Saturday, November 26, 2005

Contact: Stan Cole

William and Mary Holds Off Second Half Campbell Rally For 93-79 Victory

WILLIAMSBURG, VA. -- Rookie guard Calvin Baker set a career high for the second-straight game with 28 points, including the Tribe?s first 12 of the night, as William and Mary defeated Campbell 93-79 Saturday at Kaplan Arena.

The win is the Tribe's second straight and improves the team's record to 3-1. The Fighting Camels drop to 0-2.

Baker finished the night 9-11 from the floor and 7-8 from the foul line for his 28 points. Laimis Kisielius and junior guard Adam Payton each had 13 points for W&M, with Payton adding seven rebounds, eight assists and three steals. Pete Stein had 12 points off the bench.

Junior guard Eric Smith set a career-high with 28 points for the Camels, while Maurice Latham added 15 and Ruell Pringle chipped in with 14. Smith, a transfer from Olive-Harvey College in Chicago, made 6-of-12 threes on the night.

The Tribe shot a season-high 58.9 percent (33-56) from the floor in the game, holding the Camels to just 38.4 percent (28-73) from the field and .286 (10-35) from beyond the three-point line.

With the score tied at four early, Baker took over, scoring eight unanswered points, including a pair of long threes, to put the Green and Gold ahead 12-4 less than four minutes into the game.

The Tribe stretched the lead to 11, before a three-pointer by Maurice Latham brought Campbell back to within eight, 22-14, with 12:47 to go in the half. From there, however, the Tribe held the Camels without a field goal for nearly five minutes, while forcing seven Campbell turnovers during the stretch.
The Tribe hit 12 of its first 17 shots and led 48-34 at the half. Baker made his first five attempts, including a pair of triples as William & Mary made 62 percent of its shots from the floor in the first 20 minutes.

Pringle had 11 first-half points, while Smith added nine for the Camels. Baker led a balanced William & Mary attack with 12 in the opening half. Ten of the 12 Tribe players who saw action in the first period scored.

Campbell, however, opened the second half with two steals and seven unanswered points, including a dunk and a three-pointer from Smith, to close within seven (48-41) just 1:06 into the period.

Smith scored 17 of his 28 points in the first 9:46 of the second half as the Camels drew within 71-67 with 10:14 remaining. The Tribe, however, answered with a 10-0 run flurry to push the gap back to 14 with 7:21 to play.

A 10-0 run by W&M that ended with a jumper by sophomore guard Nathan Mann pushed the Tribe lead back to double digits at 77-67. Mann finished the game with nine points, six rebounds and four assists.

Campbell hosts Furman Monday at 7:00 p.m. [ Box Score ]