As we enter the dog days of summer and that patented Williamsburg humidity rears its ugly head yet again, we at the W&M Sports Blog think it’s about time to start thinking about cooler weather–and perhaps a Tribe winter-season sport to pass the time? Understand what we’re getting at yet?

Of course we’re talking about William & Mary Tribe Basketball!  Much like Tribe football, it’s NEVER too early to be thinking about Basketball. Because Roll Tribe. And for that very reason, we found ourselves reminiscing about last season, and some of the awesome victories the Green and Gold racked up on the court.

W&M began the year with a stellar 8-3 record coming out of conference play before jumping into the CAA gauntlet. And perhaps no other out of conference game was more memorable than W&M’s very first game of the season, against ACC-power North Carolina State. Finding themselves on the road, the Tribe was hungry to begin the season on a strong note after falling to Northeastern in the CAA Championship the year prior.

It was NC State’s home opener, and the first game for both teams. And boy was it a good one. Well, if you were rooting for the boys in Green and Gold. The Tribe came out FIRING and never looked back, opening up the game on a 23-5 run. Unfortunately for the faithful in red, the same couldn’t be said for NC State. At the half, W&M found itself up 16 points, with an incredible 51-35 score. At that rate, the Tribe was on track to put up 100+ points. Sadly, they’d have to settle for 85.

Final score: Tribe 85 Wolfpack 68. A 17-point victory over an ACC opponent on the road in front of 16,000 sad NC State fans. It was truly a game to remember. Tribe fans were ecstatic and Tar Heel fans grinned in a state of pure schadenfreude.

Overall, W&M shot 51.7% from the field, while NC State shot a meager 38%. On top of that, the Tribe knocked down 9 three point shots en route to a strong 40.9% three point field goal percentage, while also winning the rebound margin 42-38. When it was all said and done, several Tribe players put up monster games, as the final stat lines for the starters were as follows:

• Daniel Dixon: 19 points, 3 rebounds
• Omar Prewitt: 17 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists
• Terry Tarpey: 11 points, 8 rebounds, 5 steals, 3 assists
• David Cohn: 9 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists
• Sean Sheldon: 8 points, 8 rebounds

So without further ado, let’s relive the glory days and get psyched for some Tribe basketball. In the month of July. Because it’s never too early. ROLL TRIBE!