Tribe Rallies for Seventh Straight Victory over James Madison

Senior Nathan Mann led the Tribe charge with a game-high 18 points.

01/09/08 11:15PM

Williamsburg - Playing without its second-leading scorer in senior captain Laimis Kisielius, the William and Mary men’s basketball team battled back from a double-digit second-half deficit on its way to a 69-66 victory over instate rival James Madison. W&M trailed by 11 points with nine minutes remaining, but turned in a stout defensive effort in rallying for the victory. The Tribe improved to 6-8 overall and 2-2 in the CAA with its second straight victory, while the Dukes fell to 9-5 on the year and 2-2 in league play.

Senior guard Nathan Mann led the way for the College once again torching James Madison for a game-high 18 points in the victory. The 6-2 guard, who averaged 17.5 points per game in a pair of wins over JMU last season, finished 3-of-4 from 3-point range and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Sophomore Danny Sumner continued his impressive campaign with 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting to go along with five rebounds, while fellow classmate David Schneider tallied 16 points.

James Madison led at the half, 30-27, and after the Tribe pulled even at 42 with 14:06 remaining in the second half, the Dukes went on a 12-1 run to open its largest lead of the contest at 54-43. St. Joseph’s transfer Abdulai Jalloh connected on his only 3-pointer of the contest to give the Dukes the 11-point advantage with 8:55 remaining.

The Tribe did not fold using a run of its own to close to within a single point. W&M used an 11-1 run to close the gap to 55-54 with 4:57 remaining. After a Dazzmond Thorton free throw at the 8:13 mark gave JMU a 10-point cushion, 55-45, the Tribe scored nine straight points. Sumner scored five points on the run, including three from the charity stripe, while sophomore Steven Hess and junior Peter Stein added buckets in the paint.

It appeared as though James Madison had absorbed the Tribe spurt after scoring back-to-back buckets, including a Jalloh’s driving lay-up that pushed the lead to 59-54 with 3:14 remaining. On the play, Jalloh was fouled by Schneider, setting up a potential 3-point play. Perhaps the turning point in the contest occurred in the ensuing seconds, as the ball came out of the bottom of the basket, Jalloh punched it into the open end of William and Mary Hall and was whistled for a technical foul. The foul was his fifth, resulting in his exclusion from the contest. Following the under four-minute timeout, Schneider made both technical foul free throws, while Stephen Kendall’s missed the opportunity at the 3-point play for JMU and Hess skied for the defense rebound.

Following a Tribe timeout, junior Chris Darnell fed Mann on the right wing for his third trey of the game, knotting the game at 59 a piece with 2:47 left. The trifecta tied Mann for second with Randy Bracey on the W&M career 3-pointers made list with 171. Darnell came up big over the next minute, connecting on four straight free throws and pulling down a huge offensive rebound for the Tribe.

W&M took its first lead of the second half, 61-60, at the 2:08 mark after Darnell sank his first two free throws. A made free throw by Juwann James on the opposite side of the court tied the game again at 61 with 1:51 on the clock. Another Hess defensive rebound gave the ball back to the Tribe, but Schneider’s 3-point attempt of the right side caromed off the rim, only to be nabbed for a key offensive rebound by Darnell, who was fouled on the play. Like he had less than a minute prior, the Stafford, Va., native canned two more freebies to give the Tribe a lead it would not relinquish at 63-61.

After a Hess steal, JMU freshman guard Heiden Ratner fouled Mann to stop the clock with 38 seconds remaining. Mann extended the Tribe’s lead to four, 65-61, as he sank both shots from the charity stripe, but the Dukes pulled within a point following a conventional 3-point play from Pierre Curtis. On the other end, Mann drilled two from the foul line to keep the W&M lead at three, 69-66, with 11.1 seconds remaining.

Despite having possession following a timeout, James Madison could not get a potential game-tying attempt off. W&M’s tight defensive pressure held the Dukes at bay. Mann knocked the ball away from Ratner with one second remaining as the JMU rookie attempted to get off the final shot of the ball game.

The Tribe shot a season-high 55 percent from the field as it won its seventh straight against the Dukes. W&M was also clutch from the free throw line down the stretch, hitting on 12 of its final 13 free throws to secure the victory. More impressive the Tribe’s shooting performance was the job it did defensively. The College held the CAA’s leading offensive team 13 points below its season scoring average. The Dukes were limited to 43.9 percent shooting from the floor and a dismal 16.7 percent from 3-point range.

W&M and James Madison played a tight first half, with five lead changes and six ties. The Tribe was without the services of Stein for much of the first half due to foul trouble. The Dukes opened up their largest lead of the half with two free throws from senior Gabriel Chami with 43 seconds left on the clock to push the cushion to 30-24. But just 17 seconds later, Schneider hit the Tribe’s only 3-pointer of the half to cut the deficit in half and take the Tribe into the locker room down 30-27.

Hess, Darnell and Stein each finished with six points in the victory. The six tallies were a career-best for Hess, who played a career-high 21 minutes as well, while pulling down three rebounds. Stein led the Tribe charge on the glass with six rebounds, and Darnell topped the team in assists with three.

W&M will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 12, as it travels to Atlanta to take on the Georgia State Panthers. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast over the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley on the call. It can also be heard live over the Internet at TribeAthletics.com.

Box Score