WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - An offensive explosion led the William and Mary men's basketball team to a 92-86 victory over UNCW on Wednesday night at Kaplan Arena. The Green and Gold netted 51 first-half points, its most in a half since 2007, and shot a season-high 60.9 percent, its best since 2006, including a 12-of-21 effort from 3-point range, to outdistance the Seahawks. The Tribe improved to 10-14 overall and 4-9 in CAA play, while UNCW fell to 9-16 on the year with the same 4-9 league mark.

The guard tandem of sophomore Marcus Thornton and junior Brandon Britt led a balanced Green and Gold attack as the pair combined for 47 points and 11 assists. Thornton scored a season-high 25 points, while dishing out five assists and pulling down five rebounds. Britt tallied 22 points, including 18 in the first half, on 8-of-10 shooting to go with a career-high six assists. Thornton canned four 3-pointers and was 9-of-10 from the free throw line, while Britt was 3-of-4 from long range.





The lead remained six, 30-24, following another Ponder freebie until the Tribe embarked on an 11-2 run to push its advantaged to 15. Junior Kyle Gaillard knocked down a 3-pointer from the right wing off a pass from freshman Terry Tarpey to kick-start the spurt. Britt scored five straight points on a lay-up and 3-pointer, before junior Julian Boatner connected on three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt to pad the cushion to 41-26 with 4:37 remaining.





The Seahawks would not go quietly, scoring on eight straight trips down the court. A 3-point play by Keith Rendleman at the 7:05 mark cut the deficit to 75-63, capping a 15-2 UNCW run. The Green and Gold lead was 81-66 following a Gaillard offensive put back, before another Seahawk run close the gap to a single possession. UNCW hit seven straight shots, including three 3-pointers, on a 14-2 run to cut it to 83-80 with 1:40 remaining.

Thornton cut through the UNCW press on the ensuing Tribe possession, finishing at the rim to push the margin back to five. The Upper Marlboro, Md., native hit 7-of-8 from the charity stripe over the final minute to close out the victory.

Despite being hampered by foul trouble, Rusthoven finished with 13 points in 20 minutes of action on 4-of-6 from the floor and 5-of-5 from the free throw line. Gaillard nearly recorded a double-double performance with 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Rum turned in a nice stat line with eight points, seven rebounds and three assists, while Boatner added eight points off the bench.

UNCW finished the night shooting 47.1 percent (32-of-68) from the field, including 9-of-23 (39.1 percent) from 3-point range, but was just 13-of-25 from the free throw line. Rendlemen led the Seahawks with 24 points and 13 rebounds, while Chris Dixon added 19 points and six assists.

The Tribe returns to action when it hits the road in squaring off with Hampton Roads rival Old Dominion on Saturday, Feb. 16. Tip-off is slated for noon at the Ted Constant Center in Norfolk.