Welcome to Baltimore, where the William & Mary Men’s Basketball team is on a quest to win the Colonial Athletic Association Championship and its first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.
We are courtside providing live updates of the scores, key plays, and a closeup look at the action. Keep refreshing the page for new posts throughout the game.
To listen live as Voice of the Tribe Jay Colley and Charlie Woollum call the game, click here. The Tide 92.3 FM and 107.9 Bach FM are the flagship stations of the Tribe Radio Network.
Elon Phoenix (No. 8) vs. William & Mary Tribe (No. 1): Tribe Defeats Elon 72-59
POSTGAME: William and Mary 72 Elon 59
- Tribe shot 52.3% overall; Elon 37.5%
- Elon had 32 rebounds to the Tribe’s 30
- Tribe high scorers: Marcus Thornton 17, Omar Prewitt 16, Daniel Dixon 12
- Rebounds: Terry Tarpey 9, Sean Sheldon 5
- Blocked shots: 6, Tom Schalk with 3
- Steals: 6, Terry Tarpey with 3
SECOND HALF
0:00: Elon calls off the fouling and the Tribe takes it home. Final: 72-59 Tribe. Omar Prewitt is named the Zaxby’s Player of the Game.
0:40 Marcus Thornton leaves after hitting two free throws for 16 points. 72-56 Tribe.
1:22: Elon in the fouling mode. 70-56 Tribe.
1:43: Coach Shaver sits down for a minute at the bench while Tom Schalk shoots a couple of foul shots. 65-54 Tribe.
1:59: Jay Colley calls the game for the Tribe. After announcing that they will play the JMU vs Hofstra winner tomorrow, Charlie Woollum gives him the death stare. Jay revises that he believes the Tribe will win. 68-54 Tribe.
2:31: Daniel Dixon has brothers names Damon, Darren and Darwin. Darren is a WM grad. And he plays good D, just blocked a Samson 3-point attempt. 66-52 Tribe.
2:53: Elon’s 19 turnovers compared to WM’s 12. Credit the Tribe’s defense. 64-52 Tribe.
3:22: Tribe working off clock until Daniel Dixon hits a three. Tribe’s biggest lead at 14. Daniel Dixon was the fourth best 3-point shooter in the country this year at 46.2%. 64-50 Tribe.
3:55: Tribe working the ball all over the arc. Tarpey goes up for an offensive rebound and gets dropped to the floor. He gets up to take his foul shots as Jay Colley says, “Wow, what a man is Terry Tarpey!” Media timeout. 61-50 Tribe.
4:56: Elon’s Samson is usually a good 3-point shooter, but he’s missed the last two. Daniel Dixon picks up his fourth foul to match Samson. 61-49 Tribe.
5:48: Coach Shaver continues to sub lots of Tribe players in and out. 61-49 Tribe.
6:11: Omar Prewitt now has 16 points. I like the way he wipes his shoes with his hands before he shoots foul shots, better traction above and below. 61-47 Tribe.
7:31: Tribe up to 53.8% shooting for the game. 37.0% for Elon. 60-47 Tribe.
7:58: Sean Sheldon is a man with octopus hands — it’s like he’s covering every play with eight arms. Media timeout. 60-47 Tribe.
8:55: Sean Sheldon knocks the ball away, Prewitt breaks away for what Jay Colley calls the “old dunkaroo!” 60-47 Tribe.
10:05: Tribe threw the ball away a minute ago with a soft pass. Charlie Woollum calls them lollipop or parachute passes. Thornton hits his own lollipop for his 13th point. 58-45 Tribe.
10:23: Samson comes off the bench for Elon with four fouls to sink a 3. Tribe timeout. 55-42 Tribe.
11:06: It’s cold in Baltimore. Word is the TV feed is frozen. Reminder you can listen to Jay Colley and Charlie Woollum at 92.3FM and 107.9FM and tideradio.com. 55-42 Tribe.
11:58: Omar Prewitt’s dad said last night Omar has the same positive “no worries” response before every game. It works. He is up to 13 points. 55-37 Tribe.
12:57: Elon now shooting 34.6% compared to William and Mary at 50%. 13 points for Omar Prewitt. 52-37 Tribe.
13:30: Elon finished the regular season on a three-game win streak, including an upset rout of UNCW in the final game to spoil a Wilmington outright first-place finish, which helped the Tribe. WM has not forgotten. 50-35 Tribe. Media timeout.
13:57: Marcus with a 3. Then a defensive rebound and a fastbreak to Prewitt. 50-35 Tribe.
14:49: Omar Prewitt credits his mom for his ability to score, saying she had him in the gym dribbling so when he was young he “could dribble around everybody and that made scoring a lot easier.” He has 9 points. 46-35 Tribe.
15:16: Tanner Samson of Elon has four fouls and has to sit down. Marcus Thornton blocks a shot, gets the ball down the court and Omar Prewitt scores a 3. Momentum shift, just like that. Media timeout. 46-35 Tribe.
16:40: Elon’s Hamilton was asked last night what goes through his mind when he misses a shot, to which he replied, “next play” — meaning it doesn’t affect him. 43-35 Tribe.
17:13: Austin Hamilton spoiled the game for Towson in the second half in last night’s game. He has hit two threes in a row. 42-35.
18:00: If those pundits are correct, the Tribe will be in good shape. 40-32 Tribe.
19:22: Some basketball pundits say the first two minutes of the second half determine the final outcome of the game. Daniel Dixon gets warm again and hits a 3. 35-29 Tribe.
20:00: Second half. The Tribe pushed the lead up to 10. Here we go!
HALFTIME
0:00: Key stats from the first half:
- Shooting percentage: Tribe 50% Elon 34.6%
- Elon out-rebounded WM 18-15. The margin was on the offensive glass.
- Elon turned the ball over 8 times; the Tribe turned it over 6 times.
- Ten players saw action for the Tribe in the first half. They will be better rested.
FIRST HALF
0:00: Marcus Thornton with a 3 at the buzzer. Not only was Marcus Thornton the CAA Player of the Year, he also ranks 21st in scoring in the country. Amazing shot to end the half. 36-26 Tribe.
0:48: Omar Prewitt to lane and is tripped. Mom is Lea Wise-Prewitt, All-SEC hoops star at Kentucky (yes THAT Kentucky) and coach at Centre College, where she had a 73% winning record. 33-26 Tribe.
1:25: Sean Sheldon is feeding the beast today. Up and rebounding like a champ on both the offense and defense. 31-26 Tribe.
2:23: Lots of balls thrown away on both sides. 29-26 Tribe.
2:55: Challenges with the hardwood court here in Baltimore. They were trying to true up the various sections before the Tribe game. A couple of panel seams were nearly 1/4-inch different in height, which is definitely a trip hazard. 29-26 Tribe.
3:32: Daniel Dixon has missed his last five shots after hitting his first shot for 3. 27-23 Tribe
3:44: Great management of players by Coach Shaver. He’s using lots of WM players to tire out Elon, who had to play last night, while the Tribe did not. Media timeout. 27-22 Tribe.
5:10: Nothing will make you love a man-bun more than Sean Sheldon with a two point putback! 26-22 Tribe.
6:27: Elon’s two threats are Elijah Bryant and point guard Austin Hamilton, who handled Towson last night. Tribe defense has forced them to run out the clock without a shot twice now. Now Hamilton just traveled. 25-19 Tribe.
6:57: According to howmanyofme.com there are 60 people in the U.S. named Marcus Thornton. One of them plays for the Phoenix Suns. 23-29 Tribe.
7:54: Marcus Thornton gets his first points. Three. 23-19 Tribe.
8:57: Elijah Bryant has his kryptonite. He turned the ball over eight times in one game earlier this year. This possession he ran out the shot clock with an NBA-range air ball. 20-15 Tribe.
9:34: Elijah Bryant is Elon’s best player, Rookie of the Year in the CAA. Averages 13.9 points per game. Just got his first 3-pointer. 20-15 Tribe.
1:11: Jay Colley on 92.3FM: “The Tribe is playing dandy defense.” Second media timeout. 20-12 Tribe.
12:10: Terry Tarpey averages 2.2 steals per game. Just got his first, then passed to Prewitt for a basket. 20-10 Tribe.
12:32: Tarpey gets an offensive rebound, always a landmark as WM was one of the lowest rated offensive rebounders this season while being No. 1 in defensive fouls. 16-10 Tribe.
13:12: Last night teams hit each other like a football game. Refs didn’t call many fouls. Two tiny touches were both called as fouls in the last 20 seconds. 16-8 Tribe.
14:15: 3 points for Malinowski. Five turnovers for Elon so far. 16-8 Tribe.
15:05: If the tourney was predetermined by an actuary, William and Mary wins with a 49.2% field goal percentage, the sixth best in the country. Still 13-6 Tribe.
15:47: Coach Tony Shaver is substituting a lot. Burchfield, Schalk and Malinoski making it 8 players seeing action already. 13-6 Tribe. First media timeout.
16:02: Great defense by the Tribe, which is helping to get the Tribe a lead. 13-6 Tribe.
16:54: Freshman Connor Burchfield turns the ball over, then atones with two 3-pointers in a row! 11-6 Tribe.
17:10: Elon is trying to get the ball inside with sloppy results. Two turnovers to the Tribe but neither resulted in a Tribe score. 5-4 Tribe.
17:57: Daniel Dixon tries for a 3-pointer then drives to the basket — a little overzealous but his previously injured hamstring seems to be better. 3-2 Tribe.
19:06: Daniel Dixon gets the first basket — three points. 3-0 Tribe.
20:00: Early nerves. Two tipoffs before the Tribe gets the ball. 0-0
Pregame: Tribe vs. Elon
11:57 a.m.: More Tribe fans here than for any other team or game so far.
11:53 a.m.: The prevailing word today is confidence. Coach Shaver and radio commentator Charlie Woollum are emphasizing the importance that the Tribe plays with a confidence that matches their talent.
11:19 a.m.: Welcome to Royal Farms Arena. “Best Day of My Life” by American Authors blasting over the sound system as the Tribe takes warmups.
11 a.m.: Coach Tony Shaver and Voice of the Tribe Jay Colley sit down in the second row of the stands for the pregame radio interview. Takeaways: The hardest game in any tournament is the first game, because you tend to look ahead rather than focus on everything you need to do to win now. The coaches walked the team through various formations in a ballroom back in the hotel room; tape on the floor representing the foul line. Most important message from Tony Shaver: Enjoy the moment.
Last Night’s Play-in Game: Elon Defeats Towson
The Tribe will face Elon University at noon Saturday after they emerged the winner over Towson University with a final score of 74-69 in overtime.
In a physical game Friday night, the Elon Phoenix depended on CAA Rookie of the Year Elijah Bryant, who led all scorers with 21 points and played 42 minutes of the 45-minute game.
The Tribe players will assemble for their team meal at 8:30 a.m. Saturday before the noon start. Join us here at 11:45 a.m. Saturday for live, courtside updates all game long.
