sophomore Luke Loewe finished a CAA career-high nine points on 4-of-7 shooting to go with two steals.
 
Up Next
- The Tribe continues its three-game road swing at CAA leader Hofstra on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. from a sold-out Mack Sports Complex.
- The contest will be broadcast online by CBS Sports Digital on CollegeSportsLive.com. Click HERE to watch it for FREE online.
- 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 at TribeAthletics.com.