Thursday, Jan. 18, William and Mary men’s basketball (7-12, 2-4 CAA) lost to Campbell (9-9, 3-2 CAA) 77-64 at home in Kaplan Arena in Williamsburg, Va.
The loss to the visiting Camels marked the Tribe’s second consecutive Coastal Athletic Association loss after losing a tight contest to Stony Brook the week prior.
Thursday’s matchup started out even, with both teams exchanging baskets for the first few minutes. A 7-1 run for the Tribe gave the team an early lead within the first six minutes. Campbell held on, keeping the deficit within reach, as it made 12 of its first 17 shots of the game. Throughout the half, the visiting team slowly crawled back into the game. With two minutes, four seconds remaining in the first half, the visiting Camels trailed by a one point deficit, 27-26, to the Tribe. Campbell took back the lead thanks to back-to-back scores from sophomore guard Anthony Dell’Orso and a three pointer from senior guard Gediminas Mokseckas. With just three seconds remaining in the half William and Mary’s junior forward Caleb Dorsey converted a three to conclude the half with the Tribe down just five, 31-36.
The second half started off relatively slow for the Tribe, as Campbell tacked on four more points to take its lead to nine before a fast break three pointer from sophomore guard Trey Moss broke the Camels’ momentum. Five minutes into the half, William and Mary cut the deficit to three, as junior guard Matteus Case converted from beyond the arc to make the score 42-45. However, the three point deficit was the closest the Tribe came to closing the gap, as Campbell held onto and later extended its lead through the remaining 15 minutes. Campbell sealed its victory with a final score of 77-64 over William and Mary.
Sophomore guard Chase Lowe led the Tribe with 14 points, Moss was close behind with 13 and Case and junior guard Gabe Dorsey both added 12. William and Mary recorded a respectable 42.9% from 3-point range, going 12-28. However, Campbell shot 61.8% from the floor to propel themselves to victory. Dell’Orso led the team on offense, recording 26 points on the game.
William and Mary then traveled to Greensboro, N.C. to take on North Carolina A and T, losing 69-76 on Saturday, Jan. 20.
In Saturday’s match-up, Lowe recorded a career high 25 points, going 7-10 from the floor and 11-14 from the free-throw line. Moss also added big for the Tribe with 17 points and eight rebounds.
William and Mary had a solid first half, overcoming an initial 8-0 run from North Carolina A and T and taking its first lead of the game with six minutes, 51 seconds remaining in the first half. Both teams exchanged leads for the rest of the half, with North Carolina A and T ending up with a one point lead, 26-25.
Gabe Dorsey scored the Tribe’s first basket of the half to reclaim the lead. North Carolina A and T responded quickly with a jumper from graduate student forward Jeremy Robinson and the team held its lead for the rest of the game. William and Mary was able to cut down the deficit at times, but was never able to even the score. Even as Lowe recorded 10 straight points for the Tribe and helped William and Mary cut the score to 73-69 with 31 seconds remaining, North Carolina A and T held off the Tribe’s advances, and ended the game on top, 76-69. William and Mary went only 2-22 from beyond the arc and shot 35.1% from the floor.
The Tribe will travel to face Hofstra on Thursday, Jan. 25 in Hempstead, N.Y.
