W&M Falls at VCU

Junior forward Laimis Kisielius led the Tribe with 22 points.

01/29/07 11:15PM

Richmond, Va. - The William and Mary men’s basketball team fell at CAA first-place VCU, 90-68, on Jan. 29. The College could not overcome the hot shooting of the Rams, who connected on 55.7 percent from the floor and 50 percent from 3-point range in the win. W&M fell to 11-10 on the year and 4-7 in the CAA, while VCU upped its record to 19-3 overall and 11-0 in league play.

Junior Laimis Kisielius led the way for the Tribe with his third 20-point performance of the season. The Vilnius, Lithuania native scored 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the floor. Senior guard Adam Payton had 12 points on the night, while freshman Danny Sumner chipped in seven points on 3-of-4 shooting from the floor. He also added a career-high two steals.

W&M jumped out to 5-0 lead two minutes into the contest thanks to a David Schneider trey from the right wing and a driving jumper in the lane from Kisielius. VCU answered right back to take with a pair of treys to take a lead they would not relinquish. Leading 15-13, the Rams pushed its lead to double digits with a 10-0 run. B.A. Walker connected on a trey from the left wing in transition before Wil Fameni scored on a driving lay-up to make it, 25-13, midway through the opening half.

W&M scored four straight points to get it back into single digits. Sumner scored a driving bucket before sophomore Chris Darnell hit on a pair from the free throw line. VCU answered once again to push its lead back to double digits. The cushion reached as many as 13 at 36-23 following Walker’s third 3-point field goal of the half at the 5:18 mark.

The Tribe scored five straight points to cut the lead back to single digits. After Kisielius hit a pair of free throws, sophomore forward Peter Stein pulled down an offensive rebound and found a wide-open Nathan Mann. The Overland Park, Kan., native connected to cut the gap to 36-28. VCU’s Jamal Schuler answered with a 3-point play on the other end to push the lead back to double digits.

It appeared as though W&M would head to the locker room down nine following a Kisielius trey from the right wing with less than a minute to play in the first half. With the clock running down, Schuler sent the Rams into the half with the momentum, knocking down a long 3-pointer from the left side. The trey pushed the Ram lead to 47-35 at the break.

The Rams maintained their lead until, leading 52-39, they hit seven straight shots to push its lead over 20 for the first time at, 68-48 midway through the second stanza. W&M pulled within 77-58 on a 3-pointer from the top of the key from Stein, but the Rams once again had an answer. Walker nailed a pair of transition threes to push the VCU lead to 27.

W&M continued to fight and scored 10 of the game’s final 13 points to provide the final margin. Payton had a pair of 3-point plays during the stretch for the Tribe.

The Tribe will return home for a pair of games to close out the week. W&M will meet James Madison on Wednesday, Jan. 31, at 7 p.m. in the friendly confines of Kaplan Arena. The College will welcome UNC Wilmington to Williamsburg on Saturday, Feb. 3, for a 7 p.m. tip. The UNCW-W&M will be televised regionally in the Hampton Roads area on WSKY Channel 4. Tribe basketball can be heard live over the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley, Bill McDonald and Charlie Woollum on the call. Fans can also listen to W&M hoops live over the Internet at TribeAthletics.com.

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Final Book (PDF)