WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — A Bryson Cokley 3-pointer with 2.4 seconds remaining lifted Elon past William & Mary men's basketball, 81-78, on Saturday afternoon at Kaplan Arena. 

The game featured six ties and three lead changes over the final 5:43 of the contest. W&M (16-10, 7-7 CAA) pulled even for the 13th time with 30.5 seconds remaining as Jo'el Emanuel made a steal in the backcourt and scored at the rim to tie the contest at 78. 

That set the stage for Cokley who knocked down his seventh 3-pointer of the game from the left wing to give the Phoenix (14-13, 6-8 CAA) the lead for good with 2.4 seconds left. After a timeout, the Tribe had a shot to tie from the left wing, but Reese Miller's attempt bounced off the rim. 

Senior Kyle Pulliam led W&M with 18 points, hitting three 3-pointers and blocking two shots. Miller added 15 points off the bench. Junior Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi contributed 13 points and secured six rebounds, while Emanuel chipped in 13 points, collected seven rebounds, and recorded three assists. Senior Chase Lowe finished with eight points, five rebounds, and four assists. 

Cokley scored eight of Elon's first 14 points and his 3-pointer just over six minutes into the contest gave the visitors at 14-10 lead. 

A 9-0 run gave W&M the advantage. Lowe scored back-to-back fast-break lay-ups, before a Pulliam 3-pointer at the 11:34 mark put W&M on top by five. 

W&M led 32-28 on Ryan Jackson, Jr. lay-up with 4:28 left in the opening half, but the Phoenix used a 13-2 run to take a seven-point advantage into the locker room. Cokley hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Isaac Harrell added another during the spurt. 

Trailing 53-42 with 16:37 remaining, the Tribe tripped off a 16-3 run to take the lead. Pulliam and Miller connected on 3-pointers, including the ladder with 12:40 to play to draw within a point. 

After an Elon 3-pointer, Miller, Lowe, and Vahlberg Fasasi scored on three-straight lay-ups to give W&M a 58-56 lead with 8:12 remaining. 

An Emanuel 3-point play increased the Tribe lead to 63-60 at the 7:32 mark, but Elon countered with the duo of Cokley and Chandler Cuthrell. They combined for the Phoenix's final 19 points, including Cokley's game-winner. In total, Elon hit seven of its final 10 shots from the field. 

Cokley scored 29 points on 7-of-11 from 3-point range and made all six of his free-throw attempts. Cuthrell contributed 17 points, going 6-for-10 from the field, while also adding five assists and grabbing eight rebounds. Harrell totaled 14 points, hitting 5 of 10 shots from the field, including two 3-pointers, and collected five rebounds. Elon did most of its damage from 3-point range, hitting 11-of-25 (44%) from deep. 

The Tribe shot 46.6% from the field, but was only 6-of-24 (25%) from 3. The Green and Gold connected on 18-of-25 (72%) at the free throw line and outrebounded Elon, 39-31. 

Up Next
W&M plays just one game next week as it heads to Campbell on Thursday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed on FloCollege. W&M 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.