WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – A case of déjà vu on Thursday night where the location changed, but the result was strikingly similar. Nearly a month after scoring the game-winner on a driving lay-up with 1.1 seconds left in Boston, senior Nathan Knight went the length of the floor for the game-winner with 1.5 seconds remaining this time to lift William & Mary to a thrilling 59-58 win over Northeastern.
 
Knight posted his nation-leading 17th double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. He scored 13 of his 17 in the second half, hitting 4-of-5 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Sophomore Quinn Blair came up big off the bench for W&M, posting a Colonial Athletic Association career-high 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
 
The Tribe (16-7, 8-2 CAA) trailed for most of the night and did not take its first lead until the 13:22 mark of the second half, 36-35, on a Blair bucket.
 
Northeastern (11-11, 5-5 CAA) used a 10-2 run, holding the Tribe without a field goal for over five minutes, to take the late lead. Max Boursiquot, who finished with 12 points,  and Tyson Walker, who tallied 10 on the night, led the spurt with four points apiece as the Huskies opened up a 57-52 lead 2:27 remaining.
 
Junior Luke Loewe, who finished with nine points, broke the Tribe's drought with a right wing 3-pointer at the 2:07 mark. It was W&M's lone triple of the second half. The Green and Gold scored five straight as a pair of Knight free throws tied the game at 57 with 1:25 left.
 
After both teams had opportunities, NU's Bolden Brace drove to the hoop and drew a foul with 6.8 seconds left. Following a W&M timeout, Brace came up short on the first freebie and hit the second to put the visitor on top for the last time at 58-57.
 
The Huskies called a timeout to set their defense. On the inbounds pass, sophomore Thornton Scott in-bounded to Knight, who came back to the ball and received the pass at the free throw line in the backcourt. The 6-10 center raced the down court, splitting a pair of NU defenders on the right side, and finished with the right hand at the rim to give W&M the lead for good. Tyson Walker's half-court heave following another Northeastern timeout was off the mark to give the Tribe its second victory over the Huskies this season by a total of three points.
 
Northeastern scored the game's opening seven points and led for the majority of the night. The Huskies advantage reached as much as nine, 14-5, early in the first half. NU's Jordan Roland led all scorers with 18 points. He scored 16 in the opening 20 minutes on 6-of-10 shooting, before Loewe and the Tribe defense limited the CAA's leading scorer to just two points on 1-of-4 shooting in the second half. Roland entered the game scoring more than 23 points per game.
 
How It Happened
- Northeastern scored the game's first seven points. Jordan Roland scored five in a row, including a left wing 3-pointer. Tyson Walker found Max Boursiquot on the break for an easy lay-up at the 16:59 mark to force a Tribe timeout.
- W&M scored five-straight to pull within 7-5 on a Luke Loewe old-fashion 3-point play with 15:53 left. The Tribe was just two of its first 13 from the floor.
- Northeastern scored seven in a row to push the margin to 14-5 on a trio of Roland free throws at the 13:45 mark. Roland scored five of the seven during the run and 10 of NU's first 14 points.
- Sophomore Quinn Blair scored five in a row for W&M. After knocking down a corner 3-pointer, he was fouled on the break and hit both free throws to close the gap to 16-12 with 10:06 left in the first half.
- The Tribe scored six in a row, including four free throws, to draw within two. Tyler Hamilton knocked down two, and Thornton Scott added a pair at the charity stripe to close the gap to 24-22 with 3:42 left in the opening period.
- Bolden Brace answered the Tribe run with a triple from the right side to increase the Huskies lead to five, and NU lead 29-24 at the break.
- Knight scored six of the first eight points in the second half to draw the Tribe within one. He scored on back-to-back driving lay-ups, before his free throws less than two minutes into the frame narrowed the margin to 31-30.
- After NU scored four in a row, the Tribe responded with six-straight included four from Blair. His post-move lay-up at the 13:22 mark gave the Green and Gold its first lead of the game at 36-35.
- After a Boursiquot briefly put the visitor back on top, the Tribe scored six in a row to take a five-point lead. Hamilton started the run with an old-fashion 3-point play before Knight's dunk with 10:03 left increased the lead to 44-39.
- Van Vliet's hook with 8:43 left pushed the Tribe's advantage to 48-42.
- Northeastern answered with five in a row to draw within one. Guilien Smith converted and old-fashion 3-point play, before a cutting lay-up from Boursiquot at the eight-minute mark cut the Tribe lead to 48-47.
- Northeastern used a 10-2 run to take the lead. Boursiquot (4) and Walker (4) combined for the final eight. Boursiquot scored on a driving layup at the 4:29 mark to give the visitor a 52-51 lead. After Knight free throw, Walker's reverse lay-up put NU back on top on top and the lead went to 57-52 on a Walker free throw with 2:27 left.
- The Tribe scored five in a row to pull even. Loewe knocked down W&M's only 3-pointer of the second half from the right wing, before a pair of Knight free throws with 1:25 remaining tied the game at 57.
- Bolden Brace was fouled on a drive to the basket with 6.8 seconds remaining and made 1-of-2 to give NU to the 58-57 lead.
- On the game-winning play Knight received the inbounds pass at the free throw line in the back court and raced the length of the court, finishing with the right hand at the rim to give W&M a 59-58 lead with 1.5 seconds remaining.
 
Inside the Numbers
- After shooting a season-low 25% (7-of-28) in the first half, W&M connected at a 52.2% (12-of-23) clip in the second half to finish at 37.3% (19-of-51) overall.
- The Tribe connected on 84.6% (19-of-22) at the free throw line, outscoring NU, 19-7, at the charity stripe. The Huskies were just 7-of-14 (50%) from the line.
- Northeastern finished the game at 46.2% (24-of-52) shooting, including 47.1% (12-of-21) in the second half.
- W&M outrebounded Northeastern, 33-32.
- The Tribe held an 18-12 advantage in bench scoring thanks to Quinn Blair's 11 points.
- NU, which entered the game in the top five nationally in 3-point shooting at 40%, was just 3-of-11 (27.3%) from long range. The Tribe was just 2-of-17 from 3-point range (11.8%).
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Notes
The Tribe improved to 5-1 this season in games decided by five or fewer points … Senior Nathan Knight recorded his nation-leading 17th double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds … Senior Andy Van Vliet pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds, his 11th game this season of 10 or more rebounds … Sophomore Quinn Blair recorded a CAA career-high 11 points … It marks the 20th time in school history that W&M won 16 or more games in a season … The 16 wins rank 14th in program history.
 
Up Next
- The Tribe wraps up its season-long four-game homestand when it welcomes Hofstra to Kaplan Arena on Saturday, Feb. 1. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.
- The game will be broadcast on FloHoops. All Tribe's remaining eight 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.