Justin Pierce

Pierce leads hot-shooting William & Mary past Elon 99-92 (Feb 01, 2018)

Published Feb. 1, 2018 10:00 p.m. ET

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) Justin Pierce scored five of his 30 points in the final 90 seconds as William & Mary, after losing a big, second-half lead, held off Elon 99-92 Thursday night to retain a hold on first place in the Colonial Athletic Association.

Charleston also won Thursday, moving into a tie for first in the CAA and plays William & Mary February 8.

The Tribe (15-7, 8-3) shot 57 percent from the field (36 of 63), made 13 of 25 3-pointers and racked up 25 assists against just eight turnovers.

Pierce was 10 of 14 shooting, 6 of 9 from distance, Nathan Knight added 20 points, Connor Burchfield 17 and Paul Rowley 16.

Elon trailed by 20 midway through the second half but rallied as close as three twice in the last 3:30. Dainan Swoope hit a 3 to bring the Phoenix to 87-84, and Tyler Siebring scored to come as close as 89-86 with 2:42 remaining.

But Knight scored a layup and Pierce hit the last of his 3-pointers for five unanswered points by the 1:37 mark.

Siebring scored 28 and Swoope 25 to lead Elon (13-11, 5-6).

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Justin Pierce

William & Mary Tribe

Colonial Athletic Association