W&M Men’s Basketball Falls at UNCW, 63-56

Tribe Rookie Calvin Baker Leads all Scorers With 16 Points

01/07/06 7:50PM

WILMINGTON, NC - William and Mary’s freshman point guard Calvin Baker (Newport News, VA) led all scorers with 16 points, as the Tribe men’s basketball team lost at UNC Wilmington, 63-56, tonight at Trask Coliseum.

The loss lowers the Tribe’s record to 5-8 overall and 0-4 in Colonial Athletic Association play, while the Seahawks improve to 11-5 (4-1 CAA).

Baker scored seven of his 11 second-half points during an 11-0 W&M run that helped to bring the Green and Gold within three points, 57-54, with 1:36 remaining. Sophomore forward Laimis Kisielius (Vilnius, Lithuania) ended the run with four straight points to help cut UNCW’s lead to just one possession for the first time since the 7:11 mark of the first period. Although the Tribe defense did not allow the Seahawks to make a field goal for the last 6:38 of the game, UNCW was a 8-for-9 from the free throw line in that stretch, including a perfect 6-of-6 in the final 41 seconds, to secure the win.

A basket by senior center Brian Hutt (Denver, CO) gave the Tribe its only lead of the game, 11-9, with 9:34 left in the first half, but UNCW responded with 10 unanswered points, ending with a basket by John Goldsberry that put his team ahead, 19-11, with 6:12 on the clock. Kisielius hit a three-pointer to bring the Green and Gold within four, 21-17, before the Seahawks ended the period with a 9-3 run to pull ahead, 30-20, at the break.

A layup by Temi Soyebo put UNCW ahead by 13, 35-22, less than 90 seconds into the second half, and the Seahawks took a 14-point lead--its largest of the game--with their final field goal of the day, a three-pointer by Taylor Lay, with 6:38 remaining. Tribe junior forward Corey Cofield (Newton, MA) knocked down a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 12 points, but the Seahawks’ Todd Hendley responded with two foul shots of his own to put the lead back at 14, setting up the Tribe’s 11-0 run.

After Baker’s 16 points, Kisielius was second on the Tribe in scoring with nine to go with seven rebounds. Hendley led four UNCW players in double figures with 15 points, followed by Goldsberry with 14 and Lay and Soyebo with 10 each. Beckham Wyrick had a game-high 10 rebounds for the Seahawks.

Both teams shot 40% from the field in the game and had poor shooting nights from the three-point line, with the Tribe going 3-for-17 (.176) and the Seahawks making 4-of-22 (.182) from long range. UNCW out-rebounded W&M, 23-11, in the first half, including 10 offensive rebounds, but the Tribe ended up trailing the Seahawks by just two in that category for the game, after winning the board battle, 24-14, in the second.

W&M returns to action Thursday, Jan. 12 at 7:00 PM against George Mason at home in Kaplan Arena.

Post-Game Quotes from William and Mary Head Coach Tony Shaver
“We’ve got a young team that’s battling pretty hard. We’re getting better as a team.

“This is a tough place to play for several reasons. One, they’re very talented and very deep. They also play very good defense. All of their kids can handle the ball and shoot the ball. We’re more specialized and we’re working hard to recruit their type of player for the future.

“It’s frustrating to lose. I told our team that our time will come…and I don’t mean two years from now. We’re in a brutal stretch right now. We’ve had a chance to win several of our last few games. We almost did tonight, but not quite. Our time will come.

“We hoped we might sneak in here and find them tired. I thought in the first game [against UNCW this season] we gave our kids too much to look at. I told them two things today. I wanted us to be the most intense team on the floor and I wanted them to enjoy the environment. I didn’t really try to overburden them with the things that Wilmington did this time.

“We didn’t react to the pushing and shoving, and I mean that in a positive way. You can’t give up 10 offensive boards in the first half and be successful. That was a big difference in the ball game.”

Box Score