By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
WASHINGTON, D.C.— William & Mary's historic regular season was followed by a stunning quarterfinal exit from the Colonial Athletic Association tournament.
Elon jumped out to an 11-point lead less than four minutes in and never trailed in a 68-63 win over the Tribe Sunday night at the Entertainment and Sports Arena. It was the first time since 2004 that the No. 2 seed lost in the quarterfinal round.
Playing its second game in as many nights, the Phoenix scored on five of its first six possessions and led 13-2 with 16:34 remaining in the first half. W&M (21-11) played catch-up the rest of the night and never quite got there.
Picked seventh in the preseason, the Tribe finished second in the CAA and won 21 regular-season games for the first time since 1950. But the ending will sting for a while.
"We did not have our best stuff tonight, and Elon came out playing really, really well, obviously," Tribe coach
Dane Fischer said. "I thought our guys showed tremendous fight. They really stuck together. But we just couldn't get that one play that we needed on either end of the floor to get us over the hump.
"It wasn't from a lack of effort. It wasn't from a lack of sticking together. Sometimes the ball doesn't bounce your way, and that certainly happened a couple of times tonight."
W&M cut Elon's lead to two points three times in the final eight minutes, the last coming on
Andy Van Vliet's 3-pointer with 1:57 left. But the Phoenix's Hunter McIntosh answered 34 seconds later with a dagger 3 of his own to make it 66-61.
The Tribe still had time and chances, but its next two possessions resulted in a turnover and a missed 3-pointer.
Nathan Knight's two free throws cut it to 66-63 with 16 seconds left, but Elon's Marcus Sheffield pushed the lead back to five with a pair of free throws.
In the final game of his decorated career, Knight finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Van Vliet had 11 and nine, but the Tribe couldn't overcome that early 11-point hole.
It was a complete reversal from the two regular-season games, both of which W&M won. In the first, the Tribe led 10-3 four minutes in. In the second, eight days earlier in Kaplan Arena, the Tribe had a 20-7 lead after 9 ½ minutes.
This time, it was the Phoenix (13-20) that took control from the jump.
"Elon just came out firing on all cylinders," Knight said. "They were taking some of the shots we wanted them to take. The only difference I can see from this game and last game is that they were making them. A huge credit to Elon and their players.
"It's just college basketball. It's a sport. That's how it goes. Sometimes the shots fall, sometimes they don't. Their shots were falling for a majority of that first half."
A fast start wasn't Elon's way in Saturday's first-round win over James Madison. In that game, the Phoenix missed its first six shots and fell behind 14-0. Elon didn't lead until Sheffield's game-winning basket with three seconds left.
Though Sheffield and McIntosh combined for 31 points, it was freshman Hunter Woods who did the unexpected damage. He came in averaging 9.3 points a game and shooting 31% from the 3-point arc. He finished with 20, 12 coming in the first half, and was 5-of-7 from deep.
"He's a really good player, and he was on the (CAA's) all-rookie team for a reason," Fischer said. "He just kind of had it going tonight. … He certainly made a couple of big ones when they needed them down the stretch."
Knight, who explored the NBA Draft in the offseason before deciding to return, finished his career as the program's second-leading scorer with 2,141 points. Asked to reflect on his four seasons a half hour after it all ended, he spoke eloquently about the program and the university.
"The athletic department taking that leap of faith in me, I couldn't be more grateful," he said. "I couldn't be more grateful for the group of guys that I have, the 14 guys I call my brothers. A remarkable season. It didn't end the way we wanted it to, but I don't regret anything.
"I'm really happy I came back and gave myself the opportunity to finish my degree and play another year of college basketball. The connections I made with Coach Fischer, the assistants, this whole department, will stay with me for the rest of my life.
"I can say wholeheartedly that I made a full 180, not only as a basketball player but as a person. And I have this school, this department, to thank for that. The accolades and statistics speak for themselves. But the strides this school has helped me make as a person, as a man, in multiple facets will stay with me for a long, long time."
