HAMPTON — Senior Matteus Case scored six-straight points in the closing 1:07 to lift William & Mary to a 67-64 CAA road win at Hampton on Thursday night.
The Tribe (11-7, 5-0 CAA) led by as much as nine points in the second half, but trailed 62-60 with 1:31 remaining following a George Beale Jr. jumper. Cue Case who converted back-to-back old-fashion 3-point plays to propel the Green and Gold to its sixth-straight victory.
The 6-4 guard hit a floater in the lane with 1:07 left and was hit on the arm. After he completed the 3-point play to give W&M a one-point lead, the Green and Gold generated a turnover near midcourt. The ball ended up in the hands of Keller Boothby who found a cutting Case. The Pickering, Ontario native made the twisting lay-up and was fouled. His second 3-point play in 15 seconds extended the Tribe lead to 66-62 with 52 second left.
The Pirates (9-9, 2-4 CAA) had a chance to tie in the closing seconds, but Trevor Smith’s corner 3-point attempt at the horn was long, and the Tribe celebrated just the program’s fourth 5-0 CAA start.
Case led all scorers with 18 points off the bench. He was a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor, including 6-of-7 from the free throw line. After missing the last seven games due to injury, junior Kyle Pulliam returned in the lineup with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including 3-of-4 from 3, in 12 minutes off the bench. Senior Caleb Dorsey rounded out the double-digit scorers with a nice 10-point, five-rebound, and four-assist stat line.
As a team, W&M finished the game shooting 51.2% (22-of-43) from the floor, including a sizzling 75% (12-of-16) in the second half. The Tribe connected on 15-of-20 (75%) at the free throw line and was 8-of-20 (40%) from 3-point range.
Defensively, the Tribe limited Hampton to 37.5% (21-of-56) shooting, including just 6-of-23 (26.1%) from 3. The Pirates held a 32-29 advantage the glass, including 13 offensive rebounds. Hampton forced W&M into 16 turnovers, converting those into 18 points.
Hampton scored the game’s opening nine points. Beale Jr. scored four during the stretch, and a pair of Richard Goods free throws at the 16:35 mark gave the Pirates a 9-0 cushion.
The Pirates started 3-of-5 from the floor, but W&M turned up the defense, holding the Pirates to just 4-of-22 over the final 17 minutes of the first half.
W&M used a 17-2 run to take its first lead. An eight-point spurt, capped by a Pulliam 3-pointer, drew the Tribe within 18-17 at the 5:09 mark.
After a Xzavier Long lay-up briefly put the home side back on top by three, the Tribe connected on three-straight 3-pointers to open up a six-point advantage. Boothby tied the game at 20, before a Malachi Ndur left wing 3-pointer gave W&M a three-point lead at forced a Hampton timeout with 3:41 left in the half. Pulliam canned his second triple of the opening 20 minutes to stretch the margin to 26-20 just 27 seconds later.
W&M’s lead reached it largest at nine, 34-25, just over four minutes into the second half on an Isaiah Mbeng 3-pointer.
Hampton used a 5-0 run to close back within 34-30 on a Daniel Johnson jumper. The Tribe lead though jumped back to nine, 44-35, on a fastbreak and-1 from Case at the 12:31 mark.
The Pirates finally pulled even behind a 7-0 run sparked by Noah Farrakhan. He knocked down a 3-pointer, before his driving finger roll at the 4:45 mark tied the contest at 54.
Farrakhan, who led the Pirates with 15 points, gave the home team its first lead of the second half, 59-58, on another triple with 2:37 to play.
Smith added 12 points off the bench for Hampton, while Beale had 11. Long just missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.
Mbeng tallied seven points and a game-high five assists, while Ndur notched seven points on 3-of-4 shooting, including a 3-pointer.
Up Next
The Tribe travels to UNCW on Monday, Jan. 20. The contest will be part of a Martin Luther King Jr. Day CAA triple header on CBS Sports Network. Tip-off for the Tribe/Seahawks match-up is set for 1 p.m. with Danny Waugh and Tarik Turner on the call. W&M fans can listen in over the Tribe Sports Network with Jay Colley on the call. The Tide 92.3 FM in Williamsburg is the flagship station of the Tribe Sports Network.
