Tulsa
William & Mary
TULSA HOLDS OFF WILLIAM & MARY 70-67
3/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 17, 2015
Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery | Box Score
Tulsa, Oklahoma - The Tulsa Golden Hurricane held off a valiant William & Mary Tribe comeback attempt for a 70-67 victory in first round action of the NIT as 2,547 fans witnessed the game Tuesday night at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. Trailing by 21 points in the second half, the Tribe closed the gap to two points at 69-67 with 0:27 to play, but the Hurricane was able to hang on for the victory.
Tulsa advances to NIT second round action and will again be at home against the Murray State Racers, 81-66 winners over UTEP Tuesday night. The game day and time will be announced either late Tuesday or Wednesday.
Tulsa improved to 23-10 overall on the season, while William & Mary closed out the campaign with a 20-13 record.
Marquel Curtis scored a career-high 21 points and added four rebounds and three assists to pace the Hurricane.James Woodard had his second double-double this year with 15 points and 10 rebounds. William & Mary was led by Marcus Thornton's 23 points, followed by 15 points and 11 rebounds from Omar Prewitt and 14 by Terry Tarpey.
Tulsa shot 48-percent from the field and 40-percent from behind the arc, while scoring 38 of its points in the paint. William & Mary knocked down 11-of-32 three-pointers to shoot 34 percent from three-point range, while shooting 33-percent overall from the field.
"It was a really good win. First games in postseason are a quick turnaround. I knew today was going to be like going to the dentist, playing a team like this. Give our guys a lot of credit. Obviously, William & Mary had a shot there at the end," said Tulsa Head Coach Frank Haith. "You look at their numbers they are an outstanding offensive team. I just think that we lost our focus on those loose rebounds, and lost our focus attacking the 1-3-1 there late in the game, and had some costly turnovers. It was good to get that first win and get our feet wet and get back going."
Ahead by seven points at halftime, 39-32, Tulsa scored the first nine points of the second half to take a 48-32 lead at the 15:26 mark. Tulsa increased its lead to a game-high 21 points 2:19 later when Rashad Ray's layup made the score 57-36 with 13:07 remaining on the game clock.
William & Mary didn't fade despite the large deficit and went on to outscore Tulsa 27-9 over the next nine minutes to make the score 66-63 with 1:50 left in the game. The Tribe held the Hurricane scoreless for a 3:45 stretch during that time before Curtis' three-pointer with 1:22 on the game clock ended the drought and put Tulsa ahead by six points at 69-63.
A Prewitt layup and two Thornton free throws cut the Tulsa lead to two points, 69-67, at the 0:27 mark. Brandon Swannegan was fouled on a layup attempt with 0:20 remaining in the game and connected on just his second of two attempts, putting the Hurricane ahead 70-67. William & Mary had two three-point attempts in the final 0:14 that would have tied the game.
The Tribe scored its first of seven first half three-pointers to start the game as Prewitt knocked down a trey 0:30 into the game. Tulsa scored the next eight points to take an 8-3 lead before William & Mary tied it at 8 and again at 10 points.
Tulsa's D'Andre Wright broke the tie game with a jumper at the 13:32 mark to make the score 12-10, and after the Tribe cut it to one point, 16-15, Shaquille Harrison scored fibe straight points on a three-pointer and dunk to increase the Hurricane lead to six points, 21-15, at the 10:34 mark.
William & Mary sliced Tulsa's lead to one point at 21-20 with 9:34 remaining in the first 20 minutes. The Hurricane would keep at least a three-point margin the remainder of the first half and took its largest lead of the half when Curtis hit a jumper with 0:28 left on the clock, giving Tulsa a 39-32 lead at the intermission.
The Hurricane shot 51-percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, including 45 percent on 5-of-11 from three-point range, while the Tribe connected on 39-percent of its field goals and knocked down 7-of-18 treys for 39 percent.
Curtis led all first-half scorers with 13 points for the Hurricane, while Rashad Smith and Shaquille Harrison each tossed in seven points. Prewitt had 9 points and 8 rebounds to lead William & Mary.
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