W&M Men's Basketball Defeats James Madison, 75-72

Hess Scores 29 Points, Howell’s Two Free Throws With 10 Seconds Left Seals Win

03/01/03

WILLIAMSBURG, VA - William and Mary freshman guard Brett Howell (Auburn, AL) sank two free throws with 10 seconds left, and James Madison missed two potential game-tying three-point baskets in the waning seconds of the contest, as the Tribe held on to defeat the Dukes in a thrilling, 75-72, men’s basketball game this evening at William and Mary Hall.

The victory improves the Tribe’s record to 12-14 overall and 7-10 in the Colonial Athletic Association, while the Dukes fall to 12-16 (8-10 CAA).

Tribe junior forward Adam Hess (Grosse Point, MI) led all scorers with 29 points on 9-15 shooting from the floor, including 8-9 from the free throw line. Senior guard Sherman Rivers (Woodbridge, VA) also scored in double-figures for W&M, tying a season-high with 18 points. The Dukes were led by senior guard David Fanning’s 24 points, while Ian Caskill added 14 and Chris Williams tallied 11.

W&M took control of the game early, quickly racing out to a 13-5 lead, which was engineered by two Jack Jenkins (Boston, MA) three-pointers, a trifecta from Rivers, and capped off by another Rivers basket. JMU would close the lead to five, at 15-10, but Hess moved it back to eight at the 13:51 mark after burying a three.

After another Dukes run cut the Tribe’s lead to three at 25-22 on a layup by Caskill with 10:03 left, the College went on a 9-2 run, ending with two free throws and a jumper by Hess, that stretched the lead to 10 points at 34-24 with 8:00 left. With W&M leading by 10 at 37-27, JMU ended the half on a 16-9 run to pull within three with 1:03 left. Neither team scored for the rest of the period, and the Tribe went into half with a 46-43 advantage.

JMU opened the half with seven straight points on a three by Dwayne Broyles, a layup by Fanning and a jumper by Daniel Freeman to take a four-point, 50-46, less than two minutes into the period. W&M quickly responded as senior center Adam Duggins (Greensboro, NC) converted a three-point play, making a free throw after he was fouled on a made layup, followed by baskets from Hess and Rivers to put the Tribe back up, 53-52.

The Tribe built its lead up to five at 63-58 before the Dukes went on a 12-1 run to build its biggest lead of the game, six points, at 70-64 with 7:56 left in the game. The Tribe fought back, as Hess scored on a pair of free throws and his ensuing jumper closed the lead to four. Caskill scored on a jumper, but Duggins followed with a bank shot from the left corner to pull the Tribe within two at 72-70.

Both teams were held scoreless over the next 3:41, when Rivers cut the lead to one when he converted one of two free throw attempts. After the miss, Duggins kept the ball in the Tribe’s hands with an offensive rebound. Duggins got the ball back at the top of the key, and fed a streaking Hess on a backdoor cut, who beat his defender and converted a rim-rocking two-handed slam dunk to give the Tribe a 72-73 lead with 42 seconds remaining.

The Dukes had a chance with 26 seconds left, as Williams had an open look, but his shot was swatted away by Duggins out of bounds. Regaining possession, the Dukes made a costly turnover when Freeman threw the ball out of bounds un-der the basket with 12 seconds left.
On the inbounds pass, Freeman fouled Howell, who calmly went to the line and drilled two of his seven points to stretch the lead to 75-73. Fanning attempted a pair of three-pointers on JMU’s last possession, but both were off the mark, as time expired with W&M on top, 75-72.

“This is great for our psyche—we needed the win,” commented Tribe head coach Rick Boyages. “Now we can go into the UNCW game [on Monday] with some confidence. The biggest play of the game came from Adam Duggins, who grabbed the offensive rebound off of the missed free throw and then that play we ran for Hess is what won the game.”

W&M shot 54.5 percent (24-44) from the field and outrebounded the Dukes, 29-24. The Tribe defense held JMU scoreless for the final five minutes and 49 seconds of the game.

The Tribe is back in action Monday night when it travels UNC Wilmington for the final game of the regular season at 7:00 PM.