NCAA News Wire
William & Mary 81, James Madison 79
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
William & Mary went 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the final 20 seconds to hold off James Madison’s furious charge and earn an 81-79 victory on Sunday in Harrisonburg, Va.
The Tribe (13-8, 5-3 Colonial) led 74-72 with 45 seconds remaining and guard Daniel Dixon heading to the line for two free throws. He made the first and missed the second, but William & Mary secured the rebound. Guard Omar Prewitt missed a pair of free throws after getting fouled, giving James Madison the ball with a chance to tie. But the Dukes turned the ball over.
James Madison (8-14, 3-5) fouled guard Marcus Thornton immediately, and he made both free throws. Prewitt then redeemed himself by going 4-of-4 from the line in the final 13 seconds.
Dukes guard Ron Curry was fouled shooting a 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds left. He hit the first two free throws and missed the third on purpose. Forward Andre Semenov got the offensive rebound, but his potential game-tying shot came up short as time expired.
Thornton led all scorers with 26 points, making 6-of-9 3-point attempts. Forward Tim Rusthoven added 16 points, and guard Brandon Britt had 11. The Tribe won the game from beyond the arc, going 13-of-21 from 3-point range.
Semenov had 23 points to lead the Dukes, with guard Andre Nation finishing with 16 and guard Charles Cooke 15.
James Madison outrebounded William & Mary 32-25, including 12-3 on the offensive glass.
