By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
 
After slicing American University's lead to six points with 3:21 remaining, William & Mary had three chances to make it a one-possession game. Instead, the Tribe missed its final eight shots and lost 74-62 as the fans returned to Kaplan Arena.
 
With nearly 80% of its minutes coming from freshmen and sophomores, the Tribe struggled on both ends of the floor but still had a chance to win in the final minutes. Third-year coach Dane Fischer appreciates that, but he hopes how his young team lost will provide a lesson.
 
"I like the fight we showed," Fischer said. "I thought we were close to getting over the hump a number of times, especially in the second half. We turned up the pressure a bit late, and we had some really good looks from 3. We just couldn't get one to go down.
 
"(We're) certainly disappointed with some careless turnovers we had. We did not do a great job on the defensive end, and they really hurt us in the post in the first half. There's plenty to learn from it, and we'll do that as we go into our next one."
 
In the first game before its home crowd in 622 days, the Tribe (0-2) shot 38.5% from the field, 4-of-23 from the 3-point arc, and 18-of-30 from the free throw line. American (2-0) hit 47% of its shots with 40 of its 74 points coming from the paint.
 
Senior guard Stacy Beckton Jr. finished with 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting. Eight of his buckets came on drives or finishes at the basket.
 
"He got to the rim way too many times," Fischer said. "A lot of it was one-on-one beating his guy. It wasn't like it was a lot of semantic stuff."
 
William & Mary's rotation took a serious blow early when Ben Wight, who scored a career-high 18 points Wednesday at Wake Forest, got in early foul trouble. He played three minutes in the first half with two fouls and then picked up his third 18 seconds into the second half.
 
Freshman Langdon Hatton did a solid job with seven points and six rebounds in the first half, but he and Wight were W&M's only players available taller than 6-foot-7.
 
"That was pretty significant," Fischer said. "The way we want to play is going back and forth with he and Langdon and letting those guys tag-team that spot. That put us in a tough spot.
 
"Langdon did a nice job in the first half, but that's something that makes it hard rotation-wise. Especially when he picked up that third one to start the second half."
 
Wight led the Tribe with 14 points, 10 of which came from the free throw line in 13 attempts, and six rebounds in 17 minutes. Connor Kochera finished with 13, 10 coming in the second half. Quinn Blair added 11 points before leaving with an apparent lower-body injury with 3:25 remaining.
 
American led for the final 25 minutes and was ahead 60-50 with 13:17 remaining. The Tribe countered with a 10-2 run, and Wight's free throws at the 11-minute mark cut the Eagles' lead to 52-50.
 
AU regained control and led 67-57 with 3:45 remaining. But after a pair of free throws by Wight and a layup by Kochera, it was a two-possession game with 3:21 left.
 
The Eagles left the door open by scoring one point in six possessions, but that was one point more than William & Mary's total in that same stretch. The Tribe ended up missing its final eight shots, five from 3-point range.
 
Of the Tribe's nine players who logged minutes Friday night, only one (Blair) had more than one year of game experience with the program. Fischer expected youth and inexperience to be an adjustment.
 
"I love the way they're fighting and playing, and that's a big part of it," he said. "It's a matter of making the right play, making the simple play, and handling the things that give you a chance to win a game.
 
"A lot of times, young players get fixated on shooting — are we making shots or are we missing shots? We've got to get our focus on things that are going to help you win a game if you don't shoot the ball well, which we clearly didn't do tonight. That's what we'll focus a lot on after a game like this."
 
Official attendance at Kaplan was 2,799, but during the Tribe's comeback run it sounded like maybe twice that.
 
"That was a great atmosphere and a great turnout," Fischer said. "We wanted to play well before our fans, but we appreciated all the support."
 
NEXT UP: The Tribe will head East on I-64 Tuesday to play at Norfolk State, the defending MEAC champion and pre-season favorite. The Spartans are 2-0 entering Saturday's game against Tennessee State.