Despite one of the best performances in Tribe history from senior guard Marcus Thornton, the William & Mary men’s basketball team dropped a heartbreaker, 68-67, to rival Richmond in the 200th all-time meeting between the two programs Wednesday night at the Robins Center.
Thornton scored a career-high 37 points, the most for a W&M player since 1990 and the 10th-best scoring effort in program annals. The Green and Gold fell to 5-2 on the season as the Spiders snapped W&M’s five-game winning streak in evening their ledger at 3-3.
Thorton was 14-of-18 from the floor and 8-of-11 from 3-point range. His 37 points were the most in the CAA and eighth most in the country this season. The eight 3-pointers are the second most in Tribe history and the second most in the nation this season as well. Sophomore Daniel Dixon finished with 12 points and junior Sean Sheldon added seven points and a game-high seven rebounds.
A Thornton 3-pointer from the right corner at the 5:30 mark bounced in to tie the game at 63. An offensive putback from Alonzo Nelson-Ododa and single free throws each from Terry Allen and T.J. Cline put the Spiders back on top, 67-63, with 4:01 left.
Coming out of the under four-minute media timeout, Sheldon knocked down a pair of freebies to draw the Green and Gold back within two at 67-65. W&M had chances to draw even or go ahead, but turned the ball over on its next two possessions. Another Allen free throw at the 2:11 mark gave the home team a 68-65 advantage.
Thornton had a chance to tie the game at 68 on a 3-pointer with 1:55 remaining, but a rare occasion on the evening, his attempt was off the mark. W&M continued to get stops defensively, and sophomore Omar Prewitt’s fading bank shot with 55.1 seconds remaining pulled the Green and Gold within 68-67.
Following another defensive stop, Prewitt was fouled on a drive to the basket and looked to be attempting a shot. The official called the play on the floor, and Prewitt went to the free throw line for a 1-and-1 with just 5.7 seconds remaining. He missed the front end, and Richmond’s Trey Davis pulled down the rebound before being fouled with 4.3 seconds left. He missed both free throw attempts, and on the second, Prewitt pulled down the rebound. The Mt. Sterling, Ky., native raced up the floor and his leaning 28-footer at the buzzer just rimmed out, giving Richmond the narrow win.
The Tribe continued its sizzling shooting as it connected on 58.1 percent (25-of-43) from the field and 52.6 percent (10-of-19) from 3-point range. The Green and Gold were done in by 18 turnovers and a Spider parade to the free throw line. After entering the game ranked second in the country in fewest fouls per game, the Tribe was whistled for 24 on the night, leading to 27 free throws for the Spiders.
The majority of UR’s offense in the second half, 15 of 30 points, came from the free throw line as they were 15-of-22 from the stripe in the second 20 minutes. The Spiders finished the game shooting 44.7 percent (21-of-47) from the free throw line and just 33.3 percent (6-of-18) from 3-point range.
W&M scored the game’s first five points, including three from Dixon. After the sophomore guard hit a free throw, both Thornton and Dixon converted driving buckets in the paint to put W&M on top 5-0 less than two minutes into the contest.
Richmond responded with a 10-0 run, including back-to-back 3-pointers from Kendall Anthony and Josh Jones. Redshirt freshman Michael Schlotman snapped the spurt for the Green and Gold with a driving left-handed finish at the rim.
Consecutive lay-ups by Allen and Anthony pushed the Spider advantage to 14-7, with 10:23 left, but W&M answered with an 8-0 run. Thornton started things with a deep 3-pointer, before Dixon scored on a drive to the hoop. Some nice ball movement set up Prewitt finding freshman Greg Malinowski for a wide-open triple to put the Tribe back in front, 15-14, at the 8:21 mark.
After a UR old-fashion 3-point play, Thornton started heating up as he scored seven straight. His 3-pointer at the 4:33 mark gave the Green and Gold a 22-19 lead. Thornton continued his onslaught, but the Spiders answered by hitting their final six shots over the last four minutes of the opening frame.
After back-to-back 3-pointers from the home side, Dixon and Thornton answered with treys to put W&M on top, 28-25, with 2:39 left. The teams continued to trade the advantage back and forth. Thornton gave W&M a 31-28 advantage with a setback 3-pointer from the right side with 1:56 left in the opening half.
Richmond took the lead to the locker room, closing the frame on a 10-2 run. An Allen old-fashion 3-point play tied the game once again at 31, before a ShawnDre’ Jones triple from the left corner gave the Spiders the lead. After a Thornton leaner cut the margin to one, Anthony scored the half’s final four points. He knocked down two free throws then stole the ball and scored before the halftime horn to give UR a 38-33 lead at the break.
Thornton scored the second half like he finished the first, scoring the first four points. He canned a 3-pointer from the left corner, before knocking down 1-of-2 from the free throw line to cut the gap to 38-37 less than two minutes into the period.
A Prewitt floater briefly gave W&M a 43-42 lead at the 15:45 mark, but Richmond’s free throw shooting kept them in front. Despite hitting just one of their first 10 shots in the second half, the Spiders continued to lead by connected on 10 straight from the free throw line.
Back-to-back Thornton buckets pulled the Tribe even at 48, but four straight Allen points, including a pair from the free throw line gave UR a 52-48 advantage.
The Spider lead ballooned to five, 56-51, before a Sheldon conventional 3-point play at the 9:14 mark pulled W&M back within two.
T.J. Cline answered with back-to-back buckets for UR to push the lead back to five, 61-56. W&M responded as Thornton found Sheldon for a lay-up and Dixon knocked down a pair of free throws, drawining the visitors within one, 61-60, with 6:21 to play.
Anthony and Allen led Richmond with 18 points apiece. Anthony was 7-of-12 from the floor and 2-of-5 from 3-point range, while Allen was 5-of-8 from the floor and 8-of-10 from the free throw line to go with a team-high six rebounds. Cline added 10 points off the bench.
The Tribe returns to action when to travels to Big South favorite High Point on Saturday. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.
