The Story
Tribe Basketball bests Wilmington, falls to James Madison
William and Mary’s poor season continued last week with a win at home against UNC-Wilmington and a loss on the road to James Madison. The win, while impressive without context, came against the similarly below average Seahawks team, which is now tied with the Tribe for last in the CAA.
The biggest news of the week though was the new starting lineup put into place by head coach Tony Shaver. Junior forward Danny Sumner, the 11th scoring player in the CAA, was benched in favor of senior Chris Darnell. Sumner’s scoring average has been down since the start of league play. In two games during the previous week against Northeastern and JMU, he had only a combined 12 points on 5-for-18 shooting.
The plan seemed to work against UNC-W at least, as Sumner bounced back from the bench with his second career double-double, putting up 10 rebounds to go along with 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting. Sumner’s performance against JMU was not quite as good, as he finished with four rebounds and 12 points on 5-for-12 shooting. Darnell, returning to the starting position he had earlier in the season, did not fare as well. He took only a combined four shots in 41 minutes of play, totaling five points and eight rebounds for the week.
Perhaps the most impressive play of the week besides Sumner came from freshman swingman Quinn McDowell, fresh off winning his second CAA Rookie of the Week this season. In the loss at JMU McDowell racked up his career high in points with 20, shooting 7-for-12 in addition to six rebounds and four assists. He had a dismal night in the UNC-W win though, scoring only three points.
Junior guard David Schneider, the lone remaining starter from last year, has been the most consistent player for the Tribe all season, and last week was no different. Totals of 14 and 18 points, respectively, had him pacing W&M with the highest average of the week. A lack of offensive firepower this season has led to Schneider attempting a disproportionate amount of 3-pointers in an attempt to keep the team close. He has attempted at least eight per game since January 30, adding up to 48 shots in five games. Only 13 of those were made, for a complete percentage of 27.1.
William & Mary will play two games this week, starting with a road trip to Maryland for a Wednesday night matchup against fellow CAA bottom-dweller Towson. The first matchup between the teams in January saw the Tribe lose 56-69. On Saturday, the Tribe will host out-of-conference opponent Manhattan College at 2pm as part of ESPNU Bracketbusters. W&M’s all-time record against the Jaspers is 1-1, with both previous games coming over 17 years ago.