(Courtesy William & Mary) One of William & Mary’s chief bugaboos this season has been poor starts. So many times, the Tribe would fall behind early by double digits and spent the rest of the night clawing back. Saturday night in the first round of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament, W&M flipped the script by taking a 10-point lead in the first eight minutes. By dominating the boards and having its best defensive performance of the season, the Tribe cruised past UNC Wilmington 73-60 in Harrisonburg. W&M (7-9), which will go against No. 2 seed Northeastern Sunday at 6 p.m., held the Seahawks to 3-of-14 shooting in the game’s first 9½ minutes. At that point, the Tribe’s lead was 17-6.
(Courtesy William & Mary) The weather up and down I-95 was brutal. But for William & Mary, the trip home from Baltimore promised to be considerably more tolerable. Playing from behind for most of Sunday afternoon, the Tribe rallied down the stretch for a 75-74 win over Towson. Connor Kochera’s layup with 13 seconds remaining gave W&M (6-7, 4-4 Colonial Athletic Association) the lead for good, and Luke Loewe forced a fade-away miss by Zane Martin at the horn. Kochera had a career day with 30 points, the most by a W&M freshman in nearly 20 years, on 12-of-19 shooting and 12 rebounds. That followed a 23-point performance Saturday, so you can bank on Kochera being named the CAA’s Rookie of the Week.
(Courtesy William & Mary Athletics) With its best offensive performance of the season, William & Mary created enough distance to withstand a late Towson charge and hold on for an 84-74 win Saturday in Baltimore. The Tribe shot a season-best 58 percent from the field despite missing five of its final seven attempts. The Tigers cut a 25-point lead to eight twice in the final 4½ minutes, but W&M regained its composure by icing the game from the free throw line. Freshman Connor Kochera led W&M (5-7, 3-4 Colonial Athletic Association) with 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting, 3-of-6 from deep. Quinn Blair finished with a career-high 19 points and six rebounds.