William & Mary tops Elon 72-59

Mar 7, 2015, 04:34 pm

BALTIMORE, Md. -- Marcus Thornton scored 17 points, Omar Prewitt added 16, and top-seeded William & Mary beat eighth-seeded Elon 72-59 on Saturday to advance to Sunday's semifinals in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament.

The Tribe (19-11) will face No. 5 Hofstra (20-12), which beat or No. 4 James Madison (19-12) 74-57 on Saturday.

Daniel Dixon scored 12 for the Tribe, which made 11 of 29 from distance.

Connor Burchfield hit consecutive 3s for an 11-6 Tribe lead amid a 15-4 run and the Tribe never trailed. Thornton, named the conference's Player of the Year, scored eight points in the half and William & Mary led 36-26 at halftime.

Tanner Samson made back-to-back 3-pointers and Elon closed within 40-35, but the Tribe regained a double-digit lead on a 3 by Prewitt and led 61-47 with 5:36 left.

Elijah Bryant scored 15 for the Phoenix (15-18), Austin Hamilton had 13 with four assists, and Samson added 11.