HAMPTON, VA (WTKR)- Entering Saturday, Hampton and William & Mary were only separated by one game in the CAA standings. The Pirates came alive when it counted to pull even.
Etienne Strothers scored 18 points, including the go-ahead three-pointer late in the game, to lead Hampton to a 77-74 win over the Tribe at the Convocation Center on Saturday afternoon. The Pirates improved to 12-13, 6-6 in the CAA, while William & Mary dropped to 15-9, 6-6 in conference play.
"I'm extremely proud of the young men in that locker room for remaining focused and sticking to a game plan," Hampton head coach Ivan Thomas said after the victory. "We followed the game plan to a tee and we can live with the outcome as long as we follow the game plan."
"Trying to get out and run and get easy shots, and we just weren't able to do it tonight," added William & Mary head coach Brian Earl. "Some days we are, some days we aren't."
The two teams played a competitive first half, taking turns leading and the Tribe held a narrow 39-35 advantage heading into halftime. The green and gold swelled the lead to eight at 53-45 with 13:13 remaining, but Hampton quickly responded. Xzavier Long and Elijah Kennedy hit back-to-back triples less than 20 seconds apart to quickly pull the home team within two.
The rivals would go back and forth late, with the Pirates hitting key shots down the stretch. Strothers, a Menchville High School product, connected on his fourth three-pointer of the night with 1:07 to play to push Hampton in front, 74-72, followed quickly by a Kennedy steal and dunk to extend the advantage to four. That would prove to be too much for the Tribe to overcome in the final seconds.
In addition to Strothers' performance, Long scored 13 points and pulled down 14 rebounds. Kennedy chipped in 13 points off the bench with Josh Ogundele scorig 10 points. Ryan Jackson Jr. paced William & Mary with 18 points off the bench.
Hampton held the Tribe in check from the perimeter, keeping the green and gold to just 1-15 from three point range. The Pirates also won the rebounding battle, 37-29.
William & Mary will visit Northeastern on Thursday, while Hampton heads to Los Angeles to face North Carolina A&T this Friday in the NBC HBCU Classic.
