NCAA
William & Mary 81, Northeastern 67
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
The William & Mary Tribe maintained its firm hold on third place in the Colonial Athletic Association on Saturday with an 81-67 victory over the Northeastern Huskies at Kaplan Arena in Williamsburg, Va.
With the CAA conference tournament beginning March 7 in Baltimore, the Tribe — who completed a season sweep of the Huskies — have a two-game lead on teams in fourth place and trail second-place Towson by two games.
Junior guard Marcus Thornton led William & Mary with 25 points and four assists as the Tribe used a 21-9 run over a seven-minute stretch in the first half to open up a comfortable margin at 25-12.
Sophomore guard Zach Stahl scored six of his seven first-half points in just over a minute to pull the Huskies within five, 28-23. The Tribe (17-10, 8-6) ended the half by scoring five of the final six points for a 33-24 halftime advantage.
Northeastern (9-20, 6-9) managed to once again cut the deficit to five in the second half when freshman guard T.J. Williams buried a 3-pointer at the 9:20 mark to make it 53-48.
The Tribe, however, used a 22-9 run over the next seven minutes to extend the advantage to 75-57.
The Tribe evened the series with the Huskies at 8-8, which includes a 6-1 advantage at home.
Williams led the Huskies with 16 points and five assists, while sophomore guard David Walker added 12 points and four rebounds.
Thornton scored at least 20 points for the 12th time in his career for the Tribe, while senior forward Tim Rusthoven added 12 points, five assists and five rebounds.
