CHARLESTON, S.C. - William & Mary men's basketball battled back from 16-point first-half deficit to close within a point in the final 20 minutes and had a chance to tie with 2:21 remaining on Monday night in a nationally-televised CAA game. In the end, Charleston made enough plays down the stretch to pull out an 88-79 victory in TD Arena.
 
Junior Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi led all scorers with 20 points, while senior Chase Lowe recorded his first double-double of the season behind 14 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists. Junior Kilian Brockhoff rounded out the Tribe's double digit scorers with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including three 3-pointers.
 
W&M (11-4, 2-1 CAA) trailed by as much as 16 in the opening half and by a 46-32 margin at the break. The Tribe roared out the gates in the final period, scoring the first 12 points of the frame. Vahlberg Fasasi scored eight during the run, including back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the margin to 46-44 just three minutes in the half.
 
The deficit was just one, 48-47, following Brockhoff's second 3-pointer of the night, before Charleston (10-6, 3-0 CAA) answered with a 10-0 run. Martin Kalu scored the first five points, before Jlynn Counter knocked down a 3-pointer and a Colby Duggan lay-up stretched the lead back to 58-47 at the 14:01 mark.
 
W&M did not go away, closing the gap to within a possession with less than five minutes remaining. Senior Kyle Pulliam knocked down a right wing 3-pointer, before a short Lowe jumper in the paint cut the deficit to 74-71. A Jo'el Emanuel free throw at the 4:51 mark made it a two-point game.
 
The margin was again 3, 78-75, after a Reese Miller 3-pointer. On the ensuing possession, the Tribe had a chance to tie with 2:21 left, but Vahlberg Fasasi's 3-pointer rimmed out. Charleston put the game out of reach with 3-pointers on back-to-back possession. Connor Hickman and Colby Duggan both connected on triples from the left corner to extend the CofC lead to 84-75 with 1:16 left.
 
W&M finished the game shooting just 32.5% (25-of-77) from the field, including only 23.8% (10-of-42) in the first half. The Tribe connected on nine 3-pointers and hit 20-of-25 (80%) at the free throw line. The Green and Gold dished out 17 assists on its 25 made field goals and only turned the ball over six times.
 
Defensively, the Tribe forced CofC into 19 turnovers and converted those into 22 points. W&M also outscored Charleston, 16-6, in second chance points. Vahlberg Fasasi and Brockhoff each tallied three steals.
 
The Cougars shot 46.6% (27-of-58) for the game, including 11-of-29 (37.9%) from 3. Charleston was also 23-of-29 (79.3%) at the free throw line. Kalu and Duggan led CofC with 17 points apiece, while Counter finished with 16 points, six rebounds and six assists. Charleston 7-foot duo of Chol Machot and Christian Reeves pulled down 10 rebounds each.  
 
W&M used an 8-0 run to take its largest lead of the contest just 4:15 into the game. Emanuel started the run with a corner 3-pointer, before Vahlberg Fasasi turned a steal into a 3-point play the other way. Sophomore Ryan Jackson, Jr. capped the run with a putback to give the Tribe an 11-4 lead.
 
Charleston answered with an extended 22-4 run to open up a double-digit lead. Hickman had six during the run and Duggan capped the spurt with a 3-point play to give the home team a 29-16 lead at the 9:04 mark.
 
The lead ballooned to as much as 16 on two occasions, including following a Kalu 3-pointer with 37 seconds to play in the opening half.
 
Emanuel and Jackson, Jr. each scored seven points off the bench, while Pulliam had nine and seven rebounds.
 
Up Next
The Tribe continues its three-game road trip at Monmouth on Thursday, Jan. 8. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. from West Long Branch, N.J., and the game will be broadcast on FloCollege. W&M fans can also 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.