WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — William & Mary men's basketball dominated in the paint and turned Northeastern miscues into easy buckets on the way to an 84-77 victory on Thursday night at Kaplan Arena. 

The Tribe (17-11, 8-8 CAA) capitalized on 22 NU turnovers, scoring 22 points and outscored the visitors, 44-28, in the paint on the way to the win. It marked just the 16th time in the program's 121-year history that W&M reached 17 victories in a season.

Junior Kilian Brockhoff led the charge, scoring 18 of his team-high 21 points in the second and grabbed four rebounds. It was his team-leading fourth 20-point game of the season. Junior Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi added 12 points, nailing all eight free throws and turned in an impressive stat line with team-highs of five rebounds and five assists, while snagging a career-high four steals. Graduate student Jo'el Emanuel matched his season-high with 16 points, hitting 9-of-11 from the stripe and adding two steals. 

W&M's tenacious defense was pivotal in the first half, forcing the Huskies into 13 turnovers while racking up 14 fast break points. 

Northeastern (6-21, 2-14 CAA) led by as much as four in the opening half, including the final time on a JB Frankel 3-pointer with 12:11 remaining. 

W&M moved in front thanks to a Chase Lowe old-fashion 3-point play with 6:31 left in the half. The margin grew to five, 33-28, behind an Emanuel top of the key 3-pointer. 

The Tribe, which led 35-32 at the intermission, maintained control in the second half, converting 13 points off nine Huskies turnovers. Their performance at the free-throw line was crucial, making 21-of-25 attempts (84%). 

After back-to-back Ryan Williams' 3-pointers just over eight minutes into the second half closed the gap to two, the Tribe established a comfortable double-digit lead thanks to a 9-0 run. The Green and Gold hit all seven of its free throw attempts during the run that featured a Kilian Brockhoff 3-point play. The lead was 64-53 with under nine minutes remaining. 

Twice NU drew within five in the closing 1:33, but the Tribe answered each time on the way to its 17th win of the year. 

W&M shot 53.8% (14-of-26) in the second half on the way to 45.5% (25-of-55) for the game. The Tribe connected on 32-of-39 (82.1%) at the free throw line, and the 32 made free throws rank 11th in school history. As a team, the Tribe dished out 20 assists and collected 14 steals. Notably, this was the 11th game this season where W&M recorded at least 20 assists.

Senior Kyle Pulliam finished with 11 points, four rebounds, three assists, and two steals, while junior Reese Miller added nine points to go with a season-high five assists. 

Ryan Williams led the Huskies with 29 points, hitting 11-of-16 field goals, including 7-of-10 from beyond the arc. Mike Loughnane contributed 14 points, dishing out a team-high nine assists and pulling down eight rebounds. Youri Fritz was a force on the boards with 12 rebounds and added 13 points. NU shot 50% (30-of-60) as a team and hit 11 3-pointers on the evening. 

Up Next 
The Tribe travels to North Carolina A&T on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 2 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.