William & Mary tops Hofstra 92-91 in 2 OT to reach CAA final

Mar 8, 2015, 07:42 pm

BALTIMORE -- Daniel Dixon hit a 3-pointer with a half-second left in the second overtime, and William & Mary advanced to the Colonial Athletic Association championship game with a nerve-wracking 92-91 win over Hofstra on Sunday.

Marcus Thornton matched his career high with 37 points -- a CAA tournament record -- and Omar Prewitt had a career-best 33 for the top-seeded Tribe (20-11).

William & Mary will face No. 3 seed Northeastern on Monday night for an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

William & Mary is one of five original Division I members never to reach the men's NCAA Tournament. The others: Army, The Citadel, St. Francis (NY) and Northwestern.

The Tribe trailed 68-59 with five minutes left in regulation before Prewitt and Thornton brought them back. After Thornton made two free throws with 23 seconds left to tie it at 73, Hofstra missed a shot on the other end before the buzzer.

William & Mary scored the first seven points in the first overtime but fell behind 83-80 before Thornton hit a 3 with 42 seconds remaining. Rokas Gustys then botched two free throws for Hofstra before Thornton missed badly on a 3-point try at the buzzer.

In the second overtime, after Moussa Kone made one of two free throws to put Hofstra up 91-89 with 8.3 seconds left, Dixon connected from the corner after taking a pass from Thornton.

Juan'ya Green scored 26 and Dion Nesmith added 21 for fifth-seeded Hofstra (20-13). The Pride missed 12 of 25 free throws, many of them down the stretch in regulation and overtime.