WILLIAMSBURG — William & Mary shot nearly 60% in the opening 20 minutes and used a 19-2 run in seizing control in rolling to a 90-56 victory over Randolph College on Wednesday afternoon at Kaplan Arena.
The trio of graduate student Anders Nelson, junior Ben Wight and freshman Chase Lowe led the way for W&M (5-8) with 13 points apiece in the victory. Junior Noah Collier posted his second-straight double-double and fourth on the year with 12 points and 14 rebounds.
After Randolph (3-9) made its first three shots, the Tribe used a 9-0 run highlighted by its defense. During the stretch, W&M held the Wildcats to 0-of-7 from the floor in taking a 14-7 lead on a Chase Lowe lay-up just over six minutes into the contest.
The Tribe lead reached double-digits for the first time on a Matteus Case baseline jumper at the 9:12 mark to jump-start a 19-2 Tribe run. Nelson canned a pair of 3-pointers during the stretch, while Jack Karasinski’s transition triple capped the run and forced a Randolph timeout with 3:21 left in the opening half. W&M led 46-21 at that point and carried the 25-point margin to the break, 52-27, behind 59.4% (19-of-32) shooting.
The visitor used a 12-1 run to close the gap to 14, 55-41, on a Myron Williams 3-pointer five minutes into the second half.
The Tribe responded with six in a row as part of an 11-2 run to re-establish a 20-point lead for the remainder of the contest. Collier and Wight combined for nine of the Tribe’s 11 during the run.
The Green and Gold advantage reached its largest at the final margin of 34 on a Charlie Williams jumper with 1:11 remaining.
The Tribe finished the game shooting 43.5% (30-of-69), while pulling down 21 offensive rebounds. W&M outscored the Wildcats, 23-2, in second chance points, 44-20 in the paint and 20-5 on the break. Defensively, W&M held Randolph to 38.2% (21-of-55) shooting and had a 47-32 advantage on the glass.
Lowe added seven rebounds to his career-high 13 points, while Wight pulled down six rebounds and Nelson led the Tribe with four assists.
Up Next
The Tribe opens the Colonial Athletic Association play when it travels to Drexel for a New Year’s Eve matinee. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. from Philadelphia, Pa., and the game will be broadcast on FloHoops.
