Tribe Hosts Hofstra in Lone 2008 Regular Season Meeting

The Pride travels to Williamsburg for a 7 p.m. tip on Wednesday, Feb. 6.

02/05/08 3:45PM

Williamsburg - Winners in eight of its last nine games, the William and Mary men’s basketball team welcomes Hofstra to Kaplan Arena for a midweek CAA affair on Wednesday, Feb. 6. It will be the only regular season meeting between the two schools this season and is slated for a 7 p.m. tip-off in Williamsburg.

The Tribe is coming off another impressive victory, downing UNCW, 70-66, in a battle of second-place teams in the CAA. W&M attempted a school-record 39 3-pointers and connected on 13. The Green and Gold did a good job of protecting the basketball as well, committing a season-low five turnovers and holding a 24-6 advantage over the Seahawks in points off turnovers. Senior Laimis Kisielius and freshman John Sexton led five Tribe players in double figures with 15 points each. Hofstra has won three of its last four games, following a 64-58 victory over Delaware on Feb. 2. Antoine Agudio led the charge with 26 points for the Pride, while Charles Jenkins had 20.

Fans can catch the action on the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley, Bill McDonald and Charlie Woollum on the call. It will also be available as will live stats over the Internet at TribeAthletics.com.

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

Story lines
- W&M has connected on double-digit 3-pointers in each of the last four games. The Tribe is shooting 43.1 percent (47-of-109) over the stretch.

- Six of the Tribe’s last seven victories have come by four points or less.

The Tribe will look to snap a seven-game losing streak to Hofstra. The last W&M victory in the series came during the 2002-03 season.

Scouting Hofstra
Hofstra enters the game with the Tribe at 7-14 overall and 4-7 in the CAA, but have won three of its last four games. Included in that stretch were victories at Northeastern as well as home wins over Longwood and Delaware. The Pride is under the direction of Tom Pecora, who is in his seventh season at the helm of Hofstra.

In its most recent victory over Delaware, the Pride rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit to claim a 64-58 win. The guard combo of redshirt freshman Charles Jenkins and senior Antoine Agudio combined for 46 points in the win. Agudio, who leads the CAA in scoring, finished with a game-high 26 points, including a 5-of-8 effort from 3-point range, while Jenkins chipped in 20 points and seven rebounds. The forward duo of Darren Townes and Dane Johnson finished with 10 rebounds each in the victory over the Blue Hens.

Agudio averages 22.6 points per game, which ranks 10th nationally. He shoots 43.1 percent from 3-point range, which leads the CAA and ranks 35th nationally. The preseason first-team All-CAA choice connects on 3.1 treys a game, which ranks 29th nationally. Jenkins is the only other Pride player averaging in double figures at 14.6 per contest. He leads the squad in steals at 1.8 per game.

Townes leads Hofstra in rebounds at 6.6 per game, which ranks eight in the CAA. Johnson is second on the squad at 5.4 per contest as the Pride lead the CAA in rebounding at 37.7 per game. Johnson is also among the top shot blockers in the CAA. He ranks second in the league and 32nd nationally at 2.2 blocks per game. Greg Washington is not far behind his frontcourt mate in that respect at 2.1 blocked shots per game, which ranks 39th nationally and third in the CAA.

As a team, Hofstra ranks among the league leaders in field goal percentage defense (41.1 percent) and 3-point field goal percentage defense (32 percent). Along with leading the CAA in rebounding, the Pride tops the league in blocked shots and ranks 11th in that category nationally.

Hofstra Series History
Hofstra leads the all-time series with the Tribe at 9-2 since joining the CAA prior to the 2001-02 season. The Pride is 4-1 in Williamsburg, winning each of the last four meeting between the two schools in Williamsburg. The last time the two teams met in Williamsburg, Hofstra notched an 82-57 win on Feb. 20, 2006. The last W&M victory in the series came on Feb. 8, 2003, when the Tribe tallied a 79-69 win at Hofstra. Last season, W&M played Hofstra tight in Hempstead, before falling, 77-69. The Tribe had possession of the ball with two minutes remaining and the game tied at 67, but a turnover led to a 3-point play for the Pride and Hofstra went on to claim the victory, scoring 10 of the game final 12 points. Laimis Kisielius finished with 15 points and six rebounds last season against the Pride.

Sexton Garners League Rookie Honor
Tribe freshman guard John Sexton was named CAA Rookie of the Week on Feb. 4. It marks the second straight week a W&M player has been honored by the league after senior Laimis Kisielius was the conference player of the week on Jan. 28. Sexton is the first Tribe rookie to garner the honor since sophomore David Schneider won the accolade on a pair of occasions last season.

Sexton enjoyed a breakout performance in helping the College to a 70-66 win over UNC Wilmington on Feb. 2. The Myrtle, Miss., native tallied 15 points and shared team-high scoring honors with Kisielius. Sexton was 4-of-6 from the field and 3-of-5 from 3-point range to go along with a 4-of-6 effort from the free throw line. He also had a rebound and an assist to in a career-high 18 minutes of play.

The 6-3 sharp shooter led all scorers with 10 points in the opening half, but none bigger than the final five. Over the closing 1:20 of the first half, Sexton drilled a 3-pointer and then scored on a driving lay-up with three seconds left to close the W&M deficit from seven to two, 32-30, heading into the locker room. He came up with another big five points in the second half, during the College’s 16-2 run that turned a seven-point deficit into a seven-point lead with six minutes remaining. With the Tribe down six, Sexton scored five straight points on a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws to close the gap to 50-49.

For the week, Sexton averaged 10.5 points per game and shot 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from 3-point range. He was a perfect 2-of-2 from long range in the win at James Madison. His deep 3-pointer from the right side midway through the second half extended the W&M lead to six, 44-38, against the Dukes.

On the year, Sexton is shooting 48 percent from 3-point range, while averaging 2.7 points per game off the Green and Gold bench. He has been a deadeye as of late, shooting 69.2 percent (9-of-13) from long range over the last six games. He has connected on a three in each of the College’s last six games.

W&M Hosts Loyola (Chicago) in BracketBusters
The Tribe received word on its opponent in the O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters and will host Loyola (Chicago) on Saturday, Feb. 23. Tip-off for the contest is slated for 2 p.m. at Kaplan Arena. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools. The Ramblers have won each of their last three contests, upping their overall record to 9-13.

Last season, W&M fell in its first season as a part of BracketBusters at Fairfield, 61-45. The Tribe rebounded to take the rematch with the Stags this season, 71-50, in Williamsburg. As a result of playing Loyola this season, W&M will make a return trip to Chicago to face the Ramblers during the 2008-09 season.

Loyola (Chicago) plays in the Horizon League with the likes of No. 10 Butler, Wright State and Valparaiso. The Ramblers are under the direction of fourth-year head coach Jim Whitesell, who led Loyola to a 21-11 mark last season. The 20-win season and 10-win league ledger in 2007 was the best for the Ramblers since 1985. The Ramblers have a tradition-rich basketball program, having won the 1963 NCAA Championship with a 60-58 victory over Cincinnati.

Loyola has four guys averaging in double figures led by junior guard J.R. Blount, who averages 15.7 points per game. He scored his 1,000th career point earlier this season and prior to the 2007-08 campaign, was a preseason Second-Team All-Horizon League choice. The Ramblers added Mississippi transfer Justin Cerasoli at the semester break. He currently ranks third on the team in scoring at 10.7 points per game.

Loyola has won three straight entering it contest against Illinois-Chicago on Saturday, Feb. 9. The Ramblers won at Valparaiso, 65-63, on Jan. 26, before defeating Youngstown State, 69-68, at home on Jan. 31. Most recently, Loyola tallied a 65-53 win over Cleveland State at home on Feb. 2. Loyola is currently 5-7 in Horizon League play.

Protecting the Leather
While the Tribe attempted a school-record 39 3-pointers and connected on 13 against UNCW, W&M’s ability to pull out a victory can be summed up with a single stat, five turnovers. The Seahawks held W&M to 39.7 percent shooting from the floor and shot 43.9 percent itself, while also holding a decisive advantage on the boards. But the one thing that W&M did much better than UNCW as take care of the basketball.

The Tribe forced 16 UNCW turnovers, while the Tribe turned the ball over a season-low five times. The minuscule number of turnovers was the fewest for W&M under head coach Tony Shaver and the small number for the program since turning it over four times at James Madison on Jan. 29, 2003. The Tribe turned the Seahawks’ 16 miscues into 24 points and held a 24-6 advantage in points off turnovers.

W&M’s ability to limit its turnovers has been a telling stat to the Tribe’s success. In victories, the Tribe is only turning the ball over 13.8 times compared to 15.6 in losses. The Tribe has a positive turnovers margin of 1.3 in victories compared to a -1.9 turnover margin in losses.

Finding the Open Man
The Tribe understands the importance of the extra pass, especially considering its propensity to shoot the basketball from deep. W&M has ranked among the CAA leaders in assists for most of the season and currently is fifth averaging 13.7 helpers per game.

In its victory over UNCW, the Tribe registered a season-high 20 assists. Even more impressive than the Tribe’s 20 assists was that they came on only 23 made field goals. It was the first 20-assist game for the College in two seasons. The last time W&M had 20 or more assists was when it had 25 in a victory over Georgia State on Feb. 4, 2006. The 20-assist contest against UNCW marked the 12th time under head coach Tony Shaver that the Tribe accomplished the feat. The Tribe is 9-3 in those contests.