TOWSON, Md. – Defense was the name of the game on Thursday night. William & Mary out-performed the Colonial Athletic Association's top statistical defense in winning its third-straight game, 61-51, at Towson.
 
The Tigers (16-12, 9-6 CAA) entered the game first in the league in both scoring (66.1) and field goal % (40.5) defense, but the Tribe limited the hosts to just 27.4% (17-of-62) in picking up its ninth road win of the season, a number that ranks second in program history and sixth in the country. The defensive field goal % was W&M's best in a CAA game in over a decade, dating back to Drexel's 24.1% in a 2010 win in Philadelphia, 74-48.
 
Junior Luke Loewe turned in another stellar performance on both ends of the court. He led the Tribe (19-10, 11-5) with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, and defensively, held Towson's leading scorer Brian Fobbs to an inefficient 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting. Senior Nathan Knight picked up his nation-leading 22nd double-double thanks to 14 points and 10 rebounds, while classmate Andy Van Vliet just missed a double-double with nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
 
Both teams struggled to find the range out of the gates, and the contest was tied at 17 with 6:23 remaining in the opening half after an Allen Betrand 3-pointer. The Tribe turned it on even more defensively over the remainder of the frame, limiting the Tigers to 1-of-13 from the floor over the final six minutes and took a nine-point lead to the locker room.
 
The Tribe used a 10-2 run to move in front for good. Knight started the spurt with an old-fashion 3-point play, putting back his own miss for the bucket. Freshman Miguel Ayesa followed with a triple, and Van Vliet added back-to-back buckets to give W&M a 27-19 lead with 2:29 remaining.

The margin was nine the intermission, 32-23, as W&M score the final five points of the half. Sophomore Quinn Blair knocked down a left corner 3-pointer, his second triple of the period, with 13.4 seconds left in the frame to provide the nine-point cushion. The Tigers hit just 22.2% (8-of-36) in the opening 20 minutes.
 
W&M pushed the lead to its largest at 17 just over seven minutes into the second half. Loewe scored W&M's first six points of period as part of a 12-4 run. Van Vliet hit a fast-break corner 3-pointer to force a Towson timeout at the 14:50 mark and extend the margin to 41-25. After the Towson tip-in, Ayesa canned his third 3-pointer of the night to give the visitor its largest lead at 44-27 with 12:40 left.
 
Towson used a pair of 7-0 runs and scored on eight-straight possessions to close to within 49-43 on a Nicolas Timberlake 3-pointer with 7:48 remaining.
 
Offensively, the Tribe turned to Knight, and defensively, it found its footing once again. The senior center scored six-straight W&M points to push the lead back to double-digits at 55-43 with 3:27 left. On the other end, the Green and Gold recorded stops on 10 of Towson's final 13 possessions to pull out the victory.
 
Notes
- The Tribe's 19 wins rank 10th in W&M history … The 11 CAA victories are fourth in program history and just the sixth time W&M has won 11 or more CAA games … The 51 points were the lowest for a W&M opponent on the road since UNCW scored 50 in 2014 … The Tribe is 12-1 this season when holding its opponent to less than 70 points and 10-0 when the Tribe foe shoots less than 40% from the field … Knight moved into seventh place on the Tribe's single-season rebounding list … His 315 in 2019-20 are the most for a W&M player since 1961 … Knight went over the 600-point total for the season and his 607 ranks seventh in program history … He is one of just two players along with Chet Giermak '50 in 1949 and 1950 to have two seasons of 600 or more points … Luke Loewe scored in double figures for the 16th time this season and third time in the last four games … Andy Van Vliet pulled down double-digit rebounds for the 13th time this season … Sophomore Quinn Blair (6) and freshman Miguel Ayesa (9) combined for all 15 of W&M's bench points on Thursday night, going 5-of-11 from 3-point range.
 
Up Next
- The Tribe wraps up the road portion of its CAA schedule on Saturday afternoon at James Madison. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. from the Convocation Center.
- The game will be streamed on FloHoops.
- 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.