Photos Courtesy of Bob Keroack / Tribe Athletics 

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – College of Charleston freshman guard Marquise Pointer (Jonesboro, Ark.) sparked a second-half rally with a career-high 23 points, but it wasn't enough to stop William & Mary in its tracks, 78-70, on Saturday at Kaplan Arena.

The Cougars (9-4, 1-1 CAA) struggled from the field in the first half shooting 37 percent from the floor (10-for-27), while the Tribe's (9-4, 1-1 CAA) version of the Princeton offense led to 44 first-half points.

Leading scorer Canyon Barry (Colorado Springs, Colo.) found his shot towards the end of the first half as CofC trailed by 19 points at halftime. He would leave the ballgame with a shoulder injury to his non-shooting arm at the 18:11 minute mark of the second half.

Just as they did against James Madison, two freshmen newcomers stepped up in Barry's absence including a near double-double performance by Jarrell Brantley (Columbia, S.C.) with 16 points and eight rebounds and Pointer's 4-for-9 shooting from long range.

Sophomores Cameron Johnson (Athens, Ga.) and Evan Bailey (Canton, Ohio) also knocked down big three-pointers that got the Cougars within single digits of the Tribe in the final minutes of regulation.

William & Mary, which ranks second best in the league in field-goal accuracy, shot a season-high 57.8 percent from the floor (26-of-45) and converted 18-of-26 free throw attempts in the ballgame. They were led in scoring by junior guard and leading scorer Omar Prewitt, who had 26 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor.

CofC returns to the Lowcountry for its CAA home opener against preseason favorite Hofstra on Thursday, Jan. 7 at 7 p.m. (ET) at TD Arena. Tickets can be purchased by calling (843) 953-COFC or going online at: www.CofCSports.com/tickets

For more information on College of Charleston Basketball, follow the Cougars on Twitter at @CofCBasketball.

POSTGAME NOTES

· For the seventh time this season, CofC started junior Payton Hulsey, junior Canyon Barry, sophomore Cameron Johnson, freshman Jarrell Brantley and redshirt freshman Nick Harris (5-2).

· William & Mary moves to 4-2 in the all-time series with College of Charleston as the Cougars sought their first-ever road win in Williamsburg in three tries. Despite being two of the oldest universities in the country, the Tribe and Cougars had not faced each other until CofC's inaugural 2013-14 season in the CAA.

· Freshman guard Marquise Pointer came off the bench and contributed a career-and team-high 23 points in a career-high tying 30 minutes of action at William & Mary. He made four steals and shot a career-best 8-of-14 from the field and 4-for-9 from long range. It was his fourth game in double figures in the last five contests.

· Jarrell Brantley reached double figures for the sixth time in the last seven games with a near double-double with 16 points and eight rebounds. It marked back-to-back games for the Cougars to have two freshmen lead the team in scoring in their CAA debuts: Brantley (29) at James Madison on Dec. 31 and Pointer (23) at W&M on Jan. 2.

· Canyon Barry also reached double figures for the 11th time this season with 11 points versus his mother's alma mater William & Mary. He left the game at the 18:11 minute mark of the second half with a shoulder injury to his non-shooting arm and will be evaluated on Monday.

· The Cougars outrebounded their opponent, 34-30 (+4), for the 10th time in 13 games played this season.

· For the third-consecutive game Payton Hulsey led the team in rebounding with eight boards at W&M.

POSTGAME QUOTES

College of Charleston Head Coach Earl Grant

On the loss …

“We have to learn from these last four days, because we played two of the better teams in the league. James Madison on Thursday where we had some success and then a quick turnaround for William & Mary on Saturday. We have to learn to bounce back from one game to the next. Every game in the conference is going to be Thursday and Saturday and you can't wait until the second half to have a sense of urgency to compete against one of the better teams in the league (in William & Mary).”

On the team's slow first-half start …

“We got out of character. They (William & Mary) came out and made two-or-three big shots early like good teams do. We hadn't been down eight in awhile and we responded more like we were down 15. We started to extend our defense a lot. We gambled a little bit more late into the shot clock and we didn't need to. We just needed to be solid. They got a few run outs and the lead went from eight to 15. When you go into halftime down 19, we dug a big hole for ourselves. We could've done a better job, if we had stayed in character and did what we always do.”

On William & Mary's free throws being a difference when looking at the box score …

“Both of us were attacking the paint. They (William & Mary) did a better job of drawing contact. When they outshoot you at the free throw line, 26 attempts to 11 attempts, most of the time, especially in a close game, you lose.”

College of Charleston Freshman Guard Marquise Pointer

On the difference between the first and second halves …

“We came out with a lot more energy. We dug ourselves into a hole in the first half and were down by as many as 20. We fought back as hard as we could. We had more grit in the second half and made it tough on them on defense which was the difference between the two halves.”

On learning from the road loss to William & Mary heading into the Hofstra home opener …

“We have to learn from our mistakes from this game and move on. We have to learn to play 40 minutes and come out stronger, and not just in the second half. We have to play the full 40 minutes.”