Limiting turnovers and sandwiching halftime with an excellent stretch Thursday night, William & Mary’s men earned their first Colonial Athletic Association victory of the season. The Tribe turned back Northeastern 69-66 before 1,777 at Kaplan Arena.
W&M’s Anders Nelson scored 16 points, including two free throws with 3.3 seconds left for the game’s final points. Northeastern (5-9, 1-2 CAA) didn’t manage a quality attempt to tie, though the Huskies sank half of their shots (28 of 56).
Noah Collier had 12 points and seven rebounds for the Tribe (6-9, 1-1), Ben Wight had 12 points and three rebounds, and Chris Mullins contributed eight points, four assists and three steals. A steal and two of those assists came in the final stages.
Northeastern’s Coleman Stucke had 18 points, nine rebounds and four assists, and Joe Pridgen came off the bench for 14 points and five rebounds.
W&M was behind for most of the first half, but it finished the period on a 13-3 burst and never trailed again. A Collier basket with two seconds left in the half gave the Tribe a 34-31 halftime edge, and the momentum carried over after the intermission. W&M scored the second half’s first six points for a 40-31 margin, making the run 19-3.
Northeastern closed the gap from 49-38 to 59-57 and 60-59, but the Tribe scored six consecutive points. Again, the Huskies rallied, this time to 67-66 on Pridgen’s follow with 4.9 seconds to go. After Nelson converted two foul shots with 3.3 on the clock, making W&M’s edge in free-throw points 13-3 for the night, the Tribe made a stop for the victory.
W&M will hope to continue that momentum at 2 p.m. Saturday with a home game against Hofstra, one of the league’s best teams in recent years.