Saturday, March 2, William and Mary men’s basketball (9-22, 4-14 CAA) defeated Hampton (8-23, 3-15 CAA) 85-73 at Kaplan Arena in Williamsburg, Va. The Senior Day victory broke the Tribe’s nine-game losing streak, placing the team in 14th place of the Coastal Athletic Association standings.
Offensively, William and Mary fired on all cylinders, shooting 66.7% at the free throw line and 42.9% from behind the arc.
Sophomore guard Trey Moss led in scoring, recording his sixth 20-point game of the season. Junior guard/forward Gabe Dorsey followed close in second, scoring 19 points. With five three-pointers, Gabe Dorsey broke a William and Mary record for three-pointers in a season.
“I’m very appreciative of the work that I put in coming to fruition,” Gabe Dorsey said. “It feels great to be able to do something like that on a day like this, our last home game.”
Graduate student guard Sean Houpt also scored five three-pointers, racking up 16 total points for the Tribe.
“There’s always a little bit of that on Senior Day, where your seniors always seem to provide a spark, whether it’s hitting big shots or making a big momentum play,” head coach Dane Fischer said. “Sean got us going today with that and had a really efficient day.”
William and Mary junior forward Caleb Dorsey opened scoring nine seconds into the game with a converted free throw. Barely over a minute later, Caleb Dorsey assisted sophomore guard Chase Lowe, whose layup extended the Tribe’s lead to 3-0. After receiving a pass from Lowe less than a minute later, Houpt knocked down a three.
With 16 minutes, 49 seconds remaining in the first half, Houpt scored his second three-pointer of the night, assisted by Gabe Dorsey. Just under a minute later, Hampton senior guard Tedrick Wilcox Jr. finally put the Pirates on the board with a made free throw. In the next 60 seconds, Hampton sophomore guard Trey Thomas’s jump shot and junior forward Ja’Von Benson’s hook shot narrowed the score to 9-5.
Assisted by Caleb Dorsey, Houpt’s third three-pointer of the matchup came in the eighth minute. Following a free throw from Hampton senior guard Dan Banister Jr. and another jumper from Thomas, Lowe passed to sophomore forward Charlie Williams, whose three extended the Tribe’s lead to 18-12.
With just under 10 minutes remaining in the first half, Williams assisted Houpt’s fourth three-pointer. Following a layup from Benson, Williams’s converted free throw increased the Tribe’s winning margin to eight points.
The remaining five minutes of the first half saw impressive plays from the Tribe.
Assisted by Williams, junior guard Matteus Case’s layup in the 16th minute increased the Tribe’s lead to 32-19. Roughly a minute later, Gabe Dorsey responded to a layup from Benson with a three-pointer of his own, assisted by Lowe.
Houpt converted a free throw point with 13 seconds left in the first half to maintain the Green and Gold’s lead. Ten seconds later, Hampton junior guard Jordan Nesbitt scored a three, and the Pirates ended the first half down 43-35.
The Tribe continued to capitalize on its offensive opportunities in the second half.
“I thought the second half was really key,” Fischer said. “I thought our guys really responded well coming out to start the second half.”
With a three-point jump shot assisted by Moss, Caleb Dorsey opened scoring in the second half. After receiving a pass from his brother, Caleb Dorsey scored another three-pointer less than a minute later, putting the Tribe up 49-35.
Assisted by Lowe, Gabe Dorsey scored his second three-pointer of the matchup with 17:49 remaining in the game. Less than two minutes later, the dynamic duo struck again, with Lowe assisting Gabe Dorsey for his third three of the game.
Following a layup from Benson, Houpt’s fifth three-pointer came in the 25th minute, assisted by Williams yet again.
Gabe Dorsey extended the Tribe’s lead to 65-52 in the ninth minute of the half with another three-pointer assisted by Lowe. Under a minute later, Dorsey converted two free throws, and Williams passed to Lowe, whose layup increased the Green and Gold’s lead to 15 points.
Though the Pirates managed to narrow the Tribe’s lead to five points with 7:19 left in the game, William and Mary’s offense continued to dominate.
Assisted by Caleb Dorsey, Gabe Dorsey scored his fifth three-pointer with just over five minutes left in regulation. In the 37th minute, Moss’s three-point jumper followed by a converted free throw boosted the Tribe’s lead to 81-71. With 1:37 left in the matchup, Moss’s hook shot and another converted free throw cemented the Tribe’s victory.
Though Wilcox managed to rack up two more points for the Pirates with 17 seconds left in the game, the Green and Gold secured the 85-73 win.
Fischer emphasized the team’s strong offensive play.
“Offensively, we had a mindset of just sharing the ball and moving it,” Fischer said. “I thought we came out of the gates today and got some really good stuff offensively early.”
Going into the CAA tournament, both Gabe Dorsey and Fischer viewed the victory as a fresh start for the Tribe.
“We flipped the script around heading into the tournament and gained a little bit of momentum for our team,” Gabe Dorsey said. “We have a new season ahead of us, and we can really turn this around and make a new run at this.”
Friday, March 8, William and Mary men’s basketball will face North Carolina A&T (7-24, 5-13 CAA) in the first round of the Coastal Athletic Association tournament at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, D.C.
