SPORTS NEWS: And Then There Were Two

The University of Mary Washington Men's Basketball Team will play for a National Championship in two weeks.

By Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Email Martin

Saturday’s national semifinal contest in Fort Wayne, Indiana, was a game of runs. At the end, the University of Mary Washington men’s basketball team had one more run than the defending national champion, Trinity (Connecticut).

With 25 seconds to play, Kaden Bates was left alone on the right wing. Kye Robinson found him and Bates drained the open three-point shot to point the Eagles up for good.

Jadon Burgess hit the front-end of a one-and-one free throw 15 seconds later to give the Eagles a three-point lead, which proved to be the final margin of victory — 64 - 61.

There were seven lead changes in the game. The first coming just 40 seconds into the game when Burgess hit a three-pointer to point UMW up 3-2 and set them on a run that would see them leading Trinity by as much as eight, before Trinity retook the lead with just over 9 minutes to play in the first half.

For a while, it looked like Trinity may run the Eagles off the court. With 1:52 to play before half, Trinity held a 16-point lead at 37-21.

The Eagles got it down to 11 at the half, but the team looked out of sync and for a second consecutive game, its star scorer — Kye Robinson — was struggling offensively.

The Eagles’ Jay Randall — Thursday night’s hero — gave the Eagles their first lead of the second half with a layup at the 10:51 mark to play. It was their first lead since midway through the first half.

Trinity quickly took it back, but with 10 minutes to play Robinson stroked a three and it looked like the Eagles were about to separate, as they have done repeatedly throughout the year.

But Trinity’s Jared Berry hit three consecutive shots, building Trinity’s lead to five with 8:24 to play.

With four-and-a-half to play, Berry hit another shot that gave Trinity a 7-point lead.

Coach Marcus Kahn called timeout to settle the Eagles. Slowly they began to close the gap and set the stage for Baden’s clutch three that proved the difference in the game.

Kye Robinson was high-point man for the Eagles, finishing with 21 on the evening. More than half those points came at the free-throw line, as Robinson again struggled from the field going 4 for 14 on the night.

But unlike Thursday, when Robinson at time looked to be forcing the game, on Saturday he was more in the flow. He led the team with 9 rebounds and 6 assists — including the pass that set up Baden’s winning shot.

Burgess (12 points on 4 of 5 shooting from the field, including 3 for 4 from beyond the arc) and Randall (14 points on 5-10 shooting) were key contributors, and tamping down the belief that the Eagles offense in one-dimensional.

In the two biggest games of the year to this point, a stringent defense and strong shooting from a cast of players was the difference in the game.

Throughout this tournament, Coach Kahn’s Eagles have shown they can win in blowouts (Worcester State), against physical teams (Amherst), against teams that play very similar to them (University of Wisconsin - La Crosse), against three-point shooting teams (Chicago), and Saturday night against more-experienced teams (Trinity).

And through it all, the Eagles’ players have stressed the same point. “Our model all year,” said Kye Robinson in interviews following the Amherst game, has “been like once we figure you out … I feel like there’s … really no escape.”

The Eagles have one more team to crack — stay with the Advance as we cover the final leg of this best season in school history.

Local Obituaries

To view local obituaries or to send a note to family and loved ones, please visit the link that follows.