Box Score Washington, DC---Prince Okoroh poured in a career-high 40 points and James Daniel added 22 but it was Omar Prewitt who made the difference as he came off the bench to propel William and Mary to an 84-79 overtime win over Howard in a non-conference men's game at Burr Gymnasium.
                 
A 6-5 junior forward from Greenbelt, MD, Okoroh connected on 15 of 19 from the field and 9 of 10 from the free throw line to lead the Bison (2-7).  His previous high was 21 points during his freshman season.  It was the most points scored by a Howard player since Ron Williamson poured in 51 against North Carolina A&T in 2003.
                 
The two teams exchanged runs throughout the game.  Tim Rusthoven of the Tribe (4-3) and Daniel each scored 11 to lead all scorers as William and Mary led, 31-30 at the half.
                 
Both teams took turns on mini runs in the second half before the Tribe went on a late run and opened an eight-point lead, the biggest of the game, at the 7:29 mark. But the Bison rallied to force three ties and eight lead changes down the stretch.  While William and Mary was getting scoring  from different quarters (five players scored in double figures), Okoroh single-handedly took the team on his back and answered every challenge from the more experienced Tribe.  At one point, he scored 17 of his team team's 20 points.
                 
"I just thank God for the opportunity to play well," said Okoroh.  "I have been struggling lately and my teammates and coaches have all been preaching to me to stay in it and it will come to me.  Tonight, it finally all came together."
                 
The Bison had a chance to win in regulation but failed to get a shot at the basket.  It set up Prewitt for his overtime heroics.  The 6-6 freshman tallied 10 of his team's 13 points in the extra stanza, including six of seven from the free throw line.
                 
"This is probably one of the games that we need to win in regulation," said Howard head coach Kevin Nickelberry.  "We put so much effort into regulation, I could look in their faces and tell they were a little deflated when we went into overtime.  And those things happen.  This is a great learning experience.  Our players will learn from this because William and Mary is a very hard team to scout."
                 
The young Howard team, which starts three freshmen, a junior and a sophomore, missed shots and the Tribe capitalized, holding the hosts to two field goals and two free throws in the overtime.
                 
"Fatigue was a factor," noted Nickelberry.  "Our guys were tired.  We had a couple of players who played 40 minutes for us."
                 
Daniel came into the game, averaging 21 points per game, but the William and Mary defense concentrated on the sharpshooting freshman and forced him to miss 10 of 15 shots from the field.  But he made up by going 10 of 11 from the free throw line.
                 
The Tribe got a team-high 24 from Prewitt, including 19 in the second half and overtime, 16 from Kyle Gaillard, 15 from Rusthoven, 14 from Marcus Thornton and 13 from Julian Boatner.
                 
The Bison shot a season-high 91 percent (21 of 23) from the free throw line, 55 percent from the field and outrebounded the visitors, 29-22.
                 
"For the last three or four games, we have played a tough schedule," said Nickelberry.  "We are starting to get a feel for what our identity is.  I think it carried in to today's game.  We needed someone to step up and help J-Bird (Daniel) in the scoring area.  Prince stepped up tonight and this is something to build on."