Second-Half Surge Sends Tribe to Road Win at Manhattan

W&M finished with 18 assists on 22 made field goals, while only turning the ball over six times in the win over the Jaspers.

11/21/09 4:55PM

Riverdale, N.Y. - The William and Mary men's basketball team used a strong second-half effort and its continually accurate marksmanship from 3-point range in tallying a 75-70 road win at Manhattan on Saturday afternoon. The Green and Gold hit 12 3-pointers on the afternoon and held the Jaspers to 37.9 percent shooting from the field in the second half to notch its first road win of the season. W&M evened its season mark at 2-2, while Manhattan fell to 1-2.

Box Score

Senior wing Danny Sumner led the Tribe with 17 points, including a 4-of-7 effort from 3-point range, while fellow classmate David Schneider chipped in 16 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists. Sophomore forward Quinn McDowell rounded out the Green and Gold double-digit scorers with 14 points, while adding four rebounds and three assists. The College did an impressive job of taking care of the basketball and finding the open man vs. Manhattan. W&M finished with 18 assists on 22 made field goals compared to only six turnovers. Senior point guard Sean McCurdy continued to lead the Tribe in assists with six on the day compared to only one turnover. Junior forward Marcus Kitts topped the College with a career-best nine rebounds.

The College broke open a 36-all tie in the early going of the second half with three-straight 3-pointers to take the lead for good. After a Darryl Crawford jumper tied the game for Manhattan, Schneider found Sumner for a trey from the left wing, before knocking down one of his own less than 50 seconds later. Sumner drilled his third triple of the second half from nearly the same spot at the 13:34 mark to give the Tribe a 45-36 lead and force a Jasper timeout. The W&M cushion reach as much as 10, 48-38, on a 3-pointer from sophomore JohnMark Ludwick at the 13-minute mark.

Manhattan cut the deficit down to five on four occasions over the next five minutes, but could not get any closer as the Tribe answered on each occasion. W&M led 59-53 with 6:47 remaining in the second half, before a weird sequence allowed the Green and Gold to extend the lead back to nine. After Crawford missed on a driving shot for the Jaspers, a jump-ball was called on the rebound. Instead of being Manhattan ball under its own basket, Crawford, who was Manhattan's leading scorer entering the game at 15.5 points per game, was whistled for a pair of technical fouls and ejected from the game. Schneider stepped to the line and hit 3-of-4 for the Tribe to push the team back to 62-53 with 6:28 left.

The Jaspers showed some resiliency though with a 10-3 lead to cut the deficit to 65-63 with 3:34 remaining on a bucket from Laurence Jolicoeur. Manhattan had a pair of chances to even the game, but on back-to-back possession the Tribe defense held strong. After the last Tribe stop, Schneider pulled down the defensive rebound and found McDowell ahead for a fastbreak lay-up to push the lead back to four, 67-63. The Jaspers could get no closer the rest of the way as W&M hit 8-of-10 from the charity stripe over the final minute.

For the game, W&M shot 44 percent from the floor (22-of-50) and 44.4 percent (12-of-27) from 3-point range, while Manhattan finished shooting 40.4 percent (23-of-57) overall and 44 percent (11-of-25) from 3-point range. The College got to the foul line 29 times on the afternoon and converted on 19 opportunities. The Tribe received 21 points off the bench, including eight points from freshman Kyle Galliard and six from Ludwick.

In the first half, back-to-back threes by freshmen Kyle Gaillard and Matt Rum pushed the Tribe on top after a back-and-forth opening minutes of the contest. Rum knocked down a long triple from the left side of the key, before Gaillard drilled one from the right wing, putting the Tribe up 16-8 and forcing a Manhattan timeout at the 10:41 mark.

The Tribe maintained its eight points advantage, following a 3-pointer from Ludwick at the 10-minute mark, before Manhattan caught fire. Over the next six minutes, the Jaspers went on a 19-6 run to take its largest lead of the half at 30-25. During the stretch, Manhattan were a perfect 6-of-6 from 3-point range, including three from Antoine Pearson and two from Nick Walsh. The final trifecta at the 4:03 mark from Pearson, who finished with a game-high 24 points, gave the Jaspers a 30-25 cushion.

W&M scored seven of the final nine points of the half to even the contest at the intermission. Schneider scored five straight points for the Green and Gold, before a pair of free throws by McDowell with 36.7 seconds remaining tied the game at 32. Both team used the 3-point shot to its advantage in the opening half as the College knocked down six, while Manhattan shot 50 percent from deep on 7-of-14.

The Tribe returns to action when it welcomes Hampton to Kaplan Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 25. 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 game can be heard over the Internet at TribeAthletics.com, while live stats will also be available at the home for W&M sports.