Just now getting underway in today’s third-place game: Guilford, in the crimson and white, strikes first against F&M, wearing the home whites. Rhett Bonner connects on a three for the game’s first score, and James McNally answers quickly with a layup for the Diplomats. 3-2 Quakers.
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Five minutes ago, F&M led, 19-18; the past five minutes have seen a 13-2 Guilford run led by Henson, Tyler Sanborn and George Neville. It’s 31-21 Quakers with a little over seven minutes to go in the half.
Halftime here in the consolation game, and it’s still the Clay Henson show. Clay has a game-high 14 points and the Quakers lead at the break, 42-33.
Eight minutes into the second half, and F&M has pulled to within 6 for the first time in a while. James McNally, who’s now 8-for-14 for 16 points, has led the Diplomats back.
Very next possession: BEAUTIFUL give-and-go under the basket for a Milligan layup assisted by Brooks. Four-point game, 55-51, 11:12 to play.
With two huge free throws from senior Daniel Selig, F&M draws within a point with 8:00 remaining. Guilford immediately answers with a three from Rhett Bonner, but Steve Tolliver comes back with a layup and one, Tyler Sanborn’s third foul. Timeout Guilford with 7:48 left; Tolliver will shoot one with F&M trailing 61-59.
It looks like the 58-57 score is as close as F&M was going to get. With 2:10 to play, Guilford has made it a double-digit game again, as George Neville has hit two free throws to extend the Quakers’ lead to 73-62. The door’s quickly closing on F&M.
Mike Baker fouls out with 24.5 seconds remaining and the Diplomats still down double digits, 77-67. Both teams empty their benches before Neville heads to the line for two shots.
He hits them both. That makes it 79-67, which will be your final score. Congrats to Guilford, NCAA Div. III’s third-place team.
Championship game is underway! Aaron Thompson grabs the loose ball after the opening tip, and Cameron Smith scores the first bucket for Wash U. 2-0 Bears, we’re 20 seconds in.
Sloppy start to the title game — Stockton has missed its first three attempts from beyond the arc, and Wash U has made a couple of ugly long passes that have gone awry. 2-2 game, three minutes in.
Five minutes in, and Wash U has still attempted only three field goals. Their only bucket was Smith’s on the opening possession. Richard Stockton has a 5-2 lead by way of a long jumper from Omar Smith and a three from Jerome Hubbard.
Wallis ends the Wash U scoring drought. The Bears had zero points between Smith’s layup (19:48 left in the first half) and Wallis’s (14:05). That’s almost a six-minute scoring run. Nearing the 13-minute mark now… 7-4 Ospreys.
A quick 6-0 Wash U run has prompted a Stockton timeout with 9:52 remaining in the first half. It’s now 12-8 Bears; Tyler Nading has six points and Wallis has four.
With 5:22 left, Santini Lancioni cuts through the lane with a pretty layup to snap the Bears’ 10-0 run. It’s now 16-10 Wash U. The Ospreys are looking a little sluggish on defense — perhaps their six-man rotation is starting to catch up with them.
Timeout Stockton, 3:14 left in the half. A Caleb Knepper three has given Wash U its first nine-point lead, 21-12.
Halftime. It’s 29-16 Wash U at the break — Stockton is shooting just 21 percent from the floor and they’re leaving the Bears open for easy looks under the basket. They’ll have to regain their energy to stay alive in the second half.
After a couple stops for each side, Nading draws first blood in the second half. 31-16 after his layup, 17:30 to go in the national title game. Nading has a game-high 8 points.
Stockton keeps trying to claw away, and Santini Lancioni is beginning to find his hot hand (he now has a team-high 11 points), but it hasn’t been enough so far. With 9:07 to play in the national title game, it’s still a double-digit Wash U lead. 47-37 Bears.
Tyler Nading is just dominating for the Bears in the paint — the Ospreys just don’t seem to have an answer inside for the big man. Nading is now 9-for-10 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the line for a game-high 20 points. With 5:14 to go in the national title game, it’s 55-43 Bears.
3:11 left, it’s now 57-43. Both offenses are getting a little sloppy, and Nading/Kelly/Smith are grabbing every rebound in sight for Wash U. The repeat championship is getting closer and closer…
With 1:17 to play, Wallis hits two free throws to keep the lead in double-digits, 59-49. On an unrelated note, Jerome Hubbard is now 5-for-32 from the field in two games this weekend. This one’s all over except the final buzzer and the trophy presentation.
…and now it’s over. 61-52 Bears is your final score. Congratulations to Wash U, repeat national champions!