HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – William & Mary used a decisive first-half run on the way to a CAA-opening 74-56 road win at Hofstra, spoiling the 25th anniversary of the Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex on Thursday night.
 
The Tribe went on extended 46-8 run over a 14-minute first-half stretch in rolling to the road victory. During the spurt, W&M hit 16-of-22 from the field, including 10-of-13 from 3-point range.
 
Senior Matteus Case led a balanced Tribe attack with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range. He added three assists in the win. Senior Noah Collier just missed a double-double with 12 points and eight rebounds, while junior Kyle Frazier tallied 12 points off the bench, shooting 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Classmate Chase Lowe rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points to go with six rebounds and five assists.
 
W&M (7-7, 1-0 CAA) shot better than 50% from the floor for the fifth time in the last  six games, finishing at 52.9% (27-of-51). The Tribe also connected on double-digit 3-pointers for the fifth game in a row, hitting 12-of-21 (57.1%) from distance. The Tribe made 10 of those 12 treys in the opening half.
 
Hofstra (8-6, 0-1 CAA) hit four of its first six shots from the floor and jumped out to a 10-2 lead behind eight points from Jaquan Sanders. It was all Tribe after that.
 
Frazier knocked down three-straight 3-pointers as part of a 16-0 run. Senior Gabe Dorsey capped the run with his first triple of the night, giving W&M an 18-10 lead at the 12:25 mark.
 
Case scored five in a row to push the margin to double digits. His 3-pointer with 11:14 remaining in the first half gave the visitor at 23-12 lead.
 
Back-to-back triples from Case and graduate student Keller Boothby pushed lead to 20 for the first time at 36-16 with 6:54 left in the opening half.
 
W&M capped its massive 46-8 run with an 11-0 spurt. Freshman Isaiah Mbeng found Collier for a bucket and then scored five in a row. His fast-break lay-up off a Gabe Dorsey steal extended the Tribe lead to 48-18 with just over two minutes left in the frame.
 
Hofstra hit three-straight 3-pointers to close to within 21 (48-27) at the break, including a pair from German Plotnikov.
 
The Tribe maintained its 20-point advantage for the majority of the second half, but Hofstra used a 7-0 run to draw within 65-50 on a T.J. Gadsden 3-pointer with 9:47 left.
 
W&M responded by holding the Pride scoreless for nearly six minutes, which included 0-of-6 from the floor and three turnovers. The Tribe scored six straight during that time all on lay-ups, the final two from Collier. His bucket at the 4:46 mark extended the W&M advantage to 71-50.
 
Defensively, the Tribe held Hofstra to just 37.5% (21-of-56) shooting and only 9-of-37 (24.3%) from 3. W&M also controlled the glass, outrebounding the Pride, 38-24.
 
Gabe Dorsey finished with nine points on 3-of-5 from 3-point range, while Mbeng added seven points, five assists and three rebounds off the bench.
 
Up Next
The Tribe wraps up its trip to Long Island by taking on Stony Brook on Saturday, Jan. 4. Tip-off is set for noon, and the game will be streamed on FloCollege and televised on SNY. Fans can listen in the Tribe Sports Network with Jay Colley on the call. The Tide 92.3 FM is the flagship station of the Tribe Sports Network in Williamsburg.