This Saturday, William and Mary finished its three-game road trip with a visit to Notre Dame for the third game of the Gotham Classic. With a leg injury forcing one of their top scorers, junior guard Justin Pierce, to sit the game out, the Tribe still managed to go into halftime with a one-point lead. At the end of the day, though, the 16 offensive rebounds and 16 second-chance points put up by the Fighting Irish (3-1) helped them outlast the College (1-3) and secure a 73-64 victory.
Both teams got off to a slow start, with the Tribe’s turnovers helping the Fighting Irish take an early 5-1 lead. A six-minute scoring drought by Notre Dame and hot three-point shooting from the Tribe helped it close the gap and give the College the lead with 13 minutes remaining in the first half.
The two teams continued to trade baskets down the stretch, keeping the game extremely close. Junior forward Nathan Knight led the Tribe at the half with nine points, going seven-for-eight from the free throw line. Freshman guard LJ Owens and Chase Audige both contributed six points, and the Tribe ended the first half with a 28-27 lead.
The second half continued the trend started in the first, with the two teams battling for every basket. The lead fluctuated constantly between the Tribe and the Fighting Irish in the early minutes, with both teams playing a very physical game.
The Fighting Irish began to dominate the game with six minutes left in the second half, going on a 14-2 run and pushing their lead to 11. The Tribe eventually responded, with redshirt junior guard Matt Milon hitting two quick threes and cutting the lead to six with 45 seconds left, but the Fighting Irish proved to be too much to handle. Three players from the College would finish in double digits for scoring, Knight with 18 and Owens and Milon with 11, but Notre Dame would outlast the Tribe and claim a 73-64 victory.
Tuesday, the College will finish its play in the Gotham Classic, taking on Radford at home. It will then stay at home to face Atlantic 10 opponent Saint Joseph’s next Saturday.