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Delaware rallies, defeats William and Mary

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wm-logoDespite a career-high 30 points from sophomore Omar Prewitt, the William and Mary men’s basketball team could not hold off a second-half Delaware rally, falling to the Blue Hens, 84-80, on Wednesday night. The Tribe led by as many as 16 points in the second half, but UD cameback behind 69 percent shooting and 52 points in the final 20 minutes. The loss snapped a three-game Tribe winning streak as they fell to 11-7 overall and 5-2 in league play, while Delaware bumped its marked to 4-14 and 3-4 in CAA action.

Prewitt became the 41st player in W&M history to scored 30 points in a game and tallied the sixth-best single-game total for a Tribe sophomore in program history. The Mount Sterling, Ky., native added seven rebounds, while shooting 8-of-13 from the field, a career-best 6-of-9 from 3-point range and added a perfect 8-of-8 effort from the charity stripe. Junior Terry Tarpey tallied his fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds to go with a team-best six assists. SeniorMarcus Thornton became W&M’s all-time leader in 3-pointers made and moved into third on the Green and Gold’s career scoring list with 15 points on the night.

Thornton wasted little time bettering David Schneider’s career 3-pointers mark, knocking down a triple just over a minute into the ball game. The trey jumped started the Tribe’s long-range marksmanship as W&M hit each of its first six 3-pointers in gaining the early edge. SophomoreDaniel Dixon, Thornton and Prewitt each hit two 3-poitners during the stretch. The final triple of the opening seven minutes came from Prewitt and started a 7-0 Tribe run. Freshman Greg Malinowskiknocked down a pair of free throws and an Oliver Tot steal led to a fast-break Tarpey dunk, giving W&M a 22-11 lead with 11:47 left in the opening half.
The Tribe cushion ballooned to as many as 17, 35-18, with 6:09 remaining in the first half on a Malinowski 3-pointer from the right corner. Delaware used a 9-2 run capped by a Kyle Anderson triple to draw within 10, 37-27, with 2:25 left in the half. W&M took a 44-32 lead into the locker room thanks in large part to 16 first-half points from Prewitt and a 9-of-14 effort from 3-point range.
W&M’s advantage moved back to 16 points in the second half with 15:36 remaining on another Prewitt 3-pointer. The margin was still 16, 58-42, after a pair of Malinowski free throws just over a minute later, before the Blue Hens put together a 15-1 run to cut the gap to two points. In total, UD hit seven straight shot to dig out of the 16-point hole. Devonne Pinkard and Chivarsky Corbett each connected on 3-pointers and Kory Holden scored five points on the run. A Marvin King-Davis jumper in the paint at the 10:50 mark closed it to 59-57.
Back-to-back lay-ups from junior Sean Sheldon briefly pushed the Tribe lead back to six, 65-59, at the 8:23 mark. An Anderson 3-pointer from the left side with 5:07 remaining sliced the Tribe advantage to one, before the Blue Hens took their first lead since the 17:03 mark of the first half. Maurice Jeffers found Pinkard for a lay-up with four and a half minutes remaining to put Delaware on top, 70-69.
Four straight points from Prewitt put W&M back in front 73-70 with 3:37 left, but Anderson quickly hit a three to tie it and spark an 8-0 Blue Hen run. A Cazmon Hayes lay-up followed by an old fashion 3-point play by Holden gave the home team a 78-73 lead with 1:15 left.

Coupled with the 3-point play, Holden scored the Blue Hens’ final nine points to propel the home team to victory. A deep Prewitt 3-pointer with five seconds remaining narrowed the margin to 82-80, but Holden hit both free throws with three ticks left to close out the Delaware victory.

The Tribe finished the contest at 44.4 percent (24-of-54) from the field, including a 12-of-25 effort (48 percent) from 3-point range. The Green and Gold continued its strong shooting at the free throw line, hitting 20-of-25 (80 percent). Dixon finished with nine points on a trio of 3-pointers for the Tribe. Malinowski had another strong game off the Tribe bench with seven points and three rebounds, while Sheldon added seven points and three rebounds as well to go with two blocked shots and two assists.

The Blue Hens connected on 55.9 percent (33-of-59) from the field thanks to its 69 percent (20-of-29) in the second half. UD hit 8-of-20 from 3-point range (40 percent) and 10-of-13 (76.9 percent) from the free throw line. Delaware also held a 32-29 advantage on the glass. Holden led the Blue Hens with 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting to go with nine assists, while Anderson added 23 points. Hayes finished with 13 points and King-Davis chipped in 10 points and six rebounds.

The Tribe returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 24, when it hosts the Gold Rush Game on national television against Northeastern. The contest is slated for a 2 p.m. tip and will be broadcast on the NBC Sports Network. With the Gold Rush, fans are asked to wear gold and help us #PacktheKap. The first 3,000 fans will receive a gold pom-pom courtesy of Boyer’s Diamond and Fine Jewelry and the first 1,000 fans will received a gold t-shirt thanks to University Advancement.
Saturday will also be the third annual Shoeless Showdown. C&F Bank, Chick-fil-a and The Salvation Army of Williamsburg once again team up with Tribe Athletics to raise awareness for children and adults in the area in need of shoes. Fans that donate a new pair of shoes (children or adult) at the game, will receive a free ticket to the contest. In addition, each person donating a new pair of shoes will get a ticket to the Tribe’s home game with Elon on Feb. 11, a coupon for a free Chick-fil-A sandwich and a $10 voucher toward a new C&F checking account.

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