NEWARK, Del. – William & Mary ran its Colonial Athletic Association start to 6-0 on Thursday night with a 77-68 win at Delaware. The Tribe increased its nation-leading road win total to eight, including four in CAA play.
 
Senior Nathan Knight posted his fifth-straight double-double and NCAA-best 15th overall with 25 points and 14 rebounds. The 6-10 center was nearly perfect at the free-throw line connecting on 11-of-12. Freshman Miguel Ayesa provided the Tribe with a huge lift off the bench, scoring all of his career-high 14 points in the opening half. The rookie marksman was 4-of-4 from 3-point range for the second time in his career, which tied a school record.
 
W&M (14-5, 6-0 CAA) opened league play at 6-0 for the first time since going 9-0 in ECAC South play during the 1982-83 season. The Tribe's eight road wins are the second-most in program history.
 
The Tribe gained control in the opening 20 minutes with eight-straight points as part of an 11-2 run. Senior Andy Van Vliet found sophomore Quinn Blair for a lay-up to push the lead to seven with 4:10 left in the half and force a Delaware timeout. Junior Luke Loewe followed up his own miss to extend the Tribe advantage to 31-22 with three minutes left in the half.
 
Delaware (12-7, 2-4 CAA) drew within one in the opening two minutes of the second half, but the Tribe lengthened the margin to double-digits, 51-41, on a Van Vliet post-move with 15:29 remaining.
 
The Blue Hens drew within four, 66-62, on three-straight Ryan Allen 3-pointers with just five and a half minutes left. The Tribe responded and put the game away with seven-straight points, including Loewe corner 3-pointer at the 2:23 mark, to re-establish the double-digit margin, 73-62.
 
How It Happened
- Sophomore Thornton Scott found Graduate student Tyler Hamilton for a lay-up to start the scoring, but Delaware answered with back-to-back 3-pointers. Kevin Anderson and Nate Darling connected on consecutive possession to give UD a 6-2 lead just over two minutes into the game.
- Tribe freshmen scored 12-straight points as Miguel Ayesa hit a trio of 3-pointer and Rainers Hermanovskis added another. The final of the sequence from Hermanvoskis at the 10:20 mark gave the Tribe an 18-16 lead.
- Dylan Painter scored back-to-back buckets to pull the Blue Hens even. His dunk with 7:34 left in the first half tied the game at 20.
- The Tribe opened up its largest lead of the first 20 minutes thanks to an 11-2 run. Nathan Knight hit a 3-pointer to start the run before six-straight W&M points force a Blue Hen timeout. Andy Van Vliet hit Quinn Blair for a lay-up for 4:10 left to stretch the lead to 29-22.
- Loewe put back his own miss to cap the run and give W&M a 31-22 lead with three minutes remaining in the half.
- Anderson scored Delaware's final 11 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, to balance out the Tribe attack.
- W&M hit its final three shots from the floor, including back-to-back late 3-pointers from Ayesa and Knight. Anderson's triple before the halftime horn though closed the gap to 39-33.
- Ryan Allen scored the first five points of the second half, including a 3-pointer, to cut the Tribe lead to 39-38 just 1:40 into the period.
- The Tribe answered with seven-straight points, including four from Knight. Scott knocked down a deep triple before Knight put back his own miss to push the lead to 46-38 with 16:38 remaining.
- After a Hamilton 3-point play answered a UD triple, Van Vliet extended the lead to double-digits for the first time with a nice post move, giving the Green and Gold a 51-41 at the 15:29 mark.
- Five-straight Blue Hens points closed the gap to six. An Allen 3-pointer with 7:51 remaining narrowed the Tribe cushion to 62-56.
- After four-straight Tribe free throws pushed the lead back to double-digits, Allen answered with two-straight 3-pointers to close Delaware within 66-62 with 5:24 left.
- The Tribe responded with a 7-0 run to open the lead back to double-digits. Scott drove the left side of the lane for a scooping lay-up to extend the advantage to six. After a pair of Knight free throws, Loewe canned a corner 3-pointer to give W&M a 73-62 lead with 2:23 left.
- The Blue Hens scored six-straight points, including four from Anderson, to close within 73-68 on a Jacob Cushing dunk with 1:04 remaining.
- The Tribe put the game away with four-straight free throws. Hamilton and Knight each knocked down a pair as W&M pulled out its sixth-straight CAA win.
 
Inside the Numbers
- W&M shot 40.7% (24-of-59) from the field compared to 43.9% (25-of-57) for Delaware.
- The Tribe connected on 87% (20-of-23) at the free-throw line and outscored the Blue Hens by 13 at the charity stripe (20-7).
- W&M turned the ball over just nine times compared to 15 for Delaware. It marked the second-straight game that the Tribe had fewer than 10 turnovers. W&M outscored UD, 11-5, off turnovers.
- The Green and Gold held a 38-34 advantage on the glass, including 13-9 on the offensive glass. The Tribe outscored UD, 20-6, in second-chance points.
- The Tribe connected on nine 3-pointers, including seven in the first half. Delaware finished the game at 11-of-26 from deep (42.3%).
- W&M's bench dominated the Blue Hens, outscoring them 23-5 on the evening.
 
Notes
The Tribe started 6-0 in CAA play for the first time since 1982-83 when it was 9-0 in the ECAC South, which was the precursor to the CAA … It marks just the fourth time in the Tribe's history of conference affiliation that it has started 6-0 in league play … W&M won its fourth-straight game on the road and increased its nation-leading road win total to eight … The eight road wins are the second-most in W&M history … It marks just the sixth time in the 115-year history of W&M basketball that it has won at least eight road games … Senior Nathan Knight tallied his fifth-straight double-double with 25 points and 14 rebounds … He leads the country with 15 double-doubles and eight 20-point, 10-rebound double-doubles … Freshman Miguel Ayesa set a career-high with 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting and 4-of-4 from 3-point range … It was his second game of four made 3-pointers without a miss, making him one of only two players in W&M history, along with Daniel Dixon '17, to have multiple games of four or more 3-pointers without a miss … Senior Andy Van Vliet tallied his 10th game this season with double-digit rebounds, tallying 11 … Sophomore Thornton Scott posted a season-high seven assists, just one off of his career-high … W&M played without graduate student guard Bryce Barnes, who missed the game due to injury.
 
Up Next
- The Tribe travels to Drexel on Saturday for a 2 p.m. tip-off in Philadelphia.
- The game will be broadcast on FloHoops. All Tribe home games and the program's remaining 12 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 William & Mary Sports Network with Jay Colley and Charlie Woollum on the call. The Tide 92.3 FM is the flagship stations of the William & Mary Sports Network and the audio is also available over the Web via the Tune-In app.