Through the first 20 minutes at least, the Tribe are as good as advertised.
William & Mary matched the Terps shot-for-shot in the early going and found a new gear at the end of the first half to run out to a nine-point halftime lead.
The score was tied five times and changed hands six times during a back-and-forth first 15 minutes or so.
But the Terps made just one field goal after Sean Mosley’s shot with 7:41 remaining put the Terps up 24-22. After that, the Tribe closed the half on a 17-6 run.
William & Mary shot 50 percent in the half (13-26), led by Danny Sumner’s 12 points. The Tribe didn’t have too much trouble breaking the Terps’ pressure and played tough defense that made it hard for the Terps to generate points in the half court offense.
Greivis Vasquez leads the Terps with nine points and four assists on 4-of-10 shooting. Sean Mosley, who missed Sunday’s game with an ankle injury, has stepped up with six points and six rebounds, including four offensive.
The home team has missed quite a few open looks it has made during wins in its first seven home games. Obviously, it’s going to take some changes offensively and defensively for the Terps to keep its unblemished home record alive at this point.
Marcus Kitts’ driving layup over Jordan Williams in the last five seconds of the half put an exclamation on a tremendous first half performance for William & Mary.
We’ll see if they can sustain that momentum into the second 20 minutes. The second half is about to tip.
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Eric Detweiler is The Diamondback’s Terrapin Men’s Basketball Team beat writer. He can be reached at edetweilerdbk@gmail.com. You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/edetweiler.