By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
 
For William & Mary, a recurring theme of late had been showing progress on offense but not making enough stops on defense. The former was unable to overcome the latter, and the Tribe had lost three consecutive games.
 
Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia, W&M had it working on both ends for an 83-75 win over Drexel. The Tribe held the Dragons to 38.5% shooting overall and 7-of-27 (including 3 of their last 18) from the 3-point arc.
 
The only reason those numbers were that good is because Drexel scored 13 points off six turnovers in the final six minutes.
 
"For the vast majority of the game, I thought our guys were just terrific on the defensive end," W&M coach Dane Fischer said. "(Drexel's) Cam Wynter, who is a great player, we really made him work for his opportunities and didn't let him get going off ball screens. We really protected the paint and did a good job of flying out at shooters.
 
"This was really important for us. We had a game like this at home when we had the lead against JMU and let it slip away. For us to be in somewhat of a similar situation and hold on is one thing, but it's a whole nother thing to do it on the road."
 
Connor Kochera led the Tribe (4-15, 3-3 CAA) with a season-high 23 points, 19 coming in the second half, on 9-of-14 shooting. He also made the defensive play of the game by taking a charge when Drexel had a chance to tie with 52 seconds remaining.
 
Ben Wight added 21 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double in three days. Grad transfer Brandon Carroll finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, both season highs. Yuri Covington had 10 points and seven rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench.
 
The Tribe shot 47.5% overall, 42% (8-of-19) from the 3-point arc, and 81% (17-of-21) from the free throw line.
 
"I thought our guys were playing with a ton of confidence on offense and made big shots and big plays," Fischer said. "Obviously, we had trouble with their pressure, but we were able to answer the bell and make a couple of plays down the stretch to get the win."
 
Things didn't start well for William & Mary as Drexel took a 19-12 lead less than eight minutes into the game. Nothing was working for the Tribe, not offensively and certainly not defensively.
 
That all changed. After making seven of its first 13 shots, the Dragons (8-8, 3-3) missed 15 of their final 18 attempts in the first half, including eight of nine from deep. The Tribe made nine of its last 15 and took a 34-28 lead into halftime.
 
By the first official timeout of the second half, W&M had doubled that margin to 12 at 47-35. A rare 3-pointer by Wight gave the Tribe a 72-51 lead with 6:42 remaining in the game.
 
But Drexel wasn't about to get creamed at home. With their pressure forcing turnovers, the Dragons went on a 22-4 run over the next five minutes. W&M helped the Dragons' rally with six turnovers in that span.
 
Wynter's two free throws made it 76-73 with 1:10 remaining. After another Tribe turnover, Drexel had a chance to get closer or even tie. But as Melik Martin drove, Kochera got position and drew a charge.
 
Five seconds later, Wight was fouled and went 2-of-2 from the free throw line. That seemed to breathe relief back into the Tribe, which took care of the ball and put the game away at the free throw line.
 
"I though the guys had a good way about them through all of it, even as we were turning it over and they were getting easy baskets," Fischer said. "We did enough to get out of there with a win."
 
Kochera is no stranger to Drexel. He scored 26 points, then a career high, in a road win last season.
 
"He came out really aggressive today and got himself going around the rim," Fischer said.
 
In this week's Thursday-Saturday games, Wight had 42 points on 16-of-24 shooting and 21 rebounds. That's certainly worthy of CAA Player of the Week consideration.
 
"He was terrific," Fischer said.
 
And there's Carroll, the grad transfer from Division II Florida Southern College. He's averaging 13.3 points and 7 rebounds in his last four games.
 
"He was phenomenal," Fischer said. "He's really committed himself to the defensive end first. When he goes to rebound, it's really hard to keep him off the glass with his athleticism. He made a ton of plays to help us today."
 
NEXT UP: The Tribe will visit the College of Charleston Tuesday night in what will be its third of four road games in an eight-day span. The Cougars (9-8, 1-4 CAA) are coming off a draining 95-94 loss at James Madison on Saturday.