Tribe Locks Down Drexel in 60-47 Victory

W&M tallies 15th win of the season, holding Drexel to its lowest point total in over four years.

02/14/07 10:00PM

Williamsburg - William and Mary added a couple more milestones to its growing list of season accomplishments Wednesday night, recording its first conference win over Drexel with a 60-47 triumph at Kaplan Arena. Additionally, the Tribe reached the .500-mark (8-8) in CAA play in February for the time since the 1997-98 season, and the 2006-07 squad became just the fifth team in school history to record 15 Division I victories in a season.

W&M (15-11, 8-8 CAA) won its third straight and inched closer to securing its first winning season since the same 1997-98 season and only the third in the last 20 years. The Tribe was led by Laimis Kisielius’ (Vilnius, Lithuania) 17 points, while Adam Payton (Burlington, N.J.) and Nathan Mann (Overland Park, Kan.) also scored in double-figures with 13 and 12, respectively.

Drexel (19-7, 11-5), which had won the previous 10 meetings between the schools since joining the league in 2001, was led by Frank Elegar with 18 points.

In a game where W&M led by as many as 15 points in the second half, the closing minutes were tense and the outcome certainly wasn’t in hand until the Tribe’s late free-throw shooting delivered the victory.

After a sluggish first half for both teams, W&M built a 37-22 advantage on a Mann 3-pointer with 14:11 remaining in the game. The Tribe maintained a 15-point cushion with Kyle Carrabine’s (Naperville, Ill.) backdoor lay-in at the 13:24 mark, and Kisielius’ bucket with 11:47 to play made it 41-27.

Drexel would score the next six points and cut the deficit to seven, after Bashir Mason’s steal at half-court and resulting lay-in made it 41-34. But, as it would a number of times down the stretch, W&M answered, scoring six-straight of its own. David Schneider’s (Phoenix, Ariz.) jumper started the spurt, Alex Smith (Greenville, N.C.) added a free throw and another Mann 3-pointer pushed the lead back to 13, 47-34, with 6:07 on the clock.

Payton’s baseline drive and lay-in with 5:51 remaining preserved a 12-point cushion, but Drexel would hold the Tribe without a field goal the rest of the way. A 3-pointer by Scott Rodgers trimmed the lead to 48-39, but Payton responded with two from the line. After a steal and lay-up by Tramayne Hawthorned, the Dragons were within seven, 50-43, with 4:37 remaining.

Mann connected on 1-of-2 technical foul shots with 3:40 remaining to push the lead back to eight, but a relentless full-court press and consecutive buckets by Dominick Mejia and Elegar suddenly cut the Tribe’s advantage to just four, 51-47, with 2:23 on the clock.

W&M, however, would hold Drexel scoreless the rest of the way, and the College captured the victory by going 9-for-10 at the foul line over the final 1:11. Payton was 4-for-4, and Schneider went 3-for-4. Kisielius brought the home crowd to its feet and set the final margin with two more at the stripe with 23 seconds showing.

The Tribe’s effort was aided by an outstanding performance on the boards, as the Tribe limited Elegar and Crawford’s second chances inside down stretch, finishing with a 43-34 edge on the glass. Kisielius led the squad with eight rebounds, and Peter Stein (Houston, Texas) highlighted an all-around standout performance with seven caroms. Stein added a pair of steals, two blocked shots and scored four points.

Schneider finished with seven points and five rebounds, and Smith chipped in with five boards, a career-high tying three blocks, a steal and three points in 15 minutes.

Crawford finished in double-figures with 10, and Mason added eight points and three steals before fouling out for Drexel.

The opening three minutes of the contest were a good indication of what was in store during the first period, as both teams struggled shooting and holding onto the ball. Each team missed its first two attempts and committed a combined three turnovers, before Elegar’s turnaround jumper provided the first points of the contest at the 17:14 mark.

Behind two more Elegar field goals and a free throw by Chaz Crawford, Drexel built an 11-6 lead with 11:47 remaining in the first. But, after the free throw, W&M would hold the Dragons without a single point for exactly l0 minutes. During the stretch, Drexel went 0-for-10 from the field and turned the ball over three times against a solid defensive effort by the Tribe.

W&M wasn’t particularly effective at the other end, connecting on just six of its next 15 attempts from the floor, but the Tribe was able to take advantage of the Dragons’ drought by scoring 14 consecutive points. Mann and Kisielius each connected on 3-pointers during the stretch, and Payton capped the run with a runner at the 2:22 mark that gave the Tribe a 20-11 advantage.

Bashir Mason finally answered for Drexel on its next possession, and Crawford’s bucket with four seconds on the clock cut the Dragons’ deficit to five, 22-17, at the break.

For the game, the Tribe held Drexel to 33.3 percent (20-of-60) shooting from the floor, and only 1-of-11 from 3-point range. The 47 points were not only a season-low for the Dragons, but the lowest since the 2002-03 season when it scored only 37 against Saint Joseph’s. The College turned in a season-high performance with seven blocked shots against the CAA-leaders in blocked shots. It was the most swats for the Tribe since it had eight against Towson on Feb. 18, 2004.

The Tribe will return to action at Fairfield on Saturday, Feb. 17, as part of O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters. Game time is slated for 4 p.m., at the Bridgeport Arena at Harbor Yard. The contest can be heard over the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley, Bill McDonald and Charlie Woolum on the call. W&M fans can follow Tribe basketball over the Internet at TribeAthletics.com.

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