JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - William & Mary men's basketball scored the game's first 13 points and led throughout in its third-straight win, 74-63, over UTEP on Monday evening in its first game of the Jacksonville Classic on the campus of Edward Waters University.
 
Junior Reese Miller scored 16 points, converting 5-of-7 field goal attempts, including two 3-pointers, and added three assists. Senior Kyle Pulliam matched Miller with 16 points, shooting 6-of-11 from the field, and collected five rebounds. Senior Chase Lowe just missed scoring in double figures with nine points.
 
W&M (5-2) held UTEP off the scoreboard over the game's opening six minutes and scored the contest's first 13 points. Junior Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi knocked down a 3-pointer, before Miller scored seven in a row to give W&M a 13-0 lead at the 15-minute mark.
 
Cassius Brooks got UTEP (3-3) going off the bench. He scored seven of the Miners' first nine points, including a 3-pointer at the 11:04 mark to draw within nine. Jamal West Jr. followed with another triple to cut the gap to 18-12.
 
The Tribe responded with six in a row to push the lead back to double figures. Sophomore Ryan Jackson, Jr.  capped the spurt with by a dunk at the 6:52 mark to give W&M a 24-12 lead.
 
The Miners scored eight of game's next 10 to draw within 26-20 on a Caleb Blackwell stepback jumper. Miller and graduate student Caleb Haskins hit 3-pointers over the final 1:11 to give W&M a 35-23 lead at the half. The Tribe held the Miners to just 31% shooting in the opening 20 minutes.
 
In the second half, the Green and Gold maintained its double-digit lead, 44-33, thanks to back-to-back fastbreak buckets from Pulliam and graduate student Jhei-R Jones just six minutes into the period.
 
UTEP battled its way back, closing within one thanks to a 12-2 run. David Tubek started the run with a corner 3-pointer, while Blackwell tallied five during the run. A Kaseem Watson lay-up at the 10:46 mark to cut the deficit to as little as 50-49. W&M wasted little time answering on a Pulliam corner 3-pointer just seven seconds later.
 
The Tribe stretched its advantage back out to double digits and put the game out of reach with a 13-4 run. Lowe scored six during the run, while graduate student Jo'el Emanuel knocked down a corner 3-pointer. Lowe scored four in a row to push the lead back to 10, before finding Pulliam for a lay-up with 53 seconds remaining to extend the advantage to 74-62.
 
Junior Kilian Brockhoff contributed two blocks and two steals and a team-high six rebounds to go with six points. Emanuel led W&M with four assists and tallied six points. The Tribe shot 49.1% (26-of-53) for the game, including 52.2% in the second half. The Green and Gold knocked down eight 3-pointers and shot 14-of-20 at the free throw line (70%). W&M also held a 40-33 advantage on the glass.
 
Blackwell led four UTEP players in double figures with 13 points. Watson and Brooks added 11 points each, while Elijah Jones rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points and five rebound. The Miners finished shooting 36.9% (24-of-65), including just 5-of-25 from 3-point range (20%).
 
The Tribe wraps up the Jacksonville Classic when it takes on Abilene Christian on Tuesday, Nov. 25. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be streamed on PassThaBallLive. Fans can listen into the radio broadcast on the Tribe Sports Network with Jay Colley on the call. The broadcast will be available on The Tide 92.3 FM in Williamsburg, the flagship station of the Tribe Sports Network.