Last Second Tip-in Snaps W&M's School-Record Win Streak

Senior Steven Hess scored a career-high 11 points in the loss to UNCW.

01/04/10 9:50PM

Williamsburg - A John Fields' tip-in with 3.4 seconds remaining brought an end to the William and Mary men’s basketball team’s school-record tying 10-game winning streak as UNCW pulled out a 62-61 victory on Monday night at Kaplan Arena. The College fell to 10-3 on the year and 2-1 in CAA play, while the Seahawks improved to 5-8 overall and 1-2 in league action.

Box Score

Senior guard David Schneider led the Tribe attack with 17 points on five 3-pointers to go along with a team-high eight rebounds. The five 3-pointers brought his career total to 218 tying the school mark held by Matt Verkey (1993-96). Senior forward Steven Hess scored a career-high 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from the floor and a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line. Sophomore Quinn McDowell finished with 11 points and seven rebounds in the setback for W&M.

After UNCW took only its second lead of the game on a Ahmad Grant 3-point from the left corner with 23 seconds to play, the College wasted little time getting back on top as Hess found McDowell for a backdoor lay-up with 11 seconds remaining. Following the Seahawks' final timeout of the game, guard Chad Tomko drove the left side of the lane, but his attempt was no good. Fields was there to clean up the miss with 3.4 seconds remaining, and McDowell’s 28-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer hit the front iron as UNCW celebrated a 62-61 road win.

The Green and Gold struggled from the field for the second straight game, connecting on only 38.6 percent shooting (22-of-57). Included in that effort was 32 percent (8-of-25) from 3-point range, and W&M was just 1-of-12 in the second half from long distance. The Tribe was a perfect 9-of-9 from the charity stripe. UNCW finished shooting 35.9 percent (23-of-64) from the floor and 32 percent (8-of-25) from 3-point range. The biggest different in the contest came on the glass where the Seahawks owned a 45-34 advantage and turned 19 offensive rebounds into a 22-6 margin in second chance points.

W&M came out of the gates on fire as the Tribe hit each of its first four shots from the floor, including a trio of 3-pointers. Schneider canned a pair of treys on the run and added two technical foul free throws at the 16:20 mark to give the College its largest lead of the game at 13-3.

The Seahawks responded with nine straight points, including six from freshman forward Keith Rendleman to narrow the margin to 13-12 with 13:40 remaining in the opening half. UNCW could not close the gap any more as W&M responded to push the lead back to nine points as senior guard Sean McCurdy found fellow classmate Danny Sumner for a bucket with 6:26 left in the half.

UNCW closed to within two points, 31-29, on a long 3-pointer from the left side by Tomko at the 1:16 mark, but it would be the Tribe that took the momentum into the locker room. On back-to-back possessions to end the half, W&M canned 3-pointers as Sumner hit with just under a minute left and Schneider knocked one down from the right wing at the halftime horn, giving W&M an eight-point, 37-29, lead at the intermission.

After the Seahawks scored the opening four points of the second half, W&M answered by scoring seven of the game’s next nine points. Following a Schneider 3-pointer, McCurdy made a steal on the defensive end and then drove the right side of the lane before scoring on a tough finish inside to put the Tribe one top, 44-35, with 15:56 left.

UNCW used a 10-point spurt out of the first media timeout to take its first lead of the night. Tomko and Grant canned back-to-back 3-pointers to start things. A Will Ohuaregbe lay-up closed the gap to a point, before Rendleman’s free throws at the 12:17 mark gave UNCW its first advantage of the game at 45-44.

W&M retook the lead on back-to-back baskets in the paint by Hess and freshman Kyle Gaillard, before extending the lead back to eight points. A pair of Danny Sumner free throws with 8:19 remaining pushed the W&M advantage to 55-47.

The Seahawks scored eight of the game’s next 10 points to narrow the margin to two points at 57-55 with 3:15 remaining. But the College regained a two-possession lead on a pair of free throws from Hess at the 1:22 mark. An offensive putback by Fields closed the deficit back to two points, before Grant's big 3-pointer from the left corner put the Seahawks back on top.

McCurdy finished with a team-high six assists compared to one turnover for the Tribe as W&M had another excellent assist-to-turnover ratio at 16-to-8. Grant led four Seahawks in double figures with 17 points, while Tomko and Ohuaregbe each added 12 points. Fields, who scored the game-winning bucket, finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, including seven offensive.

The Tribe will waste little time getting back to action when it travels to Delaware on Wednesday, Jan. 6. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. Fans can catch all the action over the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley, Bill McDonald and Charlie Woollum on the call. The broadcast will also be available over the Web at TribeAthletics.com.