Statesmen Downed By Cape Fear, 88-69

SOUTH PRINCE GEORGE, VA -- The Richard Bland College of William & Mary men's basketball team fell to a tough nationally ranked Cape Fear Sea Devils team by a score of 88-69 Wednesday night.

The Statesmen are now 5-13 on the season while #16 Cape Fear improves to 18-2. Saturday, February 2 the Statesmen will host Caldwell Community College at 2 pm in Statesman Hall.

Wednesday night was a battle early on for both teams. Cape Fear scored the first two points of the game but the Statesmen stayed poised and answered quickly on the other end with a good post touch by sophomore Sterling Carrington. Two early three-pointers by the Sea Devils put them up 10-4 at the sixteen-minute mark of the first half. Cape Fear continued to push hard in transition and force the Statesmen into some tough shots. The Statesmen trailed 38-27 just before the two-minute mark in the first. A big three by freshman Jalen Spice started a rally for the Statesmen. Richard Bland went on to make three big stops on the defensive end and close out the half with an open three-point shot by sophomore guard Ryan Jones to bring the Statesmen within three points at the half by a score of 38-35.

The second half brought a brief period of hope for the Statesmen as they would find themselves in the lead by a score of 40-38 with 19:20 remaining after a big three-point shot in transition by sophomore Wayne Clevert. Unfortunately, this would be the last and only time that the Statesmen would lead for the remainder of the game. The Sea Devils controlled the pace of the game and forced quick shots by the Statesmen while capitalizing on their transition opportunities. Cape Fear's Quate McKinzie would lead all scorers with 27 points while Sterling Carrington would lead the Statesmen in scoring with 21 points.