Streaking Tribe Hosts Towson in TV Game

W&M will host Towson at 2:08 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 19, in a game that will be broadcast on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic.

01/18/08 11:15AM

Williamsburg - Riding a four-game CAA winning streak, the William and Mary men’s basketball team will wrap up a brief two-game homestand against Towson on Saturday, Jan. 19. Tip-off is slated for 2:08 p.m. at Kaplan Arena. It will be the Tribe’s second TV game of the year, but its first at home. The game will be televised on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic with Carl Reuter (play-by-play) and Charlie Woollum (color) on the call.

W&M rallied from a double-digit second-half deficit for the third straight game against Northeastern on Jan. 16. The Tribe held NU to a single field goal over the final 12 minutes of the game and scored the final eight points of the contest to tally a 55-53 win in front of a season-best 3,142 fans. Junior Chris Darnell led the way for W&M with 12 points, including the game-winning 3-point play with 1:26 remaining to give the Green and Gold its first and only lead of the game. Towson is coming off an 81-68 loss at UNC Wilmington on Jan. 16.

The game between the Tribe and Tigers will be broadcast over the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley and Bill McDonald on the call. It can also be heard over the Internet at TribeAthletics.com. Live stats for the contest will be available at the home for W&M sports.

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

Story lines
- W&M will look for only the fourth conference winning streak of five or more games in school history.

- The Tribe has overcome three straight double-digit second half deficits in wins over James Madison, Georgia State and Northeastern.

Scouting Towson
Towson enters the contest with the Tribe at 6-10 overall and 2-4 in CAA play. The Tigers have dropped three of their last four games and are just 1-7 on the road this season. Towson lone road victory of the season was its first of the year at Samford, 73-66, on Nov. 20. The Tigers are led by fourth-year head coach Pat Kennedy.

In its most recent game at UNC Wilmington, the Tigers dropped an 81-68 decision. The Seahawks shot 63.3 percent from the floor to outdistance the Tigers, who knocked down a season-high 12 3-point field goals. Four Tiger players scored in double digits led by the 17 points of Junior Hairston. C.C. Williams and Josh Thornton each finished with 16 points in the loss. Thornton was 5-of-11 from 3-point range to lead the TU charge from deep.

The Tigers entered the week as one of the best in the country at taking care of the basketball. Towson averages the fourth lowest turnovers in NCAA Division I at 10.8 per game. TU also does a great job of passing the ball as well, averaging 13.9 assists per game and leading the CAA in assist-to-turnover ratio. The Tigers’ assist-to-turnover ratio also ranks among the national leader at No. 18 entering the week.

Hairston is not only one of the top rebounders in the CAA, but in the nation as well. The 6-8 transfer from College of Charleston entered the week ranking fourth nationally in rebounding. He averages 10.8 rebounds per game, which tops the CAA. He also ranks among the league leaders and tops the Tigers in points (14.1) and blocked shots (1.8) per game. Hairston shoots 50 percent from the floor.

Thornton, who joined the Tigers at the beginning of second semester after transferring from Georgetown last year, ranks second on the team in scoring at 12.4 points per game. He is a long-range specialist, knocking down 43.6 percent from 3-point range. Over 75 percent from his attempts on the year have come from 3-point range. Towson also depends on a pair of seniors in Jonathan Pease and C.C. Williams. Pease averages 9.3 points per game and 5.1 rebounds per game. Williams is the Tigers’ floor general averaging 3.9 assists per game to go along with 7.1 points. Williams ranks seventh in the CAA in assists and second in assist-to-turnover ratio.

Towson Series History
The Tribe leads the all-time series with Towson at 9-7, including a 7-1 ledger in Williamsburg. Despite leading the series, W&M has dropped the last two contests to the Tigers, including its only loss in Williamsburg to Towson last season. The Tigers recorded a 73-60 win over W&M in the CAA opener last season. David Schneider led the Tribe with 18 points, including a quartet of 3-point field goals. Kyle Carrabine also finished in double figures for the College with 10 points on a trio of treys.

Tribe Streaking in League Play
The Tribe’s victory over Northeastern was the College’s fourth straight Colonial Athletic Association win. Over the stretch, W&M has claimed a pair of victories at home and two more on the road. The streak began with a road win at Old Dominion, before returning home to defeat James Madison. W&M downed Georgia State on the road and then, disposed of Northeastern at home in its most recent contest.

The four-game CAA winning streak is the Tribe’s first since the 1997-98 season, and in fact, it is only the sixth time in conference play that W&M has won four or more games straight. The 2007-08 team is only the fifth team to accomplish the feat as the 1997-98 squad won four straight in January, before tallying seven straight league wins during the month of February. The 1996-97 (five), 1984-85 (four) and 1982-83 (nine) squads also have won four or more regular season conference games straight. The 1982-83 squad, which played the ECAC South as the CAA was known before the 1985-86 season, won 10 straight league games. The team completed the nine-game conference season unbeaten and won its opening ECAC South Tournament game.

Cardiac Kids Continue to Strike
In each of the Tribe’s last three CAA victories over James Madison, at Georgia State and against Northeastern, 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. The Green and Gold completed the trilogy versus the Huskies as W&M trailed by 12 at halftime, only to notch a 55-53 triumph.

The comeback victories marked the fifth, sixth and seventh 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) during Shaver’s tenure.

The three straight double-digit second-half comebacks for the College are the most consecutive double-digit rallies for the College in more than 25 years. Dating back to the 1980-81 season, the Tribe had never overcome back-to-back double-digit deficits to record wins, let alone three straight.

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.

It Only Matters at the End
In each of the Tribe’s last two come-from-behind wins, W&M has shown that it doesn’t matter who leads for most of the game, it only matters what the scoreboard says at the end. The College has only led once in each of its last two comeback wins and that came with the final margin.

At Georgia State, W&M never held the lead until a Peter Stein lay-up gave the Tribe a 60-58 lead with 1:17 remaining. In the comeback against Northeastern, junior Chris Darnell’s 3-point play with 1:26 remaining gave the Tribe a 55-53 advantage. Both buckets were the first and only time the Green and Gold held a lead in each contest.

Trailing at the Half
The Tribe has won half its games this season when trailing at the half, including each of the last three. W&M trailed Houston Baptist, James Madison, Georgia State and Northeastern at the half, before rallying to pick up victories.

The last time W&M tallied back-back-to-back wins when rallying from a halftime deficits was 17 years ago. In November of 1990, the Tribe overcame three straight halftime deficits to tally victories. In the season opener on Nov. 24, 1990, the College trailed a Tony Shaver-coached Hampden-Sydney team at the half, 40-37, but ended up with an 89-83 victory. On Nov. 27, 1990, W&M trailed Davidson, 28-27, on the road, but notched a one-point, 59-58, victory. Two days later, Army led W&M, 34-33, at the break, but the College picked up a 73-71 win with a second-half surge.

More impressive than its rallying from a halftime hole has been the College’s ability to overtake its opponent when trailing with five minutes remaining. Under Shaver, the Tribe has record five victories when trailing with five minutes remaining in a game and three of those wins have come with this season’s version of the ‘cardiac kids.’

Decisive Stretches on Defense
In the Tribe’s double-digit rallies over the last three games, the Tribe has relied heavily on its defense to get it back into the game. While the Tribe has found its stroke in each game to overcome a double figure second half deficit, W&M has also limited its opponents to only 59 points a game in the three victories. Included in each of those games was a decisive defensive stretch. Here is a look at an important defensive stretches for W&M in the last three comeback wins:

- Over an eight-minute stretch, the Tribe turned an 11-point deficit at the 8:55 mark into a four-point lead with 38 seconds remaining in the comeback win over James Madison. The College limited JMU to 2-of-8 shooting over the stretch to go along with four turnovers, while outscoring the Dukes, 22-7.

- W&M limited Georgia State to 17.6 percent (3-of-17) from the field over the final 15:14 of the game to rally from a 16-point hole. In contrast, the Tribe hit 10 of its final 13 shots, including each of its last seven.

- In the comeback win over Northeastern, W&M held the Huskies to just one field goal over the final 12 minutes of the game, allowing the Green and Gold to overcome a 12-point halftime deficit. NU turned the ball over six times over the stretch and was only 1-of-5 from the field. W&M also held Northeastern off the scoreboard over the final 4:43 of the game, scoring the final eight points of the contest in tallying the win.

Locking Down the Opponent’s Best
In the Tribe’s last two comeback victories, W&M struggled to stop its opponent’s best player in the opening minutes of the game, but found the defensive swagger it needed late in the game.

Against Georgia State, the Panthers’ leading scorer Leonard Mendez, who entered the game rankings third in the CAA at 16.9 points per game, finished with 15 points, but during the Tribe’s comeback over the final 15 minutes, W&M locked the GSU shooting guard up. W&M switched from its patented zone defense to a man-to-man defense after GSU took a 16-point lead with 15:14 remaining. In the man-to-man system, senior Nathan Mann was matched up with Mendez and limited him to just two points, which came on a steal and fastbreak dunk, on 1-of-5 shooting from the floor.

In the comeback win over Northeastern, the Huskies’ leading scorer Matt Janning entered the game averaging 16 points per game, which ranked among the top five in the CAA. Janning got off to a great start against W&M, scoring 10 points on a perfect 4-of-4 from the field in the opening 10 minutes of the game. The early hot streak propelled NU to a 20-9 lead with 9:45 remaining in the first half. It would be more or less the last time Janning would be heard from in the scoring column. The reigning CAA Rookie of the Year hit 1-of-2 from the free throw line over the final 10 minutes of the first half, but went 0-of-4 from the field for the rest of the game. He finished with only 11 points and did not score in the second half.