BOONE, N.C. —William & Mary dropped another heart-breaker at the buzzer, this time at Appalachian State, 79-76, on Sunday afternoon.
Trailing by as much as 19 points in the second half, W&M (3-5) rallied all the way back to tie it at 76 with 19.5 seconds remaining on a Noah Collier 3-point play. Dior Conners hit a game-winning, left-wing 3-pointer with 0.2 seconds left to give the Mountaineers the victory. It marked the second time in the last nine days that W&M lost on a buzzer-beater with the first coming in the Rock Hill Classic on Nov. 15 against Winthrop.
Collier led the Tribe with 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting to go with eight rebounds. Graduate student Malachi Ndur added 13 points, including a perfect 6-of-6 at the free throw line, while junior Kyle Pulliam had 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting off the bench.
Connors finished with 15 points on 5-of-8 from 3 for App State (3-2). Myles Tate turned in a double-double, scoring 15 of his 20 points in the second half and tallying 10 assists, including one on the game-winner.
App State led by 12 points, 42-30, at the half, thanks to 10-of-18 from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes. Out of the break, the Mountaineers continued their torrid shooting, hitting four of their first five shots to extend the margin to its largest at 53-34 on a Jalil Beaubrun 3-pointer less than 2:30 into the final half.
Trailing 58-41 with 12:35 left, W&M used an 8-0 sparked by Collier to close within single digits. The senior forward accounted for the final six points of the run as he scored in the post, before his offensive rebound led to an Isaiah Mbeng lay-up. Collier then found Boothby for a cutting lay-up with 10:32 remaining to cut the deficit to 58-49.
A Collier layup followed by a Gabe Dorsey 3-pointer sliced the margin to 64-59 with 5:34 left. Over the final 5:34, W&M hit seven of its last nine shots, while the Mountaineers hit six of their final seven.
After a pair of missed free throws by Beaubrun, Pulliam scored on a drive to the bucket to close W&M within two, 71-69, with just over two minutes remaining.
Tate, as he did for most of the day, had the answer for App State. He converted a 3-point play after the Tribe drew within a bucket. Tate then hit a step-back jumper with 35.7 seconds left to extend the home team’s lead to 76-73 after a Boothby lay-up closed the gap to one.
Following an App State turnover, Collier scored on a spin move in the post, drew the foul, and converted the free throw tie the game for the first time in the second half at 76 with 19.5 seconds remaining. It set the stage for Conners’ game-winning trey.
W&M shot 52.9% (18-of-34) in the second half to finish the day at 46% (29-of-63) overall. The Tribe was 9-of-31 from 3-point range and 9-of-10 at the free throw line. The Tribe dished out 17 assists compared to just nine turnovers.
On the other side, App State finished the game at 46.4% (26-of-56), but did the majority of its damage from deep at 15-of-29 (51.7%). The Mountaineers held a slim 37-34 advantage on the glass, but were just 12-of-24 (50%) at the free throw line. CJ Huntley added 14 points for the home team, while Jamil Muttilib had 12 on four 3-pointers.
The Tribe jumped out to the early 8-2 lead behind a 6-0 run. Collier had a dunk during the run, while Pulliam scored on a floater in the lane.
As it did for much of the first half, the Mountaineers used the 3-point shot to its advantage, hitting three-straight to move in front. Muttilib hit back-to-back 3-pointers, before a Jas Clarke Jr. triple pushed the home team’s lead to 14-10 at the 13:36 mark.
W&M briefly pulled back even on a Collier putback with 8:56 remaining in the half, but App State used a 14-0 run highlighted by four 3-pointers to gain control. Conners hit back-to-back treys, before Muttilib’s third of the half pushed the margin to 34-20 at the 5:19 mark.
Lead reached 15 on a Huntley corner 3-pointer, but the Tribe made three shots in a row to draw within nine. Freshman Ryan Jackson Jr., scored five in a row, including a right-wing 3-pointer, before Ndur’s top of the key triple narrowed gap to 37-28 with 3:21 left.
For the Tribe, Dorsey tallied eight points on a pair of 3-pointers, while Boothby had seven points and four rebounds. Junior Kyle Frazier knocked down a pair of 3-pointers for six points to go with five rebounds, and Jackson, Jr. had five points off the bench.
Up Next
The Tribe will have a week off before wrapping up its road trip at Old Dominion on Monday, Dec. 2. Tip-off is set for 7 pm., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+. Fans can follow the action over the Tribe Sports Network with Jay Colley on the call. Locally in Williamsburg, fans can listen in on The Tide 92.3 FM.
