W&M Travels to Georgia State

The Tribe will battle the Panthers on Saturday, Jan. 12, at 2 p.m.

01/11/08 8:00AM

Williamsburg - The William and Mary men’s basketball team will look to continue its current two-game CAA winning streak when it travels to Georgia State on Saturday, Jan. 12. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. at the Georgia State Sports Arena in Atlanta. The two teams met on three occasions last season and will compete against one another for the first of two times this season.

The Tribe rallied from a double-digit second-half deficit in tallying a 69-66 home victory over James Madison on Jan. 9. W&M trailed by 11 points at the 8:55 mark, but used a 22-7 run to open up a four-point lead on its way to the victory. The College shot a sizzling 55 percent from the floor, while scoring 24 points over the final seven minutes of the game. Senior Nathan Mann led the Tribe charge with 18 points on 3-of-4 from 3-point range, while sophomores Danny Sumner and David Schneider tallied 17 and 16 points, respectively. Georgia State is coming off a tight 49-47 loss at VCU on Jan. 10. The Panthers were limited to 33.3 percent from the field and were led by Leonard Mendez 18 points.

The W&M-GSU contest can be heard on the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley on the call. It will also be broadcasted over the Internet at TribeAthletics.com. Live stats for the contest will also be available by visiting the schedule page at TribeAthletics.com or by checking GeorgiaStateSports.com.

For complete W&M men's basketball notes, click HERE.

Story lines
- Five of the Tribe’s last 10 CAA victories have come on the road, including a 1-1 CAA road ledger this season.

Sophomore Danny Sumner has scored in double digits in five of the last six game for W&M.

Scouting Georgia State
Georgia State enters the game with the Tribe at 4-10 overall and 1-3 in the CAA. The Panthers have dropped four of its last five, but despite its hardships, GSU has been in virtually everything game it has played this season. Nine of the Panthers’ 14 games have been decided by six points or less. Each of Georgia State’s last three games has gone down to a buzzer beating shot. The lone victory over the last five games was a 66-64 win over George Mason in Atlanta on a jumper by Leonard Mendez at the buzzer.

The Panthers are coming off a 49-47 loss at VCU on Jan. 10. GSU limited the Rams to only 34.9 percent shooting from the floor and had a chance to win at the buzzer, but Trae Goldston’s 3-point attempt came up short. The Panthers could only muster a 33.3 percent shooting percentage and an 18.8 percent clip from 3-point range. Mendez led GSU with 18 points, while Goldston added 11. Rashad Chase pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds in the loss.

Three of the Panthers’ four victories this season have come at home. GSU owns wins over Troy, Texas-San Antonio and George Mason at home along with a road victory at Jacksonville. The Panthers are under the direction of first-year head coach Rod Barnes, who was the Naismith National Coach of the Year at Mississippi in 2000-01.

Mendez ranks third in the CAA in scoring at 16.9 points per game. He is shooting 46.6 percent from the field and 37 percent from 3-point range. Chase ranks third in the CAA in rebounding at 9.1 per contest, while also averaging 9.2 points per game at the forward position. Goldston ranks second on the team in scoring at 9.9 points per game, while shooting 35.2 percent from 3-point range. Freshman D.J. Jones leads the Panthers’ in assists at 2.9 per contest.


Georgia State Series History
The Tribe leads the all-time series with Georgia State at 3-2. The Panthers and Tribe have met five times since GSU joined the CAA in 2005-06. W&M is 1-1 at GSU. The two teams met three times last season with the Tribe winning the two regular season affairs, before the Panthers claimed the CAA Tournament contest, 70-68. In the postseason affair, the Tribe overcame a nine-point deficit in the final 1:30 of the game to take a 68-67 lead following a driving 3-point play from Adam Payton with less than five seconds remaining. The comeback would go for not though as Leonard Mendez hit a 35-foot buzzer-beater to give GSU the victory. During the regular season, the Tribe tallied 57-43 win at Georgia State in January. Laimis Kisielius led the Tribe charge with 12 points as W&M held GSU to 32.7 percent shooting from the floor. In Williamsburg, the College torched GSU shooting 60.9 percent from the field on the way to an 81-65 win. Kisielius led W&M once again with 17 points, while Stein added 12.

Strength of Schedule
The Tribe is starting to gain steam in the 2007-08 season with two straight victories and to this point in the year, the College has played one of the toughest schedules in the nation. As of Jan. 10, the Tribe’s strength of schedule, according the Jeff Sagarin College Basketball Ratings, was ranked 70th nationally. It was ranked as the toughest ledger in the Colonial Athletic Association. It is one of only two in the league, along with Northeastern at No. 78, ranked among the top 100 in the country according to Sagarin. The Tribe’s schedule has been ranked among the top 100 in the country for a good portion of the season, and, prior to the Tribe’s 68-45 win at North Florida, the College’s strength of schedule ranked among the top 10 in the country.

Quiet Assassin
Despite his laidback and quiet demeanor both on and off the court, sophomore Danny Sumner continues to impress as an impact scorer for the Tribe in 2007-08. The Fairfax, Va., native tallied 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field in the College’s come-from-behind victory over James Madison on Jan. 9. It marked the fifth time in the last six games that Sumner has scored in double figures. Over that stretch, he is topping the Tribe in scoring at 12.5 points per game. W&M is also 4-2 over that stretch as well. In the last nine games for the Tribe, Sumner has eclipsed the double-digit mark on seven occasions. The Tribe is 5-3 this season when Sumner has scored in double figures. Along with his 12.5 point per game average over the last six games, the 6-7 wing is hitting on 50.9 percent (28-of-55) of his attempts from the field and pulling down four rebounds per contest. Sumner has shown the ability to contribute both as a starter and off the bench. In four starts this season, he is averaging 14.5 points per game, but has also led the W&M bench in scoring on six occasions, including a career-high 18 at Wagner on Nov. 20.

Sensational Sophomores
While the impact from the Tribe’s roster contains a balance of sophomores, juniors and seniors, the class of 2010 is beginning to put its mark on the Green and Gold program. The sophomore trio of David Schneider, Danny Sumner and Steven Hess currently lead the Tribe classes in scoring and rebounding, while shooting a combined 44.1 percent from the field. The class of 2010 has accounted for 37.3 percent of the Tribe’s offense, scoring 344 points on the year. The trio has also combined for 141 rebounds, which is 31.5 percent of the team’s rebounds. Schneider and Sumner both rank among the top three in scoring for the Tribe.

The sophomores’ impact has been felt even more over the last six games. Sumner (12.5) and Schneider (12.0) are the Tribe’s top two scorings over that stretch and have been fixtures in the starting lineup. Hess has been an impact player off the bench, averaging 13.5 minutes per game, while leading the Tribe reserves in scoring each of the last three games. Over the six-game stretch the trio is averaging 28.5 points and 12.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 45.7 percent from the field. In the Tribe’s impressive come-from-behind win over James Madison, Schneider, Sumner and Hess combined for 39 points and 11 rebounds.

Filling the Void
It would be hard to point a finger at one individual that helped the Tribe overcome the loss of senior captain Laimis Kisielius in the Tribe’s victory over James Madison. Playing without its second-leading scorer, W&M used an impressive team-effort to overcome an 11-point second-half deficit in claiming the victory.

Sophomore Danny Sumner stepped up his game in Kisielius’ absence, tallying the second-highest total of his W&M career with 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor in a career-high 35 minutes. The sensational sophomore also added five rebounds in the win. Ultimately it was junior Chris Darnell who stepped into the starting lineup for Kisielius and despite struggling a bit early in the contest, the Stafford, Va., native came up with some huge plays when it mattered most. With the game on the line, Darnell hit four straight free throws, including a pair that gave W&M the lead for good at 63-61. Those pair of free throws came after Darnell skied for an important offensive rebound. He also topped the team in assists with three.

Fellow captain and classmate Nathan Mann also did his best to fill in the scoring void left with Kisielius out. The Overland Park, Kan., native scored a season-high 18 points on 5-of-7 from the floor, including a 3-of-4 effort from 3-point range, and a career-best effort of 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Mann continued to make it a habit of torching the Dukes after he averaged 17.5 points per game against JMU in a pair of victories last season.

Comeback Kids
The Tribe overcame an 11-point deficit with 8:55 remaining in tallying a 69-66 win over James Madison on Jan. 9. It marked the fifth time under head coach Tony Shaver that the Tribe has overcome a double-digit deficit in recording a victory. Last season, W&M trailed Cornell by 13 with five minutes remaining before picking up an overtime victory. The Tribe also overcame double-digit deficits in wins over James Madison (2/11/06), Radford (11/10/04) and UNC Wilmington (12/4/03).

Following a JMU trey, the Tribe trailed 54-43 with 8:55 remaining in the game. The College went on an 11-1 run over the next four minutes to close the gap to 55-54 with 4:57 left. After the Dukes scored four straight points to extend its lead to five, the College used an 11-2 spurt, taking a lead it would never relinquish. W&M trailed by 10 with seven minutes remaining, but hit on five its final seven shots and 12-of-15 from the free throw line on the way to scoring 24 points over the stretch for the win. Sophomore Danny Sumner and senior Nathan Mann led the charge with seven points apiece on the final seven-minute run.