W&M Hosts VCU on Senior Night

The Tribe will honor seniors Kyle Carrabine, Laimis Kisielius, Nathan Mann and Chris Stratton when it hosts VCU on Saturday, March 1, at 7 p.m.

02/29/08 2:00PM

Williamsburg - The William and Mary men’s basketball team will wrap up the regular season with Senior Night against 2008 regular season CAA Champion VCU on Saturday, March 1. The Tribe will recognize its four-member senior class of Kyle Carrabine, Laimis Kisielius, Nathan Mann and Chris Stratton, who will be playing in their final games at Kaplan Arena. The quartet was the first recruiting class at W&M for head coach Tony Shaver. Tip-off for the contest is slated for 7 p.m.

W&M is coming off a tight 60-54 road setback at George Mason on Feb. 27. The College held the Patriots 11 points below their season scoring average and despite taking a one-point lead with six minutes remaining could not pull out the victory. Sophomore guard David Schneider led all scorers with 19 points, including a career-best five 3-pointers. VCU clinched the CAA regular season title with a 72-58 win over UNCW at home on Feb. 27. Eric Maynor paced four Rams in double figures with 16 points to go along with six assists.

Fans can catch the action on the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley, Bill McDonald and Charlie Woollum on the call. The broadcast can also be heard over the Tribe Radio Network with live stats also available at the home for W&M Athletics.

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

Story lines
- The Tribe remains in the hunt for a top-four finish in the CAA, but will need a victory in its final regular season game to accomplish the feat.

- W&M will look to snap an 11-game losing streak to the Rams dating back to the 2002-03 season.

Scouting VCU
VCU enters Saturday’s contest with W&M having already clinched the regular season CAA title and the No. 1 seed in the league tournament for the second straight season. The Rams are 22-6 overall on the year and 14-3 in conference play. VCU has won three straight and seven of its last eight games entering the tilt with the Tribe.

The Rams are coming off a 72-58 win over UNC Wilmington on Feb. 27. Four Rams scored in double figures led by 16 from junior guard Eric Maynor. Senior guard Jamal Shuler scored 15 points on his senior night, while fellow classmate Michael Anderson added 12 and freshman Joey Rodriguez chipped in 10. The Rams limited UNCW to just 36.5 percent shooting from the floor and 25 percent from 3-point range in the victory.

VCU not only leads the CAA in nearly every defensive category, but is among the national leaders as well. The Rams top the league in defensive field goal percentage (38.2 percent), defensive 3-point field goal percentage (.272), scoring defense (59.1), blocked shots per game (5.4) and steals per game (8.4). VCU’s field goal percentage defense ranks ninth nationally (as of Feb. 24), while its scoring defense is 10th. The Rams lead the country in 3-point field goal percentage defense according to Kenpom.com.

Maynor is the Rams leading scorer and the catalyst of their offensive. One of 16 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award, Maynor ranks second in the CAA in scoring at 18 points per game, while topping the league at 5.2 assists per contest. Shuler is the only other Ram players averaging in double figures at 15.9 points per game, which ranks eighth in the league. He is one of the top 3-point shooting threats in the conference at 41.5 percent from long range, which ranks third in the league. Freshman Larry Sanders leads the Rams in rebounding (4.8 per game) and blocked shots. His blocked shots average of 3.0 per game tops the CAA and ranks ninth nationally.

VCU Series History
The Rams lead the all-time series with the Tribe at 26-10, including an 11-6 mark in Williamsburg. VCU has won the last 11 contests between the two schools, dating back to the 2002-03 season. Earlier this season, VCU tallied a 71-57 victory over the Tribe in Richmond during the teams’ CAA opener on Dec. 5. David Schneider led the way for the Tribe with 15 points, while Laimis Kisielius and Danny Sumner each added 13 points. W&M cut the deficit to six points with seven minutes remaining in the most recent contest, before the Rams pulled away for the victory.

Senior Night
The Tribe will honor its four-member senior class for its hard work and dedication to the W&M program. The group was the first class brought in by head coach Tony Shaver and has been instrumental in the College’s success over last two seasons. The Tribe posted back-to-back seasons with 14 or more wins for the first time in 23 years, while also winning double-digit CAA games for only the second time in the program’s history. Here is a capsule of each of the Tribe’s seniors:

Senior guard Kyle Carrabine
Over the last two seasons, Carrabine has been a key contributor off the Tribe bench, and over his career has appeared in 75 games with three starts. Known for his accuracy from long range and his length on the perimeter, Carrabine has appeared in 22 games this season, earning one start. Last season, he ranked as one of the top reserves in the CAA in scoring and 3-point shooting. Along with his success on the court, Carrabine also excelled in the classroom earning CAA All-Academic team honors a season ago.

Senior forward Laimis Kisielius
Kisielius is one of the most versatile players ever to wear the Green and Gold. He currently ranks second on the team in scoring at 10.8 points per game, and earlier this season became the 29th member of the Tribe’s 1,000-point club. Kisielius will depart the Tribe program in the top five in career games played (112), top 10 in career minutes (2,949), in the top 15 in career assists (224), 3-pointers made (102) and 3-point percentage (32.3 percent) along with ranking in the top 25 in scoring (1,063). Earlier this season, he garnered CAA Player of the Week honors after scoring a career-best 26 points against Old Dominion.

Senior guard Nathan Mann
As one of the best long-ranger shooters ever to don a Tribe jersey, Mann will exit the program ranking among the school’s best in 3-point shooting. He currently holds the W&M record for career threes attempted (588), while ranking second in 3-pointers made (211) and eighth in career 3-point percentage (35.9 percent). He is enjoying the best season of his W&M career in 2008 averaging 10.1 points per game. Mann ranks among the CAA leaders in 3-point shooting, while ranking 49th nationally in 3-point accuracy. He has played in the second-most game in school history (115), while playing the fifth most minutes (2997). In W&M’s most recent game at George Mason, he became the 30th player in school history to score 1,000 career points.

Senior forward Chris Stratton
Stratton joined the Tribe program as a walk-on in 2004, and is one of the Tribe’s tri-captains as a senior. During his W&M career, Stratton has appeared in 52 games, earning two starts. An intelligent player, who rarely makes mistakes on the court, he has had some key moments on the court this season. Stratton hit his first and only career 3-pointer during a crucial stretch against Towson and scored a career-high 10 points off the bench in the College’s win over Houston Baptist.

Schneider Leading the Way
After earning CAA All-Rookie team honors a season ago, much was expected of sophomore guard David Schneider, and the Phoenix, Ariz., native has done little to disappoint. Schneider is one of 11 players nationally (as of Feb. 27) that lead their respective teams in points (11.0), rebounds (4.9) and assists (3.7) per game. Of the 11 players on the list, Schneider is the youngest player and the only sophomore. The 6-3 guard also tops the Tribe in steals and minutes played as well, while ranking among the CAA leaders in seven statistical categories.

Schneider has led the Tribe in scoring on team-high eight occasions. Most recently, Schneider led the Tribe with 19 points, six rebounds and five assists at George Mason on Feb. 27. It marked the first time this season that a Tribe player led the team in points, rebounds and assists in a single game. He drilled a career-best five 3-pointers against the Patriots as well. Earlier this season, Schneider had a career-high 24, including 22 in the second half, at Old Dominion. He has also led the Tribe in rebounding on seven occasions, while topping the squad in assists 18 times.

The Phoenix, Ariz., native ranks among the national leaders in both free throw shooting and assist-to-turnover ration. He ranks second in the CAA in free throw shooting at 85.5 percent and 44th nationally. In the assist-to-turnover ratio category, Schneider is third in the CAA and 80th nationally at 1.98. He also ranks among the CAA leaders in assists (3.7 - 7th), minutes (34.22 - 9th), steals (1.81 - 4th), 3-pointers made per game (1.79 - 13th) and rebounds (4.9 - 20th).

Tribe Tiebreakers
With Saturday being the final game of the regular season, the Tribe is still in the hunt for a top-four seed in the CAA Tournament. Heading into the weekend, W&M can finish no worse than fifth in the league standing and can garner at the lowest the No. 6 seed in the conference tournament. The Tribe has a chance to still garner the No. 4 seed in the tournament and in the process secure a first-round bye. Here is a look at the Tribe’s possible scenarios:

W&M can garner the No. 4 seed with ...
1) a Tribe victory coupled with a Northeastern victory over George Mason
or
2) a Tribe victory coupled with an Old Dominion victory over UNC Wilmington

W&M can garner the No. 5 seed with ...
1) a Tribe victory
or
2) a Delaware loss to Towson

1,000-POINT DUO
The senior duo of Nathan Mann and Laimis Kisielius became only the third set of teammates and the first that spent all four years of the Tribe careers together to reached the 1,000-point mark in the same season. After Kisielius joined the group on Jan. 30 with his 1,000th career point at James Madison, Mann accomplished the feat in the Tribe’s most recent game at George Mason. They became the 29th and 30th members of the W&M 1,000-point club.

The duo became only the third pair in history to score their 1,000th career points in the same season. Matt Courage and John Lowenhaupt both scored their 1,000th career points in 1977, while Matt Verkey and Carl Parker reached the mark in 1996. Kisielius and Mann are the first to do it in the same season after spending their entire careers together. Two other duos, Bev Vaughan and Jeff Cohen (1958-61) as well as Kevin Richardson and Keith Cieplicki (1982-85), played their entire careers together, but scored their 1,000th career points in separate seasons.

Kisielius currently sits at 1,063 points in his career and ranks 24th in the program’s annals. The Vilnius, Lithuania native is the College’s second-leading scorer at 10.8 points per game over his senior campaign. Mann is right at 1,000 points on his career and is averaging a career-best 10.1 points per game this season.