Second-Half Rally Falls Short at Hampton

Sophomores David Schneider and Danny Sumner led W&M with 14 points apiece.

12/29/07 10:45PM

Hampton, Va. - The William and Mary men’s basketball team’s late rally fell short on the road at Hampton Saturday night, 70-63. W&M battled out of a 20-point second-half deficit to close to within six late in the period, before dropping its sixth road contest of the season. W&M fell to 3-7 overall, while Hampton evened its record at 6-6.

The sophomore duo of Danny Sumner and David Schneider led the way for the Tribe with 14 points apiece, while senior Laimis Kisielius added 13 points off the bench. W&M owned the glass for the seventh straight game, outrebounding the Pirates, 45-41, including 24 caroms on the offensive end. Junior forward Chris Darnell led the way for the Tribe, equaling a career-high with nine boards, while Schneider added seven and Kisielius pulled down six.

Each team used a run in the early going of the contest as the momentum swung back-and-forth in the opening 20 minutes of play. W&M held Hampton off the board in the opening five minutes of the game, while jumping out to a 10-0 advantage following a pair of layups from junior Peter Stein and Sumner. Schneider and Sumner opened the game with back-to-back threes as W&M stormed out of the gate, hitting four of its opening eight attempts from the floor.

The Pirates got things going with 16 straight points to take the lead midway through the opening half. Rashad West, who led HU with a game-high 29 points, scored eight points on the run, while Michael Freeman added four. With Hampton leading 18-14, the Tribe used a 9-0 spurt to regain the advantage in the contest. Sophomore forward Steven Hess scored back-to-back possessions, before Kisielius added a driving layup to give W&M a 23-18 lead with three minutes remaining.

Hampton would take the momentum into the locker room, scoring eight of the final 10 points of the first half. West canned his third 3-pointer at the 1:44 mark, before Freeman scored the final three points of the half. The tallies sent the Pirates to the intermission with a 26-25 advantage.

The second half did not start well for the Tribe as Hampton outscored the Tribe 28-8 over the opening 12 minutes of the half. The HU lead reached its largest at 54-33 with 7:42 remaining. W&M would not go quietly though, closing to within single digits over the final minute of the contest. The Tribe narrowed the gap to 69-63 on a trey from senior Kyle Carrabine with 11 seconds remaining, but could get no closer despite the gritty second-half effort.

The Green and Gold finished the game shooting just 36.9 percent from the floor, while Hampton finished at 44.8 percent, including a 53.6 percent clip in the decisive second half. Schneider led the Tribe in assists as well with four helpers, while senior guard Nathan Mann had a career-high four steals.

The College will return to action on New Year’s Eve when it hosts Fairfield in the return game from last season’s BracketBuster. The contest is slated for 2 p.m. at Kaplan Arena on Monday, Dec. 31. W&M head coach Tony Shaver will take another crack at gaining his 400th career collegiate coaching victory. The game will be broadcast over the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley, Charlie Woollum and Bill McDonald on the call. The contest will be broadcast live over the Web at TribeAthletics.com with live stats to also be provided by the home of W&M sports.

Box Score