NORFOLK, Va. — William & Mary men's basketball rallied from as much as a 12-point second-half deficit to top defending MEAC Champion Norfolk State, 81-78, on Saturday night at Joseph G. Echols Memorial Hall to spoil the Spartans' Banner Night. 

Graduate student Jhei-R Jones led the Tribe with 15 points, making four of his five field goal attempts and converting 5-of-6 free throws. Senior Kyle Pulliam added 14 points, while junior Reese Miller contributed 12 points, four assists and two steals. Junior Kilian Brockhoff rounded out the double-digit scorers for W&M with 11. Prior to opening tip, the Spartans unveiled championship banners for the MEAC regular season and tournament championships as well as their NCAA Tournament appearance. 

The Tribe (2-0) trailed by as much as 12, 63-51, with 9:44 remaining. The deficit was nine, 74-65, at the 5:20 mark following an Anthony McComb III 3-pointer. W&M turned it on defensively and used a 10-0 run to battle its way back. The McComb triple was NSU's final made field of the evening as the Tribe forced the home team to misfire on its final nine attempts.  

Miller's banking floater at the 3:49 mark closed the gap to 74-72 and forced a Norfolk State (2-1) timeout. Pulliam, who scored five during the run, knocked down a right-wing 3-pointer to put W&M in front just 34 seconds later. It was W&M's first lead since the closing seconds of the first half.  
 
After the Spartans briefly retook the advantage at 76-75 following a pair of Elijah Jamison, Pulliam responded with two free throws of his own to give W&M the lead for good. A Brockhoff driving lay-up extended the lead to three with just over a minute remaining. 

The lead remained three, 81-78, after a pair of Miller free throws with 23 seconds left, but Norfolk State had a number of chances to pull even in the closing seconds. After a McComb missed 3-pointer, Jamison was fouled on a right-wing 3-point attempt. He missed all three free throws and the final rebound ended up with My'kel Jenkins in the left corner. His game-tying 3-point attempt hit off the back iron as time expired, and the Tribe celebrated the road victory. 

W&M did damage at the free throw line, hitting 24-for-34 (70.6%) on the night. The Tribe finished the game at 45.3% (24-of-53) from the floor and hit nine 3-pointers. The Tribe held a 39-37 advantage on the glass and dished out 17 assists on its 24 made field goals. Senior Chase Lowe topped W&M with five assists, while junior Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi led the team with seven rebounds. 

The Tribe and Spartans traded the lead six times in a tightly contested first half. Back-to-back 3-pointers from graduate student Jo'el Emanuel and Brockhoff gave W&M its first lead of the opening 20 minutes at 21-18. 

NSU used an 8-1 run to retake the lead. Keyontae Lewis scored half of the Spartans' points during the run and his jumper at the 5:58 mark gave the home team a 26-22 advantage. 

Jones scored six-straight W&M points and knotted the game at 28, before a pair of Pulliam free throws in the final five seconds looked like it would send W&M to the half with a 36-34 lead. Jamison however had other plans as he drilled a running half-court shot at the buzzer to give NSU a 37-36 lead at the intermission. 

A 9-0 Norfolk State run stretched the lead to double figures early in the second half. McComb and Jenkins hit back-to-back 3-pointers and an Adrean Newton lay-up pushed the margin to 48-38 just over three minutes into the second half. 

In total, the Spartans hit eight of their first 10 3-pointers in the second half. A Devon Ellis triple at the 9:44 mark gave Norfolk State its largest lead of the game at 63-51. 

McComb led all scorers with 19 points, while Jamison and Jenkins each had 15. NSU finished the contest at 43.1% shooting (25-of-58) and hit 11-of-27 (40.7%) from 3-point range. The Spartans struggled at the free throw line, hitting at just a 54.8% (17-of-31) clip. 

The Tribe continues it road trip on Tuesday when it travels to Atlantic 10 foe Richmond. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. from the Robins Center and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and MASN. Tribe fans can listen into the Tide 92.3 FM, the flagship station of the Tribe Sports Network, with Jay Colley on the call.