Tribe Falls to VMI

W&M shot a season-high 49 percent from the floor in the loss to the Keydets.

12/20/07 11:55PM

Williamsburg - The William and Mary men’s basketball team fell at home to Virginia Military Institute, 83-72, Thursday night in the two team’s first contest in 12 seasons. The College shot a season-high 49 percent from the floor, but could not overcome the pressure and high-scoring offense of the Keydets. W&M dropped to 2-6 on the year, while VMI won its third straight to improve to 6-5 on the season.

Sophomore guard David Schneider led the Tribe in scoring, tallying 16 points, including a trio of 3-point field goals. The Phoenix, Ariz., native added five rebounds, four assists and a steal in the Tribe’s first game since Dec. 7 and its first home game since Nov. 25. Junior Peter Stein added 10 points and senior Kyle Carrabine contributed nine points on a trio of 3-point field goals.

The College trailed 40-33 at the half, but opened up the second frame with a 10-3 run to tie the contest at 43 with 14:56 to play. VMI countered the Tribe’s rally with 13 unanswered points to build the Keydet lead to 61-50 with 7:55 remaining and never looked back, keeping the College at bay throughout the rest of the game. The Tribe could never get closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Set up by a nice pass from sophomore center Steven Hess, Carrabine’s second 3-pointer tied the game at 43, capping the College’s comeback against a VMI team that is leading the nation in scoring, averaging 98.6 points per game. Carrabine struck again two minutes later, hitting another long-range shot to give the Tribe a 48-46 advantage. Over the opening eight minutes of the second half, the College held the Keydets to just 2-of-13 shooting while hitting seven of their first nine shots.

Senior Reggie Williams and freshman Austin Kenon, who combined to score 53 of the Keydets’ 83 total points, orchestrated VMI’s offensive attack. Kenon hit seven 3-point field goals on the night, while Williams added a game-high nine rebounds.

Schneider opened the game hot from 3-point range, scoring the game’s first six points on consecutive treys. Schneider’s shooting helped the scoring get out to a torrid start, as the game was tied at 13-13 at the 16:04 mark. The Keydet used an eight-point spurt to push a 15-14 advantage to a nine-point cushion at the 12:13 mark.

The VMI lead reach double digits for the first time at the 7:36 mark on a trey from Williams, before ballooning to as many as 15 with just over five minutes remaining in the opening half. The Tribe answered with a 9-0 run to close to within six at 37-31 with two minutes to play. Carrabine connected from long range, before seniors Chris Stratton and Nathan Mann along with sophomore Danny Sumner added two-point buckets each. The Keydets would take a seven-point advantage, 40-33, to the locker room.

For the fifth straight game, the Tribe outrebounded its opponent, holding a 35-34 advantage on the boards. Mann led the way with six rebounds, while eight different W&M players pulled down at least three boards on the night. Junior forward Chris Darnell shared team-high honors with four, while adding two blocked shots and a pair of steals.

The Tribe will return to action when it hosts Montreat College, a NAIA school from Montreat, N.C., at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 22. The game can be heard live over the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley, Bill McDonald and Charlie Woollum on the call. The game will also be available live over the Internet at TribeAthletics.com. Live statistics for the contest will be provided by the William and Mary Athletics Web site as well.

Box Score