The William & Mary men’s basketball team used a timely 15-2 run early in the second half and shot 61 percent in the final 20 minutes to improve to 2-0 in Colonial Athletic Association play with an 84-76 road win at James Madison on Tuesday evening.
W&M trailed by as much as 14 in the first half, but closed the half on a 15-4 run, before surging in front in the final 20 minutes. Sophomores Matt Milon (19 points and 12 rebounds) and Nathan Knight (16 points and 12 rebounds) each tallied double-doubles in the win.
Trailing 41-38 at the break, W&M knocked down five-straight shots during its 15-2 run to take its first lead of the game, which it would not relinquish. The Green and Gold scored nine points in a row and took the lead for good on a Nathan Knight dunk at the 15:22 mark. Sophomore Justin Pierce added the final five of the run, extending the margin to 56-50 on a lay-up six minutes into the second half.
JMU drew to as close as 62-60 on back-to-back 3-pointers from Stuckey Mosley and Joey McLean, but W&M responded with six in a row to take its largest lead.
Milon’s 3-pointer capped the spurt with 6:46 to play, increasing the margin to 68-60. W&M had an answer for every Duke come-back attempt, including old-fashion 3-point plays from junior Paul Rowley with 5:22 left and Milon with 40 seconds remaining after a Connor Burchfield steals on the defensive end to hold off the Dukes.
JMU used a pair of 7-0 runs to take a double-digit advantage in the first half. Matt Lewis jumpstarted both with a 3-pointer, and back-to-back Tribe turnovers led to a pair of easy Dukes’ buckets. A DeVelle Phillips dunk extended the home team’s lead to 26-14 and forced a W&M timeout with 10:23 left in the opening frame.
The Dukes led by as many as 14 at the four-minute mark, but the Tribe held JMU without a field goal for the final three minutes and outscored the Dukes 15-4 over the final 3:43.
Burchfield knocked down a pair of 3-pointers during the run, while Knight scored four points. Cohn fast-break lay-up, which counted due to a JMU goaltend, with 0.5 seconds left to cut the margin to 41-38 at the intermission.
Individual Players Highlights
Sophomore Matt Milon led all scorers with 19 points and turned in his first career-double-double pulling down a career-high 12 rebounds. Classmate Nathan Knight notched his fifth double-double of the season and second in as many games with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Senior David Cohn added 17 points and six assists, while Connor Burchfield chipped in 15.
Stuckey Mosley and Matt Lewis led James Madison with 13 points apiece, while DeVelle Phillips just missed a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds. Dwight Wilson added 12 points off the bench for JMU.
Up Next
The Tribe continues its road trip at Delaware on Friday, Jan. 5. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. from the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, Del., and the game will be streamed on Blue Hens All-Access. Tribe fans can catch the men’s basketball action over the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley on the call. The Tide 92.3 FM and 107.9 Bach FM are the flagship stations of the Tribe Radio Network and the audio is also available over the Web at TribeAthletics.com.
