William and Mary men’s basketball (17-13, 11-6 CAA) split two conference matchups over the weekend, defeating Elon (17-13, 8-9 CAA) on the road but falling to North Carolina Wilmington (23-7, 13-4 CAA) at Kaplan Arena. The latter game marked the Tribe’s first home loss since Feb. 22, 2024, which also came against UNCW.
The Green and Gold is now eliminated from Coastal Athletic Association regular-season title contention, as the Towson Tigers have clinched the championship. However, the Tribe is still vying for a top-four seed at the CAA Tournament, which would secure it a double-bye to the quarterfinals.
Saturday, Feb. 22, William and Mary took down Elon 79-70 at the Schar Center in Elon, N.C. The teams began the afternoon in lockstep, with early three-pointers from graduate student forward Malachi Ndur, graduate student forward Keller Boothby and senior guard Gabe Dorsey canceled out by a scoring spurt by Elon junior guard TK Simpkins.
Tribe junior guard Kyle Pulliam gave the visitors a spark, taking a defensive rebound all the way down the court for a layup before hitting a three-pointer, but the Green and Gold couldn’t find a way to get stops. Buckets from Simpkins, freshman forward Brayden Crump, sophomore forward Kendall Campbell and senior forward Sam Sherry kept the momentum in the hands of Elon. As the Phoenix took a 26-19 lead with fewer than nine minutes remaining in the first half, it seemed as though the hosts were beginning to break away.
It was then the Tribe offense erupted. Gabe Dorsey nailed a three-pointer to cut into the Elon advantage before senior guard Matteus Case rattled in a free throw to further bring the Green and Gold within striking distance. Simpkins briefly kept William and Mary at bay with two free throws of his own, but the Phoenix wouldn’t stay in front for much longer. Dorsey made another triple, and junior guard Chase Lowe banked in a driving layup. The Tribe finally seized a 30-28 lead after freshman guard Isaiah Mbeng converted a fast-break two-pointer.
The Green and Gold would go on to extend its advantage to 41-28. From the seven minute, 31 second mark to the one minute, 34 second mark, the visitors outscored the Phoenix 18-0, scoring 11 fast break points and holding Elon to 0-9 shooting. No single Tribe player carried the offensive load during this stretch: Gabe Dorsey, senior forward Caleb Dorsey, Lowe, Mbeng, Pulliam and Case each scored.
A late Crump bucket stopped the hosts’ bleeding, but the Green and Gold nevertheless took a 46-31 lead into the locker room. Gabe Dorsey finished the half with 15 points on five of six shooting from beyond the arc.
Both Dorseys opened the second period with three-pointers before a Boothby triple made the William and Mary lead 55-35. Although Elon would respond with a run of its own, led by Simpkins’ game-high 30 points, the Phoenix never got within seven points of the Tribe.
Despite losing the rebounding battle 40-30 and shooting 16 fewer free throws than its opponent, the Green and Gold forced 17 Elon turnovers and outshot its opponents 38.9% to 26.3% from beyond the arc. All of Gabe Dorsey’s team-high 21 points came on three-pointers, while Boothby and Caleb Dorsey contributed three and two triples, respectively. Lowe posted ten points and racked up six assists, and Pulliam scored 13 while grabbing four rebounds.
Monday, Feb. 24, William and Mary fell to UNCW 79-70 at Kaplan Arena in Williamsburg, Va. The loss snapped the Green and Gold’s 13-game home winning streak and moved the visiting Seahawks into second place in the CAA standings while dropping the Tribe into a two-way tie for third.
The visitors jumped out to a substantial advantage to start the night, making each of their first six shots and taking a 15-5 lead after junior guard Nolan Hodge made a three-pointer at the 16 minute, 37 second mark. Two triples from junior guard Kyle Frazier helped the hosts cut their deficit to 19-14, but a hard collision between Frazier and Hodge stopped play at the 15 minute, 12 second mark as the officials went to the monitor to check for a potential flagrant foul.
To the great displeasure of the 3,464-person strong Kaplan Arena crowd, which believed Hodge initiated the contact, both players were assessed offsetting fouls. Minutes later, Frazier was whistled for his second foul of the half, sending him to the bench for most of the remainder of the game.
Nevertheless, the Tribe continued to battle back. A fast-break layup from Lowe and a three-pointer from Caleb Dorsey made the score 21-19 in favor of the Seahawks with fewer than 12 minutes left until halftime. A subsequent UNCW run was halted by Caleb Dorsey, who tipped in a Pulliam miss for his eighth point of the game. However, scoring spurts from graduate student guard Bo Montgomery and junior forward Harlan Obioha gave the Seahawks a 39-31 with three minutes, 35 seconds on the clock.
For the second consecutive game, William and Mary proceeded to launch a lopsided offensive spree. Pulliam made four free throws and Ndur tossed in a triple as the Tribe held its opponents scoreless for the final three minutes of the half. The Green and Gold entered the locker room having evened the score at 39.
Gabe Dorsey kept the Tribe in front after the break, draining three triples in the first four minutes of the second half to give the hosts a 52-43 advantage. The senior finished the night five of eight from beyond the arc. Since the Green and Gold’s Feb. 8 game against Delaware, Gabe Dorsey has made 30 of 43, or 69.7%, of his threes.
“We made shots, we defended early on in the second half,” he said. “I feel like that’s how we need to come out every time.”
UNCW slowly chipped away at the hosts’ lead, putting the Tribe’s lack of interior depth on full display. Without senior forward Noah Collier, who suffered a lower-body injury against Charleston on Feb. 3, the Green and Gold had little recourse for the seven-foot, 280-pound Obioha. The Seahawks’ big man got to the rim at will down the stretch, scoring ten points over five minutes to give UNCW a 64-63 advantage at the seven minute, 36 second mark.
“I think we tried everything that there is in the handbook,” Earl said. “Fronting behind, zone. A few of the things worked for a possession or so, but they did a good job of just saying ‘this is how the game’s going to go.’ Short of growing in the moment physically, it’s tough to do something about it, and [Obioha] had a great game.”
Case responded to Obioha’s rampage with a layup, but UNCW junior forward Khamari McGriff fired back with two free throws, giving the Seahawks a 66-65 lead they would never give back. The Green and Gold began to get stops against Obioha but went ice-cold over the game’s final minutes, surrendering a 14-5 run that sealed a UNCW victory.
“It’s just tough. They made their runs,” Gabe Dorsey said. “They made a big run to kind of close the game, to kind of go up seven at a crucial point.”
Gabe Dorsey led the Tribe with 19 points, while Caleb Dorsey was the only other William and Mary player to break the double-digit scoring threshold, putting up 13. Lowe finished with eight points, five rebounds and five assists, while Pulliam put up nine points on five made free throws. Frazier scored eight points in just eight minutes played.
“Tough game for us tonight,” Earl said. “I thought we had the formula for a little bit, but they just were big and strong and either scored in the post or got an offensive rebound. We tried a number of different things to deal with that, but without us making maybe as many shots as I’d hoped, it’s tough to beat a team like that. “
William and Mary shot efficiently from the field but was crushed on the interior, losing the rebounding battle 43-26 and shooting nine free throws to UNCW’s 20. Obioha finished with 23 points, and McGriff finished with 14.
“I think it’s pretty obvious to everybody that we were pretty much manhandled in [the rebounding] aspect of the game tonight,” Gabe Dorsey said. “So we have some things to clean up, and we will.”
Despite the loss, Earl and Dorsey praised the energy of the Kaplan Arena crowd.
“I always love seeing the students, the cheerleaders, the band,” Earl said. “Most of us attended college, and you remember the good times, and it’s because the young people are out there having a good time. They help us, and they help their classmates and schoolmates so much by being here. We’re disappointed we couldn’t finish it off for them, but I hope they’re having a good time because we have a good time when we see them.”
The Tribe went on to fall to league champion Towson (20-10, 15-2 CAA) Thursday, Feb. 27 at TU Arena in Towson, Md. It will continue its quest for a double-bye when it wraps up the regular season Saturday, March 1 against Northeastern (16-14, 8-9) at Kaplan Arena in Williamsburg, Va.
