BALTIMORE, Md. – William & Mary used a second-half surge to lift the third-seeded Tribe to a 70-59 come-from-behind victory over the sixth-seeded College of Charleston in the quarterfinals of the 2014 CAA Men's Basketball Championship on Saturday night at Baltimore Arena.

Guards Marcus Thornton and Brandon Britt combined for 32 points, including 10 during a 15-2 second-half scoring burst, to lead the Tribe (19-11) to tomorrow's semifinals against second-seeded Towson.

W&M, which trailed by 15 points late during the opening half, shot 56.0 percent (14-25) during the final period. CofC which was competing in the tournament as a first-year CAA member, closed its season with a 14-18 overall record.

Thornton finished with 16 points and began William & Mary's key 15-2 scoring run with a layup and a three-point field goal to get the Tribe to within to 51-48 with 10:41 to play.  Britt, who also had 16 points, had a layup to pull his team to within 51-50 at 9:01 and a three-point play at 6:12 to cap the burst and give William & Mary a 58-53 margin.

Charleston, which shot only 25.8 percent (8-31) during the final half after shooting 48.4 percent (15-31) during the opening period, pulled to within 58-57 with 4:32 to play and 61-59 at 3:43 but didn't score again. The Cougars missed on five consecutive shots and had a turnover during the final 2:16.

Thornton raised William & Mary's lead to 63-59 with a 15-footer at 2:44; senior forward Tim Rusthoven scored on a tip-in at 1:50; and Thornton hit on two free throws at 0:53 to give William & Mary a 67-59 edge and all but seal the win.

Thornton and Britt were William & Mary's only double-figure scorers, but the Tribe got nine points and eight rebounds from sophomore guard Terry Tarpey and five or more points from four other players.  William & Mary shot 46.8 percent (22-47) overall from the field, hit on six of 12 three-point shots and connected on 20 of 29 free throws.

Charleston had three double-figure scorers, including graduate senior forward Willis Hall (Charlotte, N.C.), who had a team-high 15 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.  Senior small forward Anthony Thomas (Winston-Salem, N.C.) had 14 points on seven-of-nine shooting and junior guard Anthony Stitt (Charlotte, N.C.) added 11.

After four early lead changes, Charleston went in front 15-14 on sophomore reserve Theo Johnson's (Sacramento, Calif.) short driving shot with 12:18 left in the first half and raised the lead to double figures (29-17) by hitting on four shots from three-point range from the 10:29 to the 7:10 marks of the opening period.  The lead reached 38-23 on a layup by Hall with 1:48 left in the half before William & Mary got to within 40-28 by halftime.

Hall during the first half had 13 points and five rebounds for Charleston, which also had a 19-13 rebounding advantage.  Britt scored William & Mary's final six points of the first half and led the Tribe with nine points during the period.

Charleston twice led by 14 early during the final half but eventually was outscored 42-19 during the period.

POSTGAME NOTES

· College of Charleston started Anthony Stitt, Nori Johnson, Anthony Thomas, Willis Hall and Adjehi Baru in its first CAA Tournament appearance. The Cougars, who joined the league on July 1, 2013, are now 12-5 all-time in postseason tournament quarterfinal games.

· With the win, William & Mary now leads 2-1 in the all-time series with College of Charleston. Both schools, two of the oldest U.S. universities, met for the first time in the regular season.

· Willis Hall registered his 10th double-double of the season with a team-high 15 points and game-high 14 rebounds. It marked his 14th career double-double. He left his mark in the CofC record books with 1,152 career points which ranks 27th all-time and 843 career rebounds which moved him into sixth all-time over former Cougar great Greg Mack (842).

· Anthony Thomas turned in 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor against the Tribe. He ended his two-year career with 524 career points, 315 career rebounds, 41 career blocks and 47 career steals.

· Anthony Stitt contributed 11 points and four assists in the loss to William & Mary. It marked his 15th game in double figures this season.

· The Cougars' 40 first-half points were the second-most of the season behind 45 first-half points against Delaware in their regular-season finale on March 1.

· The Senior Class combined for 36 of the team's 59 points in the game. Nori Johnson scored seven points including one of the team's six three-pointers in the first half. He ended his career with 549 career points, 67 career steals and 119 career threes.

· Freshman reserve center Glen Pierre, Jr., saw one minute of action against the Tribe and contributed one rebound and a career-best one assist. It was marked his ninth game played this season.

POSTGAME QUOTES

College of Charleston Head Coach Doug Wojcik

On the game …

“The second half was kind of our season. We played a great first half. Our effort was fantastic. If you look at our conference stats throughout the year, we basically have been beaten at the free throw line in almost every game we lost. Our effort was great tonight. Give William & Mary credit. They scored in the second half. Our missed shots led to their transitions baskets. It's a tough loss for us, but, we will come back and try again next year.”

College of Charleston Graduate Senior Forward Willis Hall

On the loss and playing in his final collegiate game …

“We had open looks, but didn't take advantage of it. We missed threes that were wide open. We just didn't put the ball in the hole (in the second half). It's not the result we wanted, but I've enjoyed my time at the College of Charleston. I was proud to put on a uniform.”