HOME IS NOT WHERE HEART IS FOR TRIBE
Phoenix hand W&M its third straight loss at Kaplan Arena
WILLIAMSBURG — Having lost two consecutive games at home, the second by 20 points, William and Mary had a full week to get better. With last-place Elon next on the schedule, things looked a little more promising.
Instead, in a game that saw 19 lead changes, the Phoenix added to the Tribe’s misery with a 76-71 win Saturday afternoon. Elon scored the game’s final nine points, and W&M lost its third consecutive game at Kaplan Arena for the first time since 2011-12.
W&M (7-12, 3-4 Colonial Athletic Association) led by eight points with 11:23 remaining and by four with 2:04 left. But each time, the Tribe couldn’t finish it off.
“It’s a team that’s just too inconsistent,” W&M coach Tony Shaver said. “It’s a team that doesn’t understand the value of the little things that win ballgames, and I could point to half a dozen things immediately for you.”
After losing its eight-point lead, the Tribe recovered and went ahead 71-67 on Nathan Knight’s follow with 2:04 remaining. Elon (6-14, 2-5) immediately answered with a floater by Sheldon Eberhardt, who had 16 of his careerhigh 23 points in the second half.
After a miss by W&M’s Matt Milon, Eberhardt stuck a 3pointer from just left of center to put the Phoenix ahead 72-71 with 1:08 remaining. The Tribe struggled to find an answer, and Justin
Pierce missed a 3-pointer with 38 seconds left.
W&M got the stop it needed on the other end when Eberhardt missed a 3-pointer. But the Phoenix's Steven Santa Ana chased down the long rebound and was fouled with 9.4 seconds left. A 75-percent free-throw shooter, he made both to make it 74-71.
After a timeout, W&M got the ball to Milon, its best 3-point shooter, in the left corner. His shot was well-contested by Santa Ana and badly missed.
Tyler Seibring rebounded, and his two free throws closed it out.
Milon led W&M with 22 points, and Knight added 18 along with 14 rebounds. But Pierce, the Tribe's second-lead- ing scorer on the season, finished with two points and was 0 of 5 from the field.
“We've got to have all three of those guys play well,” Shaver said. “I've said it a lot: They don't have to be sensational. They've just got to give us good, quality play on both sides of the ball.
“It just wasn't there for Justin tonight. He's been good all year. But to be good, those three guys have got to play at a high level for us.”
The Tribe played without senior forward Paul Rowley, who is out with a concussion. W&M also lost backup point guard Thornton Scott with an apparent foot injury nine minutes in.
A year ago at Kaplan, Seibring scored 28 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Two years ago here, Santa Ana torched the Tribe for 29 and went 9 of 11 from the 3-point arc.
But this time, it was Eber- hardt, who came in averaging 9.5 points a game. He scored 14 points in the final nine minutes.
“I thought it was a sensational performance,” Elon coach Matt Matheny said.
Shaver went further than that. “He was the difference in the ballgame,” he said. “I thought we defended Santa Ana (12 points) well. Seibring (26 points) made some tough shots. But Eberhardt was the key to the ballgame. We really couldn't stop him.”