TOWSON, Md. – It was a tale of two halves in a match-up of two of the top teams in the CAA on Thursday night at TU Arena. William & Mary shot 70% in the first half and led by as much as 15 points early in the second half, but Towson locked up the regular season championship by shooting 65% in the final 20 minutes and used a 30-2 run to pull out an 88-73 victory.
 
Senior Gabe Dorsey led the Tribe with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range, to go with a team-high four rebounds. Senior Matteus Case was the other Tribe player in double figures with 11 points. Junior Finn Lally added nine points on 3-of-3 shooting off the bench, while freshman Isaiah Mbeng and junior Kyle Pulliam added eight points apiece.
 
The Tribe (17-13, 11-6 CAA) used an 8-0 run to open up a 16-8 lead seven minutes into the game. Gabe Dorsey started the run with a 3-pointer, and Case capped with an old fashion 3-point play thanks to a one-handed leaner in the lane at the 13:10 mark.
 
The lead reached double figures, 24-14, for the first time on a Mbeng 3-pointer from the left side with 9:49 left in the opening half.
 
An 8-0 Towson (20-10, 15-2 CAA) run that included triples from Christian May and Tyler Tejada closed the gap to two, before another Tejada 3-pointer narrowed the margin to a single point, 28-27, with 5:43 remaining.
 
Pulliam answered right back with a 3-pointer as the Tribe outscored Towson, 16-5, over the final 5:30 of the first half to take a 12-point lead, 44-32, to the locker room. The Green and Gold hit seven of its final eight shots from the field and shot 69.6% (16-of-23) for the half, including 9-of-14 (64.3%) from 3.
 
The Tribe quickly increased the lead to 15 on a Keller Boothby corner 3-pointer just 12 second into the second half.
 
A personal eight-point run for Tomiwa Sulaiman allowed the home team to close within five, 49-44, at the 15:59 mark. He capped the spurt with a pair of free throws after knocking down a corner 3-pointer and converting a 3-point play.
 
W&M responded with back-to-back steals and fastbreak lay-ups from Pulliam and Mbeng to push the lead back to nine and force a Towson timeout just over a minute later.
 
The Tigers took over behind a 30-2 run in which they held the Tribe without a field goal for 10 minutes. Tejada gave the Tigers the lead for good on a pair of free throws with 10:51 left. TU scored the final 21 points straight. Dylan Williamson scored 10 points during the run, before a May free throw capped it and gave Towson a 74-55 lead with 4:36 remaining.
 
W&M finished the game shooting 51% (25-of-49) from the field, including 12-of-25 (48%) from 3.

Tejada and Williamson led Towson with 20 points apiece as four Tigers scored in double figures. Sulaiman added 15 points, while May had 13. Towson shot 44.6% (29-of-65) from the floor and hit a season-high 14 3-pointers. TU dominated the glass, outrebounding W&M, 44-23, including 19 offensive rebounds that led to 21 second-chance points.
 
Up Next
The Tribe wraps up the regular season when it hosts Northeastern on Senior Day, Saturday, March 1. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. from Kaplan Arena. The game will be broadcast on FloCollege with Jay Colley, Chris Stratton '08, and Bobby Dwyer on the call. Fans can listen into the Tribe Sports Network and the flagship station The Tide 92.3 FM.
 
Fans are encouraged to arrive early to celebrate the Tribe's senior class and wear back for the Blackout. The first 200 W&M students in attendance will receive FREE black t-shirts. Tribe fans can also purchase black shirts at the ticket booth or online via the Tribe Ticket Office. W&M will honor graduate students Keller Boothby and Malachi Ndur as well as seniors Matteus Case, Noah Collier, Caleb Dorsey, and Gabe Dorsey for their contributions to the Tribe program prior to tip-off.