ELON, N.C. – William & Mary ended the first half on a 23-3 run to lead the Tribe to a 79-70 CAA road win at Elon on Saturday night.
 
W&M (17-11, 11-4 CAA) trailed by a seven, 26-19, but scored 18-straight points as part of that 23-3 over the final 7:40 of the first half seize control. The Tribe hit 10 of its final 12 shots from the floor in the opening 20 minutes and held Elon to 1-of-10 shooting during the stretch in leading 46-31 at the break.
 
Senior Gabe Dorsey led the Tribe with 21 points on 7-of-9 from 3-point range as four W&M players scored in double figures. Junior Kyle Pulliam added 13 points off the bench, while senior Caleb Dorsey tallied 12 points and five rebounds. Junior Case Lowe rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points to go with a game-high six assists.
 
W&M's 17 wins are tied for 12th in school history, while it marks the just the seventh time in the program's 40-year history in the CAA that in won at least 11 league games.
 
The Tribe's first four field goals all came from 3-point range, but Elon (17-12, 8-8 CAA) countered by making its first six shots from the floor. A Sam Sherry jumper at the 16:14 mark gave the home team a 13-12 lead.
 
The Phoenix used a seven-point run to open up its largest lead at 26-19. Sherry knocked down a 3-pointer and a TK Simpkins fast-break jumper extended the cushion to its largest with 8:58 left in the first half.
 
Trailing by five, the Tribe used a game-changing 18-0 run to take a double-digit advantage. Six different Tribe players scored during the run. Gabe Dorsey started it with a 3-pointer, and W&M retook the lead for good, 30-28, on a Pulliam steal that led to a fastbreak reverse lay-up from freshman Isaiah Mbeng to force an Elon timeout at the 6:22 mark.
 
The margin reached double-digits on a Pulliam jumper in the lane. W&M forced a turnover on a Matteus Case steal and the senior guard found Lowe for a lay-up to force a second Elon timeout and extend the margin to 41-28 with two minutes left in the half.
 
W&M scored the half's final five points on another Gabe Dorsey 3-pointer and a Lowe lay-up to cap the 23-3 run and send W&M to the half with a 15-point advantage.
 
The Tribe hit three of its first five from 3-point range in the second half. Back-to-back triples from Caleb Dorsey and Keller Boothby pushed the lead to 55-35 with 16:50 remaining.
 
A 12-2 Elon run closed the home team within seven. Simpkins, who finished with a game-high 30 points, scored six during the spurt, including back-to-back buckets to cut the gap to 70-63 with 4:03 remaining.
 
On the ensuing Tribe possession, Boothby knocked down a wing 3-pointer to reestablish at double-digit lead, 73-63.
 
Elon again drew within seven, 77-70, with 17 seconds remaining, but it would be as close as the Phoenix would get. Simpkins scored Elon's final 11 points, but W&M hit 6-of-7 from the free throw line over the final 1:01 to pick up the win.
 
W&M finished the game shooting 44.4% (28-of-63) from the field, including 14-of-36 (38.9%) from 3-point range. W&M dished out 16 assists on its 28 made field goals and only turned the ball over nine times.

As a team, the Tribe tallied 10 steals, including three each from Case and Mbeng. The Green and Gold forced 17 Elon turnovers and converted those into 15 points. Boothby finished with nine points on 3-of-5 from 3-point range, and graduate student Malachi Ndur scored seven points and added three rebounds.
 
Elon shot 46% (23-of-50), but were just 5-of-19 from 3 (26.3%). The Phoenix did most of its damage at the free throw line, hitting 19-of-27 (70.4%), including 16-of-22 in the second half, and held a 40-30 advantage on the glass. Sherry added 19 points and eight rebounds, while Matthew Van Komen had a game-high 11 rebounds.
 
Up Next
The Tribe returns home to host UNCW on Monday night in a game that was originally scheduled for Feb. 20, but was moved due to Winter Storm Kingston. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. from Kaplan Arena and will be broadcast on FloCollege. Fans can listen into the action as well over the Tribe Sports Network with Jay Colley and Bobby Dwyer on the call. The Tide 92.3 FM is the flagship station of the Tribe Sports Network in Williamsburg.