W&M Welcomes Northeastern to Williamsburg

The Tribe will look for its first four-game CAA winning streak since 1997-98

01/15/08 5:00PM

Williamsburg - On the heels of a back-to-back double-digit comeback victories, the William and Mary men’s basketball team will return home for a brief two-game homestand starting with Northeastern on Wednesday, Jan. 16. Tip-off for the affair is slated for 7 p.m. at Kaplan Arena. The Tribe is in the midst of a three-game CAA winning streak.

The College overcame a 16-point second-half deficit in the final 15 minutes at Georgia State to tally a 60-58 victory. The Tribe held GSU to 17.6 percent shooting from the floor over the final 15 minutes, while hitting on 10 of its final 13 shots of the game. Junior Peter Stein scored the game-winner with 1:09 left, converting a lay-up off the dish from senior Laimis Kisielius. Senior Nathan Mann led the Tribe for the second straight game with 11 points, while Kisielius and sophomore David Schneider each added 10. Northeastern is coming off an 80-52 setback at George Mason on Jan. 12. NU had won two straight CAA tilts prior to the defeat to the Patriots.

The game with the Huskies well be broadcast over the s Radio Network with Jay Colley and Bill McDonald on the call. The contest will also be heard over the Internet at TribeAthletics.com.

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

Story lines
- Senior Laimis Kisielius will play in his 100th career game against NU.

- Senior Nathan Mann is shooting 50 percent from 3-point range over the last five games, knocking down 14 of his 28 attemtps.

W&M will look for its first four-game CAA winning streak since the 1997-98 season.

Scouting Northeastern
Northeastern enters the game with the Tribe at 6-9 overall and 2-3 in CAA play. The Huskies record is a bit deceiving as it includes single digit losses to major conference schools in Illinois (63-55), Maryland (74-72 in OT), Connecticut (69-60) and Boston College (57-55). NU also dropped a pair of contests to teams that have spent time in the top-25 this season in Syracuse and Rhode Island.

Most recently, the Huskies dropped a 80-52 decision at George Mason on Jan. 12. Prior to that, the NU had won two straight at home against Georgia State and Drexel. The Huskies are led by second-year head coach Bill Coen.

The Huskies are led by reigning CAA Rookie of the Year Matt Janning, who ranks fifth in the CAA in scoring at 16 points per game. He is shooting 46.6 percent from the floor and a team-best 34.1 percent from 3-point range. He ranks second on the team in assists at 2.2 per contest. Manny Adako and transfer Nkem Ojoughoh both average in double figures as well for the Huskies. Adako comes in at 11.6 points per game, while shooting 62 percent from the field, which ranks second in the CAA and 14th nationally. Ojoughoh tops the Huskies in rebounds at 7.7 per game.

Chaisson Allen has started all 15 games at the point guard position for Northeastern as a freshman. He is averaging 9.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game to go along with a team-best 4.6 assists and 2.5 steals per contest. His assist average ranks fourth in the CAA and 89th nationally, while his steals average ranks second in the league and 24th on the national level.

Northeastern Series History
The Tribe and Huskies will meet for only the third time since Northeastern joined the Colonial Athletic Association prior to the 2005-06 season. The two teams have split the all-time series at one with each winning on its home court. W&M and NU will meet on a pair of occasions in 2008, marking the first time the squads have met twice in a season. Last year, W&M overcame a six-point deficit with 2:24 remaining by scoring the game’s final nine points against the Huskies. David Schneider finished with 13 points and eight rebounds in the victory, while Laimis Kisielius and Peter Stein each had nine.

Strength of Schedule
The Tribe is starting to gain steam in the 2007-08 season with three straight victories and to this point in the year, the College has played one of the toughest schedules in the nation. As of Jan. 15, the Tribe’s strength of schedule, according the Jeff Sagarin College Basketball Ratings, was ranked 84th nationally. It ranks as the second toughest ledger in the Colonial Athletic Association, trailing only Northeastern, who has played the 43rd toughest schedule.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.

Mann-handling the Competition
Senior guard Nathan Mann has stepped up his play over the last five games for the Tribe, leading W&M to a 4-1 ledger. He has tallied double digits in four of the five games and leads the Tribe in scoring over the stretch at 12 points per game. He has knocked down 50 percent of his attempts from both the field (20-of-40) and 3-point range (14-of-28) over the last five games.

He scored 12 points in back-to-back games against Fairfield and Delaware, before finishing with seven, including a pair of important 3-pointers, in the victory at Old Dominion. In each of the last two games, Mann has led the Tribe in scoring with 18 points against James Madison and 11 points at Georgia State. He did the majority of his damage in the second half against JMU and GSU. He scored 13 of his game-high 18 in the second stanza against the Dukes, before tallying eight of his team-high 11 points in the second 20 minutes against the Panthers.

Returning to Action
After missing the Tribe’s comeback victory over James Madison due to injury, senior Laimis Kisielius returned to the Tribe line-up and helped them rally from a 16-point second-half deficit at Georgia State. He finished as one of three Tribe players in double figures with 10 points, while also pulling down five rebounds. He scored eight of his 10 points in the second stanza and tied the game at 56 with two minutes remaining on a step-back jumper in the lane. Kisielius also assisted on what proved to be the game-winning basket, finding junior Peter Stein under the hoop for a lay-up with 1:09 left to give W&M its first and only lead of the game at 60-58.

Never Say Die
In each of the Tribe’s last two victories over James Madison and at Georgia State, the College rallied from double-digit second-half deficits on its way to victory. W&M displayed its never-say-die attitude at home, overcoming an 11-point deficit with 8:55 remaining in tallying a 69-66 win over James Madison on Jan. 9. The Tribe followed that up with a 16-point rally to notch a 60-58 victory at Georgia State. W&M limited GSU to 17.6 percent (3-of-17) from the field over the final 15:14 of the game, while the Tribe hit 10 of its final 13 shots, including each of its last seven, against the Panthers.

The comeback victories marked the fifth and sixth times 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).

The 16-point comeback against Georgia State was the largest by a W&M team since the Tribe trailed by 18 (21-3) with 10:47 left in the opening half against James Madison in Kaplan Arena on Jan. 4, 1997. The Tribe rallied to record at 64-61 win over the Dukes. The last time a W&M team overcame a deficit of at least 16 points on the road in the second half to tally a victory came at UNC Greensboro during the 1992-93 season. The College trailed UNCG, 42-26, with 18:21 remaining, but came back for an 81-76 overtime victory on Dec. 1, 1992.

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 44.9 percent from the field. The class of 2010 has accounted for 37.4 percent of the Tribe’s offense, scoring 368 points on the year. The trio has also combined for 156 rebounds, which is 33.1 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 seven games. Schneider (11.7) and Sumner (11.4) 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 14.4 minutes, 4.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, while leading the Tribe reserves in scoring on three occasions. Over the seven-game stretch the trio is averaging 27.8 points and 12.7 rebounds per game. In the Tribe’s impressive come-from-behind win over James Madison, Schneider, Sumner and Hess combined for 39 points and 11 rebounds.

Walk-On Presence
Senior Chris Stratton joined the W&M program as walk-on, but his impact on the Tribe during his senior season has been significant. He has appeared in 10 games, including one start. Stratton averages 3.6 points and 1.8 rebounds in 11.3 minutes of action. The Burke, Va., native has been nearly flawless from the free throw line, knocking down 92.3 percent (14-of-15) of his chances.

In the Tribe’s come-from-behind victory over Georgia State, Stratton came off the bench with W&M trailing by 10 with nine minutes remaining. In only eight minutes of action, all in the second half, Stratton finished with four points and a key defensive block that helped W&M overcome its largest deficit in nearly 10 seasons.

He has also turned in career performances already this season with 10 points against Houston Baptist and seven rebounds at Richmond. The Burke, Va., native earned his second career start in the College’s victory over Montreat.