Tribe’s Miraculous Comeback Stymies Georgia State

W&M overcame a 16-point second-half deficit on the road in tallying its third straight CAA victory.

01/12/08 6:45PM

Atlanta, Ga. - For the second time in as many games, the William and Mary men’s basketball team overcame a double-digit second-half deficit to pick up a CAA victory, this time digging out of a 16-point hole in a 60-58 victory at Georgia State on Saturday afternoon. The College shot 59.1 percent from the floor in the second half, while limiting GSU to 17.6 percent shooting over the final 15 minutes in the victory. The Tribe won its third straight to improve to 7-8 overall and 3-2 in CAA action, while the Panthers fell to 4-11 on the year and 1-4 in league play.

Senior guard Nathan Mann led the Tribe in scoring for the second straight game with 11 points, including a trio of 3-pointers. Fellow classmate Laimis Kisielius and sophomore David Schneider finished with 10 points apiece in the victory. Schneider also led the Tribe in rebounds with seven, while sophomore Steven Hess turned in a career day with nine points and six rebounds.

Things looked bleak for the Tribe early in the second half following back-to-back treys from Panther guard Trae Goldston, including the second on the fastbreak. The pair of trifectas gave GSU a 48-32 lead with 15:14 remaining. From that point on, the Tribe slowly worked its way back into the contest. The Tribe switched from its patented zone defense to man-to-man, and over the final 15 minutes of the game held GSU to 3-of-17 (17.6 percent) from the field and 0-of-6 from 3-point range. In contrast, the Tribe heated up offensively, hitting 10 of its final 13 shots from the floor (76.9 percent), including 3-of-4 from 3-point range, and a 5-of-6 effort from the free throw line.

After Goldston’s back-to-back treys, the College used a 15-4 run to pull within five points, 52-47, with 8:10 left. Kisielius scored four straight points, before Schneider and Mann each canned 3-pointers. Hess capped the Tribe run with a conventional 3-point play. The Charlotte, N.C., native scored on a lay-in following a dish from Mann and added the free throw on the foul from GSU’s Rashad Chase.

W&M held defensively and had possession of the basketball, but a steal and fastbreak dunk from Panther leading scorer Leonard Mendez pushed the lead back to seven. Goldston added a leaner in the lane on the next GSU possession to push the cushion to 56-47 with 6:12 remaining. W&M put the clamps on the Panthers defensively limiting them to only two points the rest of the way and caught fire offensively hitting its final five attempts of the contest.

W&M scored nine straight points to pull even with the Panthers at 56. Senior forward Chris Stratton scored four straight points, before a 3-pointer by Mann from the right side closed the gap to a single possession. Kisielius evened it on a fadeaway jumper in the lane with three minutes remaining in the contest.

The eventual game-winning bucket was set up by a sequence of plays that typified the Tribe’s unselfish and hardworking effort in the second half. With the game tied at 58, sophomore Danny Sumner came up with a big block on the defensive end. As the ball bounded toward the baseline, Schneider made a diving effort to save the ball and give W&M possession. On the offensive end, Kisielius drove into the lane before dishing off to junior Peter Stein, who scored on a lay-in as he was falling out of bounds. The sequence gave the Tribe its first lead of the contest and proved to be the final margin. The Tribe came up with two more defensive stops over the final minute to ice the game.

The Tribe finished the game shooting 47.8 percent (22-of-46), while limiting Georgia State to 37.8 percent from the field. Mann and Schneider led the way for the Tribe with three assists each, while both Mann and Hess finished with a pair of steals in the victory for the Green and Gold.

Georgia State scored the opening five points of the contest, before a Schneider 3-pointer got the Tribe on the board, trailing 5-3 at the 17:47 mark. The Panthers led 16-10 following a pair of free throws from Kisielius, and GSU pushed its lead into double-digits for the first time on the afternoon with five straight points. A Trae Goldston 3-pointer from the left wing gave Georgia State at 21-10 midway through the opening half.

The Panthers maintained their 11-point cushion, before the College used a 7-0 run to close the gap to four points. Sumner started the run with a 3-pointer from the left side, before a Hess bucket and a baseline driving lay-up from freshman guard John Sexton cut the deficit to 26-22 with 3:56 remaining. The deficit remained four until Georgia State scored the final five points of the half to take at 35-26 advantage to the locker room.

The Tribe will return home to face Northeastern on Wednesday, Jan. 16, at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast over the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley and Bill McDonald on the call. It can also be hard over the Web at Tribe Athletics.com.

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