NEWARK, Del. — William & Mary rallied from as much as a 17-point first half deficit to take the lead in the second half, but Delaware used a late push to pull out a 74-64 win on Saturday afternoon at the Bob Carpenter Center.
Senior Gabe Dorsey led the Tribe in scoring with 19 points on 5-of-11 from 3. Juniors Chase Lowe and Kyle Pulliam rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Lowe added seven rebound, three assists, and three steals in the setback.
The Tribe (14-11, 8-4 CAA) trailed by 15 early in the second half, but came roaring back behind its defense. W&M used a 10-0 run to draw within five, 45-40. Graduate student Malachi Ndur scored five during the spurt, including a 3-point play.
The Green and Gold used a sequence of three-straight turnovers to cash in lay-ups as part of a six-point run and tie the game. Freshman Isaiah Mbeng converted back-to-back fast-break buckets, before a driving Lowe lay-up tied the contest at 52 with at the 11:16 mark .
A corner 3-pointer from senior Caleb Dorsey gave W&M its first lead since the 15:49 mark of first half, 57-56, with 9:32 remaining.
With the game tied at 58, Delaware (12-13, 5-7 CAA) used a 10-2 run to take the lead for good. John Camden knocked down a corner 3-pointer, before a Cavan Reilly 15-footer extend the margin to 63-58 at the 4:43 mark.
W&M was just 1-of-12 from the floor over the final nine minutes, while the Blue Hens hit 7-of-8 at the free throw line over the last two minutes to pull out the victory.
W&M finished the game shooting 33% (20-of-60) from the floor and were only 9-of-31 (29%) from 3. The Tribe also shot 15-of-24 (62.5%) from free throw line.
Delaware posted a 46.6 field goals % (27-of-58), hitting 8-of-26 (30.8%) from 3. The Blue Hens were also 12-of-15 (80%) at the free throw line. Reilly led UD with 18 points, while Camden tallied 17 points and eight rebounds. Trent Middleton, Jr. recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Izaiah Pasha finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Gabe Dorsey as part of a 9-0 run gave W&M its first lead of the game, 9-5, four minutes into the contest.
The Blue Hens answered with a 9-0 run of its own. Four different players scored on the run with a Middleton triple putting the home team on top and a Camden driving lay-up extending the margin to 14-9 at the 13:25 mark.
A Pulliam 3-pointer tied the game at 14 just 1:32 later, but Delaware took control behind an 18-1 run. Reilly scored on back-to-back lay-ups and Camden hit a pair of 3-pointers. The second was a sequence of back-to-back triples with Macon Emory to extend the Blue Hen lead to 36-19 with four minutes left in the opening frame.
Gabe Dorsey, who scored 15 first-half points, connected on consecutive 3-pointers to draw the Tribe closer. On the second, he was fouled and converted the 4-point play to close the gap to 38-28 with 1:18 left in the half.
Reilly beat the halftime buzzer with a deep 3-pointer along the left side to give UD a 43-30 advantage at the break. The Blue Hens shot 50% (18-of-36) from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
Ndur finished with seven points and a team-high eight rebounds, while Caleb Dorsey recorded seven points, six rebounds, and two steals. As a team, W&M registered 10 steals and forced Delaware into 17 turnovers.
Up Next
The Tribe returns home for a pair of games next week. W&M hosts Hofstra on Thursday, Feb. 13, at 7 p.m., before welcoming Drexel to Kaplan Arena on Saturday, Feb. 15, at 2 p.m. Both games will be televised regionally on MASN. The contests will also be broadcast on FloCollege.
