W&M Falls at No. 21 N.C. State

The College dropped its second straight game against a top-25 program.

11/15/07 10:30PM

Raleigh, N.C. - The William and Mary men’s basketball team continued its tough early season schedule falling at No. 21/22 (AP/Coaches) N.C. State, 66-47, on Thursday night. After struggling from the field for most of the contest, the Tribe closed the Wolfpack advantage to five with under eight minutes remaining, before NCSU used a 10-point run to put the game out of reach.

Senior Laimis Kisielius led the Tribe attack with 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Sophomore guard David Schneider finished with nine points and a team-high six rebounds, while junior forward Chris Darnell equaled his career high with eight points to go along with five rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot.

The College stuck with the Wolfpack for the majority of the first half as the two teams traded buckets. The opening 11 minutes of the game featured seven ties, before the Tribe opened up its first lead of the opening half. Schneider and sophomore Danny Summer connected on back-to-back treys to keep the Tribe even, before Darnell knocked down a pair of free throws to give W&M a 21-20 advantage with 9:04 remaining.

N.C. State answered with a 15-3 run over the next five minutes to open up its first double-digit lead of the game. The Wolfpack scored six straight points to open the run, before capping the spurt with eight straight points. NCSU took a 13-point cushion to the locker room at 39-26.

The Wolfpack lead ballooned with 16 in the opening five minutes of the second half. State freshman J.J. Hickson, who led all scorers with 31 points, scored the opening eight tallies of the second-half to give the Wolfpack its largest lead to that point.

W&M would not go quietly though as it responded with a 13-2 run of its own to close the deficit to five with under eight minutes to play. Darnell and junior forward Peter Stein scored the opening eight points on the run with four apiece to close the Tribe to within 10. Senior guard Nathan Mann connected from downtown, before a Kisielius bucket in the paint cut the deficit to 49-44.

The Tribe comeback would not come to fruition though as N.C. State scored 10 straight points to put the game out of reach. Brandon Costner, who finished with a double-double on 13 points and 12 rebounds, drilled a three from the left corner and Courtney Fells hit a trey from the right wing to push the NCSU lead back to double digits.

The College will return to action when it plays its third straight game on the road at Wagner on Tuesday, Nov. 20. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. in Staten Island. Last season, the Tribe tallied a 77-53 win over the Seahawks in Williamsburg.

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