NORFOLK, Va. – Trey Moss equaled his career high with 20 points but William & Mary men’s basketball suffered a 96-62 loss at Norfolk State on Tuesday night.
Playing without two starters, the Tribe (3-5) was dealt another blow early in the contest as starting sophomore guard Chase Lowe, coming off a career-high 22 points against UMBC, was injured less than a minute into the game and was limited to just three minutes. Due to injuries, W&M was limited to just seven scholarship players on Tuesday night.
Led by guard Jamarii Thomas, the Spartans scored the game’s first seven points and led throughout. Thomas topped all scorers with 23 points to go with nine assists and Norfolk State (5-3) shot 53.8% (30-of-56) from the floor, 57.1% (12-of-21) from 3 and 88.9% (24-of-27) at the charity stripe in the victory.
An 8-0 run capped by a Tyrel Bladen hook shot pushed the Spartans’ advantage to 15-4 just over six minutes into the game.
Trailing by 14, 31-17, the Tribe used a seven-point run to close the gap to seven at the under four-minute media timeout. Moss and Gabe Dorsey knocked down free throws before the former found the latter for a left-wing 3-pointer to force a Spartan timeout with 3:31 left in the opening half.
Norfolk State responded with 10 straight points to open up its largest lead of the first half. Allen Betrand scored four during the run, including a pull-up jumper, to push the lead to 41-24 and the Spartans led by that margin at the break.
The home team scored the first six points of the second half on a Jaylani Darden 3-pointer and a Thomas old-fashioned 3-point play and led by 20 points the rest of the way.
Moss scored 20 points on 5-of-12 shooting, including a near-perfect 8-of-9 at the free throw line. He also added a team-high three assists. Gabe Dorsey tallied 12 points, including 6-of-7 at the free throw line, while Caleb Dorsey added eight points, his most as a member of the Tribe, and a team-high seven rebounds.
Sophomore guard Miles Hicks and freshman Jayden Lemond finished with a career-high six points each.
Offensive, the Tribe finished the team shooting 40.5% (17-of-42) from the floor, but were hampered by 17 turnovers that led to 26 Norfolk State points. W&M connected on 21-of-28 (75%) at the free throw line.
Up Next
The Tribe continues its road swing, this time going west on I-64, to take on in-state rival Richmond on Saturday, Dec. 2. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. from the Robbins Center and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
