William & Mary Rides Three-Point Shot to CAA Second Round Win
Rob Washburn
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 4, 2023) – Senior guard Miguel Ayesa matched his career-highs with 23 points and seven three-pointers to send No. 8 William & Mary past No. 9 Elon, 73-51, in the second round of the 2023 Jersey Mike’s CAA Men’s Basketball Championship on Saturday afternoon at the Entertainment & Sports Arena.
The Tribe (13-19) advances to meet top-seeded Hofstra at Noon on Sunday in the quarterfinals, while Elon fell to 8-24. It was the Tribe’s first win ever in 10 games as the No. 8 seed in the CAA Tournament.
W&M drained 14 three-pointers in the victory, which was its most against a Division I opponent this season and just one shy of the tournament record. Ayesa accounted for half of those, draining 7-of-14 from beyond the arc. Guards Matteus Case and Tyler Rice added 11 points for the Tribe and Ben Wight contributed eight points and a career-high tying 13 rebounds.
Elon was led by sophomore center Sam Sherry, who recorded his first double-double with 15 points and a career-best 12 rebounds. Guard Sean Halloran chipped in 14 points for the Phoenix.
W&M built a 34-27 halftime advantage behind the shooting of Ayesa, who nailed four treys and tallied 14 points. A pair of Ayesa three-pointers and a trey from Jack Karasinski gave the Tribe a quick 10-3 lead. Elon closed to within 12-10 on a Zac Ervin three, but the Tribe reeled off eight straight points capped by another Ayesa triple to go up by 10 with 9:22 to go. The Phoenix climbed back within 29-25 after five straight points from Halloran, but Ayesa answered with another trey to stop the momentum.
The Tribe stayed hot from beyond the arc to open the second half, hitting four straight threes in the first five minutes capped by Ayesa’s sixth trey of the game to go up 47-37. It was still a 10-point game with six minutes to play when another Ayesa three kickstarted a 15-1 Tribe run to end the contest.
W&M finished 14-of-32 (43.8%) from three-point range, with 42 of its 71 points coming from long range. Elon shot just 38.2% from the floor and was 5-of-18 from three.
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