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Tribe falls short to Patriots

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary men's basketball team clashed with former Colonial Athletic Association rival George Mason in a back-and-forth, high-scoring tilt on Saturday afternoon at Kaplan Arena. In the end, the Patriots (4-5) shot 66.7 percent over and final 20 minutes to pull out the victory, 87-84, as both Paul Rowley and Nathan Knight'sgame-tying 3-point attempts in the closing seconds did not drop.

In the first half, the Tribe (2-6) broke open a nip-and-tuck start hitting five shots in a row. Junior Justin Pierce knocked down a pair of shots during the stretch, including a 3-pointer, before freshman Thornton Scott found classmate Chase Audige on the break to extend the margin to 40-32 with 3:22 remaining in the half.

W&M led by six at the break, 42-36, and eight early in the second half, 49-41, following a Pierce dunk just over a minute and a half into the final period. The Patriots caught fire hitting six straight shots, including a trio of 3-pointers. Goanar Mar capped a 7-0 Mason run with a corner triple to give the visitors the lead, and a Javon Greene trey with 9:02 left pushed the advantage to 70-66.

The Tribe pulled even on a Nathan Knight 3-pointer at the 6:07 mark and narrowed the gap within a single possession on four occasions over the final five minutes. Each time, Mason found the answer. After W&M pulled within 83-81 on a Nathan Knight dunk with 2:48 remaining, the Green and Gold had two chances to tie or take the lead but came up short. Mason point guard Otis Livingston II, who finished with an 18-point, 10-assist double-double, hit a tough fading jumper to push Mason's lead back to four, 85-81, with 54 seconds remaining. Scott came up big for W&M knocking down a right wing 3-pointer to cut the gap to one just 17 ticks later.

With the Tribe attempting to foul, Greene got free for a Mason lay-up with 10 seconds left to give the visitors a three-point cushion. With just seven seconds remaining, Rowely had the first crack at the tie with a right corner 3-pointer that was off the mark, and Audige was fouled on the rebound. He missed the front end of the 1-and-1, and Knight corralled the rebound in the right corner. His buzzer-beating attempt looked good but hit the front side of the rim and bounced off.

Knight led W&M with 22 points, including 13 in the second half, but was limited to 23 minutes due to foul trouble. Pierce posted his fourth double-double in six games with 19 points, 12 rebounds and a team-high five assists. Audige tallied 16 points off the bench, while Rowley finished with 12.

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