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Tribe Defense Stifles Georgia State, 57-43
W&M used an early second half run to break the game open.
01/08/07 10:00PM
Atlanta - The William and Mary men’s basketball team turned in a stout defensive effort to tally its seventh-straight victory, 57-43, at Georgia State on Jan. 8. The College allowed a season-low point total to the Panthers and the lowest for W&M since the 2000-01 season. The Tribe notched only the eighth, seven-game winning streak since the 1950-51 season with the victory as the College improved to 10-4 overall and 3-1 in the CAA. It marked only the fourth time in the school’s 22 years in the CAA it has started the conference ledger 3-1 or better.
W&M used an early run in the second-half to put the game out of reach, but the real story was the Tribe defense. The College limited Georgia State to 24.1 percent (7-of-29) shooting in the first half and only 32.7 percent (16-of-49) for the game. W&M continued to play stellar defense on the 3-point shot, limiting GSU to only 26.7 percent from downtown. W&M also held GSU’s top-two players a combine 12 points below their season averages.
Junior forward Laimis Kisielius led a balanced W&M attack with 12 points, including a 3-of-4 effort from 3-point range. Kisielius was the only Tribe player in double figures, but the College had eight different players with five or more points. Senior Adam Payton, junior Nathan Mann, freshman David Schneider and sophomore Alex Smith each had seven points in the win. Sophomore forward Peter Stein led the Tribe with seven rebounds and four assists. Schneider and Mann each added four assists in the win as well.
The Tribe broke the game open in the early stages of the second half. W&M scored 18 of the half’s first 22 points, pushing its advantage to 40-22, following Alex Smith’s first career 3-pointer from the top of the key with 13:56 remaining. The College score five quick points out of the locker room as Payton scored on an offensive putback and Schneider connected on a 3-pointer from the left wing prompting a Georgia State timeout.
The spurt was only the beginning of things to come. Kisielius pushed the lead to double-digits with a 3-pointer from the top of the key, giving W&M a 30-18 cushion. Payton added a conventional 3-point play on a driving hoop, before Stein connected on a jumper. Smith added five straight points, capped by his first career 3-pointer.
W&M extended its lead to the largest at 19. Junior guard Nathan Mann hit a jumper from just inside the 3-point arc, giving W&M a 44-25 cushion with 12:38 remaining. Georgia State closed the gap to 14 with a pair of threes from Ryan McBride and Trae Goldston, but it was Mann who answered for the Tribe. The Overland Park, Kan., native connected on a deep 3-pointer from the right wing to push the College’s advantage back to 17, 48-31, with 9:04 remaining.
The Panthers again tried to fight their way back into the contest scoring five straight points to close to within 12 at 48-36. It would be as close as the Tribe scored nine of the game’s next 11 points. Junior guard Kyle Carrabine scored five straight points on a backdoor cut off a dish from Stein, before hitting on a deep 3-pointer from the right side as the shot clock was expiring to pushed the cushion back to 53-36.
The lead once again reached 19, 57-38, following a leaning jumper in the paint from Mann. The Panthers provided the final margin, 57-43, scoring the game’s final five points. The Tribe shot a sizzling 58.3 percent from the field and 62.5 percent from 3-point range in the second half.
After Ryan McBride connected on a 3-pointer to open the game for Georgia State, W&M went on a 14-2 run over the next six minutes to take the lead. The College scored 10 straight points, including eight from Kisielius. The Vilnius, Lithuania native drilled a pair of 3-point field goals during the spurt. Sophomore forward Chris Darnell capped the run with a bucket driving the left baseline as the shot clock was close to expiring.
The Panthers scored five straight points capped by a trey from the left wing by Leonard Mendez, cutting the Tribe cushion to 14-10. W&M built it lead back up to 21-14, following a baseline drive and two-hand slam from freshman Danny Sumner with 3:38 remaining in the opening half. Georgia State scored four of the first half’s final five points to draw within four, 22-18, at the break.
The Tribe will return home for its fourth CAA game in eight days as it hosts VCU on Wednesday, Jan. 10. Tip is slated for 7 p.m. at Kaplan Arena. The contest can be heard live over the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley, Charlie Woollum and Bill McDonald on the call. W&M basketball can also be heard over the Internet at TribeAthletics.com.
Box Score (HTML)
Final Book (PDF)
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