WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — Down to eight healthy players, William & Mary found a way on Wednesday night, gutting out an 84-79 win over rival Old Dominion inside Kaplan Arena.
The Tribe (4-6) trailed by as many as eight points just 1:37 into the second half, but responded by shooting 65%, including 8-of-14 from 3-point range, in the final 20 minutes. Led by the trio of junior Caleb Dorsey and sophomores Charlie Williams and Trey Moss, W&M hit big shot after big shot to hold off the Monarchs (3-5).
Dorsey poured in a career-high 17 points, all in the second half. He was 6-of-7 from the floor, including 5-of-6 from distance, in the final 20 minutes. Williams scored 16 of his career-high 23 points in the opening half. He finished the game hitting 5-of-10 from 3-point range and dished out a game-high six assists. Moss, the resident iron-man playing all 40 minutes, posted a career-high tying 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting to go with a career-high seven rebounds and three assists compared to zero turnovers.
Trailing 51-46 with 13:54 remaining, the Tribe used a 9-0 run to take the lead for good. W&M hit 6-of-8 at the free throw line during the stretch, but the big blow came on a Caleb Dorsey 3-pointer from the top of the key to put W&M on top 52-51 just a minute later.
Two more Caleb Dorsey triples extended the Tribe's advantage to its largest at 67-58 with 7:37 remaining in the contest.
Seven-straight ODU points pulled the visitor back within one, 73-72, on a Vasean Allette steal and fastbreak lay-up with 3:27 left.
W&M answered with back-to-back 3-pointers from Caleb Dorsey and Williams to push the Tribe lead back to seven, 79-72, just over two minutes remaining.
Allette had a personal six-point run to once again draw the Monarchs within a point, 79-78, with 1:20 left. Allette led all scorers with 30 points on 13-of-19 shooting.
ODU had a chance to take the lead with just 53 seconds remaining, but Chaunce Jenkins' 3-point attempt was off the mark and Moss pulled down the defensive rebound. W&M hit 5-of-6 at the free throw line over the final 34 seconds pull out the victory.
The Tribe finished the game shooting 53.2% (25-of-47) from the floor, including 15-of-31 (48.4%) from 3. W&M connected on 19-of 27 (70.4%) at the free throw line and held a 28-26 advantage on the glass against the Monarchs.
Junior Gabe Dorsey finished with 12 points on a trio of 3-pointers, while sophomore Chase Lowe just missed his second-straight double-double with nine points, eight rebounds and two assists. Sophomore Miles Hicks gave W&M a lift off bench with his defense tallying a steal and knocking down a big second-half 3-pointer in 16 minutes.
Both teams started the game hot from the floor. Old Dominion hit seven of its first nine shots, while W&M countered with six of its first nine.
The Green and Gold took first lead of the contest with eight-straight from Charlie Williams. His dunk tied it and his right wing triple put W&M on top 18-15 at 13:07 mark.
Those five Williams' points were part of a 12-2 Tribe run. A Trey Moss floater extended the Tribe margin to 25-17 with 8:41 left in the first half.
ODU used an 18-3 run to open up its largest lead of the opening 20 minutes. The Monarchs retook the lead, 28-27, on an Allette jumper with 6:18 left in the half. ODU ended the run with seven in a row capped by a fastbreak dunk for R.J. Blakney to put the visitor in front, 35-28, with 2:20 left.
For the game, the Monarchs shot 50.8% (30-of-59) from the floor, including 11-of-27 from 3. Jenkins totaled 12 points, while Tyrone Williams added 10 points and Bryce Baker hit three 3-pointers to finish with nine.
Undermanned, Williams scores 23 as William & Mary knocks off Old Dominion 84-79
Down to eight healthy players, the Tribe found a way on Wednesday night, gutting out a win over their rivals in the Monarchs inside Kaplan Arena.