Williamsburg, VA--James Daniel led a furious second half rally, tallying 16 of his game-high 23 points, but the College of William and Mary made the key plays down the stretch to hold on to a 56-49 win over Howard University at the Kaplan Center at William and Mary.
     
The Bison (1-2) fell behind early and trailed 33-16 when the Tribe closed out the first half with a 17-9 run that opened at 33-16 lead at intermission.  William and Mary won the battle of points in the paint, 12-2 while scoring 11 points off Howard turnovers.
     
Howard came out in the second half and played with a lot more energy and flipped the script, forcing turnovers and getting second chance opportunities that allowed them to work their way back into the game.
     
"It was definitely a game of two halves," said Howard Coach Kevin Nickelberry.  "The first one it took us a moment to get our legs under us and it allowed them to jump out to a big lead on us.  In the second half, our defensive intensity picked up and we did a better job of moving the ball and attacking the basket.  That allowed us to cut into the lead and get back into the game."
     
It was Daniel who rewarded his teammates collective efforts as he scored 14 of his team's points during a 27-15 run that reduced the deficit to 51-45 with 4:10 remaining in regulation.
     
The Bison defense foiled William and Mary's attempts to score on its next two possessions, but Howard failed to capitalize on the opportunity.  That is when Omar Prewitt buried a long three pointer with the shot clock winding down that pushed the lead back to nine at 54-45 with 2:15 left.
     
James "JT" Miller and Daniel would each add a basket for Howard, but Marcus Thornton all but put it away for the Tribe with two free throws with 19 ticks on the clock.
     
"They made a couple of big shots down the stretch to keep us from coming all the way back," noted Nickelberry.  "But all in all, it was a good learning experience for us and will help us become a better team down the stretch."
     
Daniel added three assists to go along with his season-high 23 points.  Miller contributed eight points, James "JC" Carlton six points and eight rebounds and Damon Collins five points and eight rebounds.
     
The Tribe was led by Thornton with 14, Prewitt with 12 and Terry Tarpey with 12 rebounds, seven points and seven assists.
     
The Bison continue their road trip in the state of Virginia when they play the Highlanders of Radford on Thursday at 7:30 pm.