Monday, Nov. 3, William and Mary men’s basketball (1-0, 0-0 CAA) started its season off on the right foot, beating Georgian Court (0-1, 0-0 CACC) 110-63 in its season opener in Kaplan Arena in Williamsburg, Va.
Monday night’s game marked the Green and Gold’s fifth consecutive season-opening game at home, and increased the team’s impressive home-opening record to 19-4 over its last 23 home openers.
The Tribe enters the 2025-26 season hopeful following its promising season last year, one that welcomed head coach Brian Earl to Williamsburg — and showed his immediate impact on the court. In his first season with the College, Earl led the Green and Gold to a 17-15 overall record, including an impressive 11-7 record against Coastal Athletic Association opponents that earned the Tribe a double bye in the CAA tournament last March.
William and Mary’s fast-paced offense looks to continue its success heading into this season, despite looking drastically different than it did the year before. Only seven players on this year’s roster are returning to Williamsburg, and three key players — Gabe Dorsey ’25, Caleb Dorsey ’25 and Matteus Case ’25 — graduated and are now playing professionally overseas.
To revamp heading into this season, the Green and Gold took full advantage of the transfer portal, bringing seven new players home to Kaplan Arena. Among them, graduate transfer guard Cade Haskins, graduate transfer forward Jo’el Emanuel and graduate transfer guard Jhei-R Jones are expected to play major roles in the future of this season’s team, expanding on the impressive successes each has already accomplished throughout their collegiate careers.
Even with the roster changes, the Tribe opened the season fourth in the CAA preseason poll, the team’s best preseason rank since 2018.
With all of the excitement heading into its first game, the Green and Gold wasted no time getting rolling on Monday night. After losing the opening tip and getting a strong defensive stop on the Lions’ first possession, the Tribe’s scoring started with a smooth inside finish from junior forward Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi, courtesy of a slick pass from senior guard Chase Lowe. Georgian Court bounced back with two mid-ranges of their own, but after a crafty layup by junior forward Kilian Brockhoff and two Lowe free throws, the Tribe pulled out to a 9-6 lead with just over 16 minutes left in the half. After the Green and Gold’s full-court trap defense forced an immediate turnover, the Lions were forced to call their first timeout of the half.
Following the timeout, both teams struggled to score. Solid defense and sloppy ball handling on both sides kept the score knotted at 11-6 for over a minute of play, leading to a second Lion timeout.
The Tribe ended that scoreless streak with a bang. After a loose ball gave the Green and Gold possession under its own basket, Emanuel slammed an alley-oop from Jones, giving William and Mary a 13-6 lead. In the following two possessions, the Tribe kept its foot on the gas, converting another layup before senior forward Finn Lally drilled his first three of the season.
Georgian Court continued to scrap its way back with two contested layups of its own, cutting the lead to six with just over 12 minutes left in the half. However, the Tribe’s full-court defense struck again, leading to another Tribe three, this time courtesy of senior guard Kyle Pulliam. After another Tribe steal, a Lowe layup extended the Green and Gold’s early lead to 27-12.
With just under eight minutes left in the half, William and Mary’s offense seemed to be completely overpowering the visiting Lions. Within 40 seconds, the Green and Gold converted on two easy layups by Haskins and Emanuel, pushing the lead to 19.
As the half continued, one aspect of the Tribe’s game stood out the most — its passing. Almost every basket in the first half was assisted on, and, paired with Earl’s signature fast-paced offense, the visiting Lions looked helpless on the court.
As the first half drew to a close, the Green and Gold’s defense continued to propel the home team further out ahead. Heading into the break, an 11-5 Tribe run sent both teams into the locker room with a 56-26 William and Mary lead.
After the break, the Tribe showed no sign of slowing down. Following a mid-range make from Pulliam, another Lowe layup and a contested three from Haskins, the Green and Gold lead extended to 33 with just under 18 minutes left in the half. Less than two minutes later, an emphatic dunk from sophomore guard Ryan Jackson Jr. sent Kaplan into a craze, forcing Georgian Court to call its first timeout of the half.
William and Mary punished the rim in the second half, especially after another dunk from Pulliam extended the Green and Gold lead to 81-37 with 11 minutes, 41 seconds left in the game. To the visiting Lions’ dismay, that lead only grew in the next possession, this time courtesy of a Brockhoff three.
As time expired in its first matchup of the season, the Green and Gold left no doubt that they were the better team in the arena. With a final score of 110-63, the Tribe, fueled by double-digit scoring from all five of its starters, cruised to its first win of the 2025-26 season.
The Green and Gold will continue the non-conference portion of its season later this week, when it travels to Norfolk State (1-0, 0-0 MEAC) to take on the Spartans in Joseph G. Echols Hall in Norfolk, Va.
