After starting Coastal Athletic Association play with a bang, scoring home victories over Stony Brook (11-9, 3-4 CAA) and preseason league favorite Towson (10-9, 2-4 CAA), William and Mary men’s basketball (12-6, 3-3 CAA) fell into a slump, dropping three straight contests for the first time all season.
The Tribe kicked off the new year with an extended road trip that took it from Charleston, S.C., to West Long Branch, N.J., to Philadelphia, Pa. Removed from the friendly confines of Kaplan Arena for the first time since December 6, William and Mary’s shots found rim instead of nylon — the Tribe made a paltry 25.3% of its three-point attempts — and head coach Brian Earl’s squad returned to Williamsburg at 2-3 in conference play, good for seventh place in the CAA. After blazing one of the program’s hottest-ever starts to a campaign, William and Mary needed to replenish its gunpowder.
Thursday, January 15, the Tribe did so in emphatic fashion, setting a season high in points against a Division I opponent during its 97-89 victory over North Carolina Agricultural and Technical (7-9, 0-5 CAA). William and Mary’s performance was not without defensive warts, but the Green and Gold posted a scorching 1.27 points per possession, drained 56.2% of its three-point attempts and once again looked like a team capable of competing for the CAA crown.
“We had three games in maybe six days last week that were difficult,” Earl said. “I mean, we should have handled it better, but it’s always nice to be at home, and so I thought we took advantage of it, even though we had to take a lot of punches to get there.”
Under Earl, William and Mary has enjoyed one of the most pronounced home-court advantages in the nation, boasting a 19-2 record at Kaplan Arena since the beginning of the 2024-2025 campaign. In front of an announced audience of 3,241 fans, it was business as usual for the Tribe against NC A&T. Although the bleachers were all but devoid of students, most of whom remained off-campus for winter break, the crowd made its presence known at the game’s most important moments. A late first-half surge from the Aggies was quickly snuffed out by Earl’s crew, bolstered by the Kaplan faithful.
“It was great to get a win, you know,” Earl said. “Just completely a 180 from our past weekend on the road. [NC A&T] really fought hard. They made a lot of shots and really came in and gave us everything we could handle. It was great to be in front of our fans. It was loud when we needed it and, you know, anytime you can get a win, it’s a good day.”
During William and Mary’s three-game losing streak, the Tribe struggled to get off on the right foot, constantly finding itself in early holes. Against Drexel (9-10, 3-3), William and Mary trailed 37-28 at halftime; against Charleston (11-8, 4-2 CAA), it conceded an 18-3 run in the first half; three days later, it gave up a 14-2 first-half run, this time to Monmouth (8-10, 2-3).
Thursday, however, the Tribe had no trouble asserting itself in the opening minutes. Rather than rattling off a single dominant scoring stretch, William and Mary seized an advantage at the 15 minute, 41 second mark and fought off the visitors from there, holding NC A&T at arm’s length for the remainder of the afternoon. Graduate student forward Cade Haskins and senior guards Kyle Pulliam and Chase Lowe set the tone with early layups — on the day, 61.4% of the Tribe’s field goal attempts came at the rim — before graduate student guard Jhei-R Jones catapulted William and Mary into the lead with ten consecutive points.
Jones finished the game with 13 points on 66.7% field goal shooting. Although the majority of his offensive contributions came before the first media timeout, Jones’ quick buckets were crucial for a team that had started slow in each of its previous three contests.
“Jhei-R really sparks us,” Earl said. “You know, he came out with a lot of energy, made two early threes, and that’s been something that’s been bothering us over the last few days. When he took the lid off the basket, it felt pretty good.”
Junior guard Reese Miller, a sparkplug who averages 24.4 minutes per game despite never having appeared in William and Mary’s starting lineup, joined Jones in contributing off the bench, posting a season-high 19 points. The Tribe’s rim-and-three oriented attack, which excels around the bucket but can struggle to convert from behind the perimeter, becomes all the more threatening when its snipers are in rhythm — this season, William and Mary is 9-0 when it shoots 33.3% or better from beyond the arc. Against NC A&T, Jones and Miller helped the Tribe reach that mark, combining for five of their squad’s nine triples.
“You know, it’s not easy coming off the bench and not knowing how many minutes you play,” Earl said. “And those two guys, we’re very proud of them because they both could be giving us starter minutes.”
The real star of the show, however, was junior forward Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi, who joined Miller in putting up 19 points. Vahlberg Fasasi’s production does not come as a surprise — he leads William and Mary in scoring this season — but since the beginning of CAA play, the former La Salle transfer has reached another level, averaging 15.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Thursday, Vahlberg Fasasi tacked six rebounds, five assists and four steals on top of his scoring output.
“He’s really finding his way,” Earl said. “You know, no ego on him, which you love to coach. And so he did a great job [today], and hopefully he’s understanding some of the ways that we need him to thrive here.”
Vahlberg Fasasi dominated the NC A&T defense in nearly every category, going four-for-seven on the interior and five-for-seven from the charity stripe, nailing two triples, throwing several dimes to cutters and flushing home multiple putbacks. When the Aggies entered halftime within striking distance after draining a cascade of shots, it was Vahlberg Fasasi who helped put the visitors away for good, connecting on two consecutive layups and extending the Tribe’s lead back to eight points.
It wasn’t just in half court offense where Vahlberg Fasasi found success, however — his four takeaways jumpstarted William and Mary’s potent transition attack. According to Earl, Vahlberg Fasasi’s blend of size and quickness allows him to take advantage of his 6’7” frame while still being able to get out and run in open space.
“You know, he’s sneaky fast,” Earl said. “He makes shots. He works hard at his game. He’s a great kid. He almost defers a little too much sometimes. So I think he’s found his niche, which is faster than certain guys who are bigger than him and bigger than guys that might be faster than him.”
Although NC A&T tried its hardest, with redshirt freshman forward Lewis Walker scoring 33 points on 78.6% shooting, the Aggies never managed to get back in the game after their surge was repelled. That’s not to say the visitors didn’t land some blows. Earl complimented NC A&T’s gameplan and said that William and Mary just barely managed to find the balance between creating turnovers and allowing one-on-one buckets.
“We do force a lot of turnovers, and I think [NC A&T] did a good job of understanding that,” Earl said. “So even though we [forced] 18 [turnovers], [NC A&T] did a really good job of scoring one-on-one when they could find those moments. So, we will get the turnovers, but we also pay the price sometimes. So, you got to find the balance in between, and we found just enough of a balance to get this victory.”
Nevertheless, Earl was ultimately satisfied with a win that saw William and Mary shoot well, cut well, get to the rim and move the ball. In making 33 field goals, the Tribe recorded 28 assists, its highest figure of the year.
Thursday, January 22, William and Mary will take on league-leading UNC Wilmington (17-2, 6-0 CAA) at Kaplan Arena; Saturday, January 24, the Tribe will return home for a contest against Hofstra (13-6, 4-2 CAA). According to Earl, the Tribe will take its six off-days to relax, review tape and prepare for a stretch that could define its season.
“[We’re going to] recover, make sure we’re taking care of our bodies, make sure we’re figuring out as a group the things we need to do to win every game, and those things are not the same game to game,” Earl said. “So what did happen tonight, we’re going to have to learn from, and then we’re going to have to take it into our next opponent, and those things will be different, and, you know, getting on the same page with what it’ll take to get a victory there is important.”
