William and Mary men’s basketball (7-2, 0-0 CAA) never let the moment escape it Sunday, Nov. 30, outlasting a strong push from in-state rival Old Dominion (3-6, 0-0 Sun Belt) to stay unbeaten at Kaplan Arena. The Tribe improved its home record to 3-0 and extended its winning streak to five games with an 88-75 victory over the Monarchs. Behind career-best nights from junior forwards Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi and Kilian Brockhoff, the Green and Gold shot 50% from the field and continued one of the program’s strongest starts in recent years.
On the big screen, highlights of past clashes between William and Mary and Old Dominion played on loop, inspiring an energy that carried into the game’s opening minutes. After ODU claimed an early lead behind a quick basket, triples from Vahlberg Fasasi and graduate student forward Cade Haskins put the Tribe back in front.
The first major turning point came midway through the half, when graduate student forward Jo’el Emanuel erupted for an electrifying, one-handed block at the rim, a momentous play that brought both benches to their feet. On its very next defensive possession, William and Mary executed a perfect mid-paint double team, forcing a turnover that it converted into points on the offensive end. The sequence shifted the tone of the half, giving the Green and Gold control.
Minutes later, Brockhoff absorbed a hard foul in the lane, went down and took several seconds to gather himself before rising to hit two free throws. The resilient moment exemplified the physical grit that William and Mary leaned on throughout the afternoon against the Monarchs.
As the half progressed, the Tribe embraced its identity: shared offense, disciplined spacing and rim pressure. In total, the Green and Gold racked up 17 assists on 31 made field goals, a statistic head coach Brian Earl quickly pointed to after the win.
“In college basketball, there’s a lot of individualism,” Earl said. “So us climbing towards the top of a statistic that says we play for each other makes me happy.”
That connectivity kept the Monarchs off balance and produced a steady rhythm of interior scoring, part of the Tribe’s 42 paint points for the afternoon. By halftime, William and Mary led 39-29.
When the teams returned from the locker room, ODU delivered its largest blow of the afternoon, quickly trimming the deficit to 45-43, the closest the Monarchs got since the opening minutes. However, William and Mary responded with its most complete stretch of the night.
At 11:37, Haskins buried a rhythm three from the right wing, a timely, stabilizing shot that immediately halted the ODU run. On the next Tribe scoring trip, Emanuel attacked a seam for a strong finish at the rim, restoring breathing room. Later, Brockhoff sealed his defender deep in the paint and scored through contact, one of several interior finishes that helped him reach a career-high 21 points.
While the Tribe’s offense kept its lead intact, it was the defense that broke ODU’s momentum for good. Rotations tightened, gaps closed and passing lanes constricted. William and Mary turned 16 Monarch turnovers into 20 points.
“Everyone played defense as a team,” Vahlberg Fasasi said. “Being in gaps and not making it a one-on-one game on the defensive.”
With the lead back to double digits, Vahlberg Fasasi, who finished with 25 points, repeatedly attacked ODU closeouts for drives, mid-range pull-ups and finishes in traffic. He credited his teammates for catalyzing his career performance.
“The way we play, my teammates finding me, me finding my teammates — that’s how we score all our points,” Vahlberg Fasasi said.
With newcomers, transfers, and underclassmen taking on major minutes, adaptability has become essential to the Tribe’s success. Earl specifically highlighted the versatility of Emmanuel, who finished with 16 points.
“Jo’el’s great,” Earl said. “We’re asking him to do something he’s comfortable with, and he hasn’t said a word about it. We want him to dribble the ball up the court, and that’s crazy.”
On a day when William and Mary piled up paint points, free throws and interior buckets while making just 22.7% of its triples, Earl said he was unbothered by his team’s three-point shooting percentage.
“In the end, I don’t care,” Earl said. “I like watching threes go in, and I like watching twos go in, and today was mostly twos.”
In the closing minutes, the Tribe’s control of the game sharpened rather than slipped. After ODU’s last meaningful push fizzled out inside the five-minute mark, William and Mary strung together a sequence of high-percentage looks. Emanuel and Brockhoff each secured tough rebounds through traffic, while Fasasi hunted late-clock drives to keep the margin stable. By the two-minute mark, the Monarchs were forced into hurried perimeter shots and the Tribe sealed an 88–75 victory.
The Tribe’s turnaround is quick, as William and Mary heads to Pittsburgh, Pa. to take on Duquesne (5-2, 0-0 A10) Tuesday, Dec. 2 at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
Earl emphasized the importance of carrying Sunday’s success forward without getting too wrapped up by the win.
“It’s important not to get too high or too low after a win or loss,” Earl said. “So we just keep doing what we do.”
