HAMPTON, Va. (Jan. 16, 2024) ... Leading by nine points in the second half, William & Mary (11-7, 5-0) survived a late Hampton (9-9, 2-4) rally to post a 67-64 victory over the Pirates before 1,654 fans at the Hampton Convocation Center. William & Mary remaining undefeated an atop the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) standings with the win.

Trailing by nine points midway through the second half, the Pirates scored eight straight points to tie the score 54-54 on a layup by Noah Farrakhan. The teams traded buckets down the stretch with Hampton taking a two point, 62-60 lead with 1:31 to go on a George Beale Jr. bucket. With the Tribe leading 67-64 with seven seconds remaining, Hampton's Trevor Smith attempted a three-pointer at the buzzer to tie the score but the shot fell just short.

Hampton burned the nets in the game's opening minutes building a 9-0 lead with 16:35 to go in the half. Beale Jr. hit a trey to open the game and a bucket minutes later after teammate Xzavier Long scored. Richard Goods added a bucket to make the score 9-0.

But William & Mary battled back employing a full court press. Though Hampton had just seven turnovers in the opening stanza, the Tribe defense took the Pirates out of their offensive rhythm.

An 8-0 run put the Tribe ahead 18-17 with 4:53 to go. Back-to-back Tribe treys opened up a 26-20 lead for the visitors. The half ended with William & Mary holding a 27-22 advantage. Long and Trevor Smith each scored five points each to lead the Pirates. The Tribe's Kyle Pulliam came off the bench to tally eight first half points. Hampton shot 25.9 percent from the field in the opening half while William & Mary clicked on 37.0 percent of its shots.

The Tribe led 35-24 on an Isaiah Mbeng trey with 15:47 to go. A Hampton rally closed by gap and the game became a back-and-forth affair in the final minutes. William & Mary and Hampton traded basket for basket, trey for trey, free throw for free throw with Hampton creeping to within four.
 

A runner by Good made it a 54-52 game with 5:27 left before Farrakhan's lay-up tied the score with 4:44 remaining. Hampton went ahead one last time, 59-58, with 2:32 to go on a Farrakhan three-pointer. The Tribe tied the game on a Beale free throw and took the lead on two more free throws by Beal. William & Mary made six straight field goals down the stretch.
 

Farrakhan came off the bench to lead the Pirates in scoring with 15 points. Daniel Johnson added 12 and Beale pitched in 11. After shooting just 25.9 percent in the first half, Hampton shot 48.3 percent in the second stanza and made 10-of-13 free throws in the final period. The Tribe shot 37.5 percent in the opening half before shooting a sizzling 75 percent in the final period.
 

The Pirates return to action on Monday, Jan. 20 when Hampton plays at longtime North Carolina A&T. Hampton dropped the Aggies 82-71 on Dec. 3 In the CAA opener for both teams.