W&M Basketball Cruises Past JMU, 80-54

Corey Cofield Scores 24 to Lead Tribe to CAA Victory

02/16/05 10:22PM

WILLIAMSBURG, VA - Sophomore forward Corey Cofield (Newton, MA) led all scorers with 24 points and pulled down eight rebounds to lead William and Mary to an 80-54 victory over James Madison Wednesday night in Colonial Athletic Association men’s basketball action at William and Mary Hall.

With the win, the College snaps a six-game losing streak and improves to 6-18 overall and 2-13 in the CAA. JMU falls to 4-19 overall, 2-13 in league play.

Cofield scored 15 of his game-high 24 in the second half, as the Tribe shot 52.2% (12 for 23) from the field and an impressive 20-24 (.833) from the foul line in the final period, combined with a suffocating man-to-man defense that limited the Dukes to 34.8% (8 for 23) field goal shooting in the final 20 minutes.

W&M quickly extended a seven-point halftime lead to 15 in the first five minutes of the second half on a three-point play by Cofield that made it 49-34 with 15:04 remaining. After a pair of Cofield free throws, a jumper from sophomore center Brian Hutt (Denver, CO) and two more foul shots from freshman forward Laimis Kisielius (Vilnius, Lithuania) at the 13:07 mark, the lead quickly swelled to 21, 55-34, behind a 9-0 Tribe run.

Kisielius, the only other Tribe player in double-figures with 12, extended the lead to 23, 63-40, with four consecu-tive free throws, including two on a technical foul assessed on JMU head coach Dean Keener at the 8:42 mark.
JMU cut the lead to 18 behind two free throws from sophomore center Chris Cathlin and a three-pointer from sophomore guard Ray Barbosa, who paced the Dukes with 19 points, but a layin from junior forward Hawley Smith (Jacksonville, FL), two free throws from Cofield and a layup from senior Nick D’Antoni (Myrtle Beach, SC) pushed the lead to 24, 72-48, with 4:31 left on the clock, effectively putting it out of reach.

Cofield finished the night shooting 7 of 9 from the field and 10 of 11 from the charity stripe, as W&M shot 29-35 (.829) from the line in the game. Kisielius scored eight of his 12 points at the line on 8-11 shooting, and Smith (3-3), freshman guard Nathan Mann (Overland Park, KS) (3-3), senior guard Reid Markham (Louisville, KY) (2-2) and sophomore guard Adam Trumbower (Roanoke, VA) (2-2) were all perfect from the foul line.

Smith tied Cofield for team-high honors with eight rebounds and wound up with nine points, three steals and two assists, while Kisielius hauled in six boards for the Tribe, which held a 39-26 advantage on the glass, including a 15-8 margin on the offensive end.

Junior center Nate Loehrke (Kalamazoo, MI) played a key role in the second-half surge, coming off the bench to score six points and grab five rebounds. Ray Barbosa led JMU with 19 points, followed by David Cooper, Cavell Johnson and Jomo Belfor with seven points each.

W&M returns to action on Saturday night with a 7:00 PM CAA contest against league-leading Old Dominion. The game will mark the Tribe’s final home game of the season and the final game at William and Mary Hall for seniors D’Antoni and Markham.


Box Score

Post-Game Quotes from William and Mary Head Coach Tony Shaver
“To start the game, I didn’t see the same level of intensity, the same level of fire that we’ve had in the last two or three ball games. But the nice thing—and this was a big change for our basketball team—is that we found it during the ballgame and didn’t struggle all night long.”

“I thought defensively, we were pretty darn good most of the game and we out-rebounded them by 12. We’re really rebounding the ball like a winning basketball team right now, and that’s so important.”

“They’re unsung heroes, in my opinion, but guys like Adam Trumbower came in to give us a boost—dove on the floor for a loose ball. Those types of things are so big for our basketball team.”

“It felt nice to sit over there the last two or three minutes and not have the game in jeopardy, and it felt great to be able to put Chris Stratton and some of those guys in the ballgame. Maybe the most pleasing thing was how well they executed. I think the way we won was really important. We kind of struggled a little bit—we got a 20-point lead and then we wasted some posses-sions on sloppy play—but then we finished the game like champions. We’ve got to learn to finish the game like winners and not just be happy with where we are.”

“Our number one priority tonight was post defense. We did a much better job of that tonight than we have in recent games. I think all of those guys, Corey (Cofield), Hawley (Smith), were great defensively, and Nate (Loehrke) and Brian Hutt gave us great minutes off the bench too.”

“We’re getting better. I think in every phase of the game we’re getting better, and the most important thing is that our guys are learning to compete every day. As a coach, I want nothing more than for our guys to compete every time they walk on the floor.”