Senior guard Daniel Dixon enjoyed one of the most memorable performances in Tribe history leading the William & Mary men’s basketball team to a 65-54 win at Old Dominion on Thursday night.
Dixon, a 2013 Fishburne Military School postgrad alum, scored a career-high 36 points, which marked the most points for an ODU opponent in Ted Constant Center history. The Tribe (6-5), which has won five of its last six against ODU, also did the job defensively, limiting the Monarchs (7-5) to 30.3 percent from the floor and only 13 percent from 3-point range.
Dixon’s 36 points were the 13th most in W&M history and the most since Marcus Thornton tallied a CAA Tournament record 37 in 2015. The Great Falls, Va., native connected on 11-of-17 from the floor, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range, and added a 9-of-10 effort from the free throw line.
Dixon’s performance bettered the old Constant Center opponent record of 35 set by Cleveland State’s Norris Cole in 2011. Cole went on to win two NBA championships with the Miami Heat and spent five years in the league.
After hitting a pair of early threes to get things started, Dixon knocked down a pair of free throws with 8:25 remaining to give the Tribe its largest first-half lead at 19-10.
Four different Monarchs scored as part of a 9-1 run. ODU drew within 20-19 at the 6:03 mark on an Ahmad Caver jumper. W&M tallied five in a row, including a Greg Malinowski 3-pointer, but ODU pulled even at 25 on a Taylor free throw with just under two minutes remaining in the half.
Dixon continued his onslaught over the close of the first half and start of the second half. Spanning nearly five minutes between the two, the Tribe senior scored 12-straight W&M points. He personally outscored ODU 12-5 during the stretch. Just over six minutes into the second half, Dixon found classmate Omar Prewitt along with left wing for a 3-pointer to make it a 15-5 Tribe run and extend the advantage to double-digits for the first time at 40-30.
ODU whittled the lead down to four, 47-43, and then three, 52-49, in the final six minutes, but each time Dixon had the answer. On the first occasion, he haulted the Monarch run with a 3-pointer from the right side. After the home team cut the gap to a single possession, Dixon sparked an 8-1 run. He totaled five of the Tribe’s eight points during the spurt to extend the margin back to double-digits, 60-50, with just a minute to play.
W&M hit 8-of-10 from the free throw line, including a perfect 6-of-6 from Dixon, over the final 1:09 of the contest to put the game out of reach.
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