By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
WILLIAMSBURG — With a first-year coach and three transfers in the starting lineup, the team itself is new. But with four seniors who have played a combined 386 games, William & Mary has a strong veteran presence.
That might be the biggest reason the Tribe is where it is. After Saturday's 86-79 victory over Elon, W&M won its 21st regular-season game for the first time in 70 years and clinched sole possession of second place in the CAA standings.
In its fifth consecutive win, William & Mary (21-10, 13-5) never trailed but never could shake the Phoenix. The Tribe closed it out by making all eight of its free throw attempts in the final 44 seconds, which enabled it to withstand four Elon 3-pointers in that span.
"There's no substitute for having guys on the floor that have played at this level for a number of years and have been in those situations," W&M coach
Dane Fischer said. "Even though it's a new team, we've got guys who have been in those spots.
"The other key to it is our guys not getting too high or low emotionally during the game. They do a good job of celebrating when we play well but understanding there's a lot of game left."
In the final home game of his decorated career,
Nathan Knight finished with 20 points, 13 coming from the free throw line in 16 attempts. Classmate
Andy Van Vliet had his 10th double-double this season with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Bryce Barnes, another senior, had a point guard's dream game with 15 points, six assists, three steals and one turnover.
Quinn Blair scored a career-high 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting and
Thornton Scott, playing his first game since Feb. 8, finished with 10 points and was 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the final minute.
Not that Elon made things easy. With 10:23 left in the first half, the Tribe led 24-10 after hitting eight of its first 12 shots. Seven minutes later, with Phoenix guards Marcus Sheffield and Hunter McIntosh heating up, it was a one-point game.
The second half followed a familiar script: W&M starts to pull away, Elon (11-20, 7-11) gets back in it. With 6:30 remaining, McIntosh hit a 3-pointer from past the top of the key to cut W&M's lead to 63-59. But from there, the Tribe went on a 13-4 run and took a 76-63 lead with 1:25 left.
Over, right? Not the way Elon shoots 3-pointers. Even though W&M scored 10 points on its final five possessions, the Phoenix hit 3s on four out of five trips down the floor.
"That's what Elon does," Knight said. "Golden State-esque. No (deficit) is too big for them. Sheffield, McIntosh … 3-point threats all on the court. When you think you have a decent lead, it can diminish just like that."
Elon outscored W&M 42-21 from the 3-point arc. But the Tribe outscored the Phoenix 31-5 from the free throw line.
Four seniors played their final home game Saturday, but Knight was the only fourth-year member of the Tribe. He received a long ovation from the crowd of 5,180 before tip-off and when he came out with 13.5 seconds remaining.
"It's been a blessing," said Knight, who is second on W&M's all-time scoring list with 2,117 points. "This school has given me so much on so many fronts. Just a humble kid from Syracuse, and the school has put so much trust in me as a student and as a player.
"It's paid dividends for me. I can't do enough to repay the school for what it's done for me."
For Van Vliet, who played two seasons at Wisconsin and had to sit in 2018-19 as a transfer, it was worth the wait.
"A lot of stuff happened, but I think it turned out for the good," he said. "We have amazing people here to take care of us as players and take care of us as students. I'm so thankful and happy for this place. This school changed my life."
W&M will open in the CAA quarterfinals next Sunday against either No. 7 Elon or No. 10 James Madison.
"Our big thing this week is to try to get a little bit better each day," Fischer said. "Be mindful of preparing ourselves for what we may see in the first round. The most important thing is that we this thing one day at a time, get ourselves a little bit better, and get ourselves in a good place to go up there and play as well as we can."
