W&M Faces ODU in First TV Game of the Year

The Tribe will travel to Old Dominion on Saturday, Jan. 5, at 8 p.m.

01/04/08 4:00PM

Williamsburg - The William and Mary men’s basketball team will hit the road for its first television appearance of the season against the Old Dominion Monarchs on Saturday, Jan. 5. The contest is slated for an 8 p.m. tip-off at the Ted Constant Center in Norfolk, Va. It will be broadcast on Comcast SportsNet PLUS, which is channel 11 in the Williamsburg and Hampton Roads region.

The Tribe is coming off a 58-51 setback to Delaware on Jan. 2. Playing its third game in five days and despite a career night from junior Peter Stein, the Tribe could not overcome its cold shooting in the loss to the Blue Hens. Stein paced all scorers with 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting to go along with eight rebounds. Old Dominion snapped a three-game losing streak with a 75-54 home victory over Hofstra on Jan. 2.

The Tribe-Monarch contest can also be heard on the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley, Bill McDonald and Charlie Woollum on the call. It will also be broadcast live over the Web at TribeAthletics.com. GameTracker will be available for the contest as well by visiting ODUSports.com or TribeAthletics.com.

For complete W&M men's basketball notes, click HERE

For a complete list of Comcast SportsNet PLUS Channels in the Virginia/Maryland region, click HERE.

Story lines
- Senior guard Nathan Mann will be appearing in his 100th career game for the Tribe.

- Senior Laimis Kisielius is only three points shy of scoring 900th collegiate point.

W&M will look to snap an eight-game losing streak to Old Dominion.

Scouting Old Dominion
The Monarchs enter the game with the Tribe at 7-7 overall and 2-0 in the CAA after a 75-54 win over Hofstra on Jan. 2. The win over the Pride snapped a three-game losing streak for ODU as the Monarchs dropped road contest at Richmond, Winthrop and UAB. Old Dominion, who is led by eighth-year head coach Blaine Taylor, is 6-1 at home this season with his lone loss coming to then-No. 5 Georgetown.

In the victory over Hofstra, ODU led by only a point, 32-31, at the half, before shooting 66.7 percent from the floor in a dominating second-half performance to claim the 75-54 win. Gerald Lee led all scorers with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor to go along with nine rebounds. Brian Henderson and Brandon Johnson both finished in double figures at 15 and 11 points, respectively.

Lee tops the Monarchs in scoring at 12.2 points per game. He is the lone ODU player in double figures on the season, while also topping the team in rebounds at 6.2 per contest and field goal shooting at 55.7 percent. Henderson ranks second on the squad at 9.5 points per game, followed by Johnson at 8.9. Johnson also averages 5.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game. Johnson ranks third in the CAA in assists, while leading the conference in steals per game at 2.9 per game. As of Dec. 16, he ranked 13th nationally in steals. Three other Monarch players average over six points per game with Jonathan Adams averaging 6.9, Abdi Lidonde scoring 6.6 and Darius James adding 6.1 per contest.

Old Dominion Series History
Old Dominion leads the all-time series with W&M at 57-13, including a 28-3 ledger in Norfolk. The Tribe has lost eight straight in the series with ODU despite a pair of tough contests last season. The last W&M victory in the series came during the 2003-04 season when W&M downed ODU 86-77 in Williamsburg. The Tribe’s last triumph in Norfolk came during the 1997-98 campaign when the College downed the Monarchs, 68-58. Last season, ODU tallied a 59-44 win over the Tribe, despite a 13-point W&M halftime lead, in Norfolk. In the second meeting of 2007, the Tribe led for most of the game in Williamsburg, before the Monarchs rallied to claim a 62-57 win in the regular season finale.

Stein Coming on Strong
Junior forward Peter Stein has been one of the Tribe’s most consistent and solid performers this season. The Houston, Texas native has been one of the driving forces behind the W&M defense throughout his career, and in his third season with the Green and Gold, he is putting his offensive skills on display. Stein had his coming out party against Delaware, leading all scorers with a career-high 23 points. He showed the ability to not only score in the post, but knock down the 3-point shot as well as take the ball to the basket. Playing against Nebraska-transfer Jim Ledsome and preseason First-Team All-CAA choice Herb Courtney, Stein dominated on his way to 8-of-9 from the floor and 6-of-7 from the free throw line, while adding a career-high eight rebounds.

While the Delaware game was the best of Stein’s career, it is only part of what has been a growing trend of impressive play from the junior forward. Over the last seven games, Stein is averaging 10.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. The scoring average ranks second on the team over the stretch, while the rebounding total tops the squad. Stein has also had the hot hand shooting the basketball, knocking down 69.8 percent (30-of-43) of his shots over the seven games. Over the last three games, Stein is shooting a remarkable 86.7 percent from the floor and 80 percent from the free throw line.

Marked Improvement from the Charity Stripe
A number of Tribe players have increased their productively from the free throw line this season and are a shooting better percentages than they did in 2006-07 or over their careers. The largest improvement in free throw shooting from a season ago belongs to senior forward Chris Stratton, who has not missed an attempt from the charity stripe this season.

Sophomores David Schneider and Danny Sumner have also seen their free throw number improve from their rookie seasons. Schneider currently leads the CAA in free throw shooting at 86.3 percent, while Sumner improved his free throw shooting by nearly 50 percent from last season and his knocking down 71.4 percent of his chances in 2007-08. Juniors Chris Darnell and Peter Stein have also better their free throw shooting numbers from last season and their careers. Here is a look at the Tribe’s improvement at the free throw line this season:

Free Throw Percentage Improvement
Player - 07-08 FT% - 06-07 FT% - Improvement - Career FT%^ - Improvement
Chris Stratton - 1.000 (12-of-12) - .333 (1-of-3) - +.667 - .571 - +.429
Danny Sumner - .714 (15-of-21) - .235 (4-of-17) - +.479 - .235 - +.479
Chris Darnell - .833 (10-of-12) - .444 (8-of-18) - +.389 - .500 - +.333
David Schneider - .863 (44-of-51) - .671 (49-of-73) - +.192 - .671 - +.192
Peter Stein - .652 (15-of-23) - .578 (26-of-45) - +.074 - .584 - +.068
^ prior to the 2007-08 season

Balanced Attack
The Tribe has used a balanced attack through the early portion of the 2007-08 season. The College has six players averaging over seven points per game and another six averaging at least three rebounds per contest. The balance is no more evident than in Tribe victories as the College has five players averaging nearly 10 points per game in W&M wins. The Tribe has also made a habit of sharing the basketball, leading to even more balance and unselfish play. W&M ranks four in the CAA in assists per game at 13.9.

In the Green and Gold’s most recent win over Fairfield, the Tribe turned in perhaps its most impressive team-orientated display in the first half. W&M scored eight offensive buckets from eight different players and led by six, 31-25, at the break. The College also had seven assists on those eight baskets and nine different Tribe players finished the opening half in the scoring column.