William and Mary Men's Basketball Defeats Old Dominion, 69-53

Tribe Runs Out to Double-Digit Lead at the Half to Hold Off Monarchs

02/05/03

WILLIAMSBURG, VA - Behind an outstanding offensive performance and a stifling defensive showing, William and Mary topped Old Dominion, 69-53, in Colonial Athletic Association men’s basketball action before a boisterous crowd of 2,575 at William and Mary Hall.

“The kids played fantastic basketball tonight,” W&M head coach Rick Boyages said. “They had a fire and an intensity that I haven’t seen in my three years here.”

Junior forward Adam Hess (Grosse Pointe, MI) led the way for the Tribe, dropping in 23 points in the winning cause. W&M jumped out to a 38-19 advantage at the half, with freshman forward Jack Jenkins (Boston, MA) playing a big part. Jenkins had 17 points (7-of-7 from the field) in just 12 minutes of action, all coming in the opening stanza.

“Jack gave us a big lift in the first half,” Boyages said.

The Tribe (9-10, 4-6 CAA) shot a scintillating 54.9 percent from the field in the game. W&M made 42.9 percent of its three-point attempts and 70.0 percent of its free throws. By comparison, the College’s defenders shut down ODU’s attack, as the Monarchs (9-10, 6-5 CAA) made just 33.3 percent of their shots, including six-of-28 (.214) in the first half. For the game, ODU shot just 21.4 percent from the three-point line.

“We were very efficient and unselfish out there,” Boyages said. “Our zone defense had an intensity to it, and that showed.”

A basket by ODU’s Rasheed Wright gave the Monarchs a 6-5 advantage at the 16:21 mark, but it turned out to be their only lead of the day. W&M subsequently went on a 7-0 run and never looked back.

In addition to the 7-0 run, W&M had a run of 14-3 in the opening half, with that streak ending on a breakaway dunk by senior Sherman Rivers (Woodbridge, VA) and a jumper by junior Zeb Cope (Columbia, SC) that closed out the scoring in the first half.

At the break, W&M had made 11 more field goals than ODU, while outrebounding the Monarchs by a margin of 25-14.

“We really were dominant on the glass in the first half,” Boyages said.

The Tribe opened the second half with a pair of baskets by Hess and a layup by Taylor Mokris (Charlotte, NC) to give W&M its biggest lead, 44-22, with senior center Adam Duggins (Greensboro, NC) assisting on two of the scores. Duggins then had a block on ODU’s Ricardo Marsh that sparked the Tribe, as the College never led by less than 13 points for the remainder of the contest.

Duggins had a solid contest, leading the team with seven rebounds and tied for the team-high with five assists. Rivers contributed eight points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Hess and Mokris each contributed six rebounds to the W&M cause, while Brett Howell (Auburn, AL) came off the bench to score five points, while adding five assists and four rebounds. Marsh led the Monarchs with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Wright scored 10 points and had five rebounds.

W&M outrebounded ODU, 39-28. As a team, the Tribe recorded 18 assists on its 28 field goals.

W&M returns to action this Saturday, as the Tribe will travel to Hofstra to take on the Pride, with tip-off scheduled for 1:00 PM.