Hot Shooting, Balanced Attack Pushes Tribe to Exhibition Win

Laimis Kisielius and Alex Smith finished with 15 points each in the victory.

11/06/07 10:00PM

Williamsburg - The William and Mary men’s basketball team used a balanced attack and some hot shooting from the field to breeze past St. Andrews Presbyterian College, 85-51, in its exhibition opener at Kaplan Arena on Tuesday night. Five different Tribe players scored in double figures, while the College connected on 58.2 percent from the floor and 50 percent from 3-point range in the victory.

Senior co-captain Laimis Kisielius and junior forward Alex Smith led the way for the Tribe with 15 points apiece, while sophomore guard David Schneider added 14. Smith was 6-of-7 from the field on the evening and led W&M with six rebounds. Schneider tallied team-high honors with three 3-point field goals, eight assists and five steals. Kisielius also turned in a solid floor game dishing out five assists and tallying a pair of steals.

Both teams started hot from the long range as the Tribe connected on three of its first five 3-point field goals on the night, opening up a 13-8 advantage five minutes into the contest following a Schneider trifecta from the let wing. SAPC answered the Tribe’s long-range gunning with some of its own. The Knights knocked down five of its opening seven attempts from deep. Bradley Hippolyte found Colby Poe for a trey to give St. Andrews at 21-20 cushion midway through the opening 20 minutes of play.

After the two teams traded buckets with senior guard Nathan Mann canning a trey for W&M and Greg Evans scoring on a lay up to tie the game at 23, the College used a 23-6 run over the final 8:45 of the first half to take a double-digit advantage into the locker room. The College scored seven-straight points to extend its lead to 30-23 following a Kisielius lay-up off a dish from senior guard Kyle Carrabine. Poe hit his second three of the opening half to pull SAPC back within four at the 5:45 mark.

W&M then used a quick 10-point spurt to lift its cushion over the double-digit mark for the first time on the evening. Sophomore swingman Danny Sumner scored five straight points, before a Schneider fast-break bucket and Carrabine 3-pointer pushed the Tribe lead to 40-26 with 3:09 remaining.

SAPC answered with one of its seven first-half 3-pointers, but the College ended the half by scoring the final six points. W&M took a 46-29 lead into the intermission after shooting over 60 percent from both the field (60.7 percent at 17-of-28) and 3-point range (60 percent at 9-of-15) in the opening 20 minutes.

St. Andrews could get no closer than 14 the rest of the way, cutting it to that deficit just 2:30 into the second half. On the flip side, the College’s cushion reached as many as 37 in the second stanza. A Steven Hess offensive putback with 2:36 remaining saw the W&M lead balloon to 83-46.

W&M knocked down 11 3-point field goals on the evening and dished out 20 assists, while tallying 13 team steals. After SAPC shot 52.4 percent from the floor in the first half, W&M stepped up the defensive pressure holding the Knights to just 36 percent in the second half.

Sumner finished with 13 points in the victory for the College, connecting on a pair of threes and pulling down four rebounds. Carrabine was perfect on a the night hitting all four of his attempts from the floor, both his 3-point field goals and two free throws to finished with 12 points and four rebounds.

The College will open the 2007-08 regular season at No. 5/5 (AP/ESPN USAToday) Georgetown on Saturday, Nov. 10. Tip-off is slated for noon at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. It will be the start of a difficult early portion of the schedule for the College. W&M will be on the road for six of its opening seven games and will travel to its second straight top-25 foe in No. 21/24 N.C. State on Thursday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m. W&M opens the home portion of its slate on Sunday, Nov. 25, when it hosts Houston Baptist at 2 p.m.

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