RICHMOND — William & Mary closed out the road portion of the non-conference slate, dropping a 90-70 contest at VCU on Sunday afternoon.
The Tribe led by as many as five points with under seven minutes remaining in the opening half. The Atlantic-10 favorite Rams (10-3) though closed the period by scoring eight of the final 10 points and took control early in the second half.
Senior Gabe Dorsey led the Tribe with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including a trio of 3-pointers, while classmate Noah Collier added 13 points and five rebounds. Junior Kyle Frazier rounded out the double-digit scores with 10 points.
Five-straight points from VCU’s Luke Bamgboye gave the home team a 19-11 lead midway through the first half, before the Tribe got hot. W&M (5-7) hit five of six shots during a stretch, including four 3-pointers, as part of a 14-2 run to take the lead.
The Tribe hit four-straight 3-pointers, including a 4-point play from Frazier, to end the spurt. Graduate student Malachi Ndur hit back-to-back triples to put W&M in front, 26-21, at the 6:42 mark.
Joe Basmisile scored 11 of VCU’s final 23 points of the first half to send the home side to the locker room with the lead. His back-to-back buckets just 15 seconds apart gave the Rams a 42-37 lead at the break.
Gabe Dorsey knocked down a 3-pointer just 37 seconds into the second half to draw the Tribe within two. VCU answered with a 17-3 run to extend the lead to 59-43. Basmisile and Zeb Jackson combined for the final 10-straight points, five each, to push the margin to 16, five minutes into the second.
Seven-straight VCU points, after another Gabe Dorsey triple cut the deficit to 61-48, pushed the lead to 20 for the first time. Jackson capped the run with a 3-pointer at the 11:29 mark to extend the Ram advantage to 68-48. The Tribe could get no closer than 15 the rest of the way.
VCU shot 52.8% (19-of-36) in the second half to finish at 47.3% (35-of-74) overall. The Rams outrebounded the Tribe, 38-36, but did most of its damage on the offensive glass. VCU collected 16 offensive rebounds and turned it into 26 second-chance points. The Rams also forced 19 turnovers and scored 21 points off Tribe miscues.
Bamisile led all scorers with 20 points on 9-of-15 from the floor to lead five Rams in double figures. Jackson added 14 points and Max Shulga posted 13 points and six assists. Jack Clark produced a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The Tribe finished the contest at 46.6% (27-of-58) from the field, including 10-of-24 (41.7%) from 3-point range. Junior Chase Lowe just missed a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds, while freshman Isaiah Mbeng turned in a seven-point, five-rebound, five-assist, and two-steal stat line.
Up Next
The Tribe returns home to wrap up the non-conference slate against Navy on Sunday, Dec. 29. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m., and the game will be televised on MASN with Jay Colley, Brandon Britt, and Bobby Dwyer on the call. The contest will also be broadcast on FloCollege, and fans can follow the action at the Tribe Sports Network.
