W&M Sets Single Season 3-Pointers Mark in Loss at Towson

The Tribe bettered the school record with its 201st trey of the season against the Tigers.

02/16/08 8:30PM

Towson, Md. - The William and Mary men’s basketball team established a new school for 3-pointers made in a season, but dropped its third straight road game, falling, 64-52, at Towson on Saturday afternoon. The College bettered the school mark with its 201st 3-point field goal of the season. W&M fell to 13-12 on the year and 9-6 in CAA play, while the Tigers upped their ledger to 10-15 overall and 6-9 in league action.

The Tribe finished with seven 3-pointers to best the record mark of 200 set last season. Sophomore David Schneider led the Tribe with 13 points, including a 3-of-5 effort from 3-point range. He also topped the team in rebounds with six to go along with three steals. W&M also go an impressive performance off the bench from freshman forward Marcus Kitts, who finished with eight points and five rebounds in 14 minutes of action.

The game was back-and-forth for the majority of the opening half. The Tribe struggled a bit out of the gate, missing its first five shots from the floor. Towson tallied the opening five points of the contest and led 5-0 after a Junior Hairston 3-pointer from the right wing.

W&M’s first points of the game came on a jumper in the paint by junior Chris Darnell at the 16:14 mark. The bucket started a seven-point spurt for the College as a Nathan Mann trifecta gave W&M its first lead of the game, 7-5, six minutes into the contest.

The first 20 minutes of play featured 12 lead changes and a pair of ties. With Towson leading, 19-17, W&M scored five straight points to take its largest lead, 22-19. A deep trey from Schneider and a driving lay-up by Kitts put the Tribe on top with six minutes left in the first half.

Back-to-back longballs from Towson’s Josh Thornton pushed the momentum the way of the Tigers. His second trey in transition put TU on top, 25-22, at the 3:33 mark. After lay-up by Sumner cut the deficit to a single point, Jonathan Pease knocked down his only 3-pointer of the first half to give Towson a four-point cushion, 28-24. Darnell answered back with a 3-pointer for the Tribe to draw the College within, 28-27, at the half.

It looked as though the second half would mirror the first as the lead bounced back and forth in the opening minutes of the stanza. W&M went to the post, finding Sumner for a lay-up out of the intermission for a 29-28 lead. The Tribe remained on top after a pair of free throws from Schneider gave the Green and Gold at 34-33 advantage.

Towson responded with a 12-0 run to take control of the contest for good. Thornton gave TU the lead for good on a jumper from the right baseline, before extending the advantage with a longball from the left wing in transition. Sean Raboin capped the run with four straight points, including a lay-up at the 12:28 mark to make it 45-34.

W&M junior Peter Stein snapped the drought for the College with back-to-back buckets, but Towson again answered to push its lead to 14, 52-38, after Pease’s third 3-pointer of the game with nine minutes remaining. The College could not get any closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

The Tribe finished with 17 assists led by four each from Stein and senior Laimis Kisielius. Darnell and Sumner each finished with seven points for the College in the loss. W&M was in large part done in by the Tigers 3-point shooting. Towson connected on 11 longballs and shot 47.8 percent from 3-point range.

The Tribe returns to action when it hosts Drexel at Kaplan Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 20. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. Fans can catch the action over the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley, Bill McDonald and Charlie Woollum on the call. The broadcast can also be heard over the Internet at TribeAthletics.com.

Box Score