Mann Last-Second 3-Pointer Sends Tribe to CAA Semifinals

W&M won two games at the CAA tournament for the first time and advanced to its third semifinal appearance with a 63-60 win over Old Dominion.

03/08/08 7:15PM

Richmond, Va. - A Nathan Mann 3-pointer with 7.5 seconds remaining provided an encore to the Tribe’s last-second victory in the opening round as the William and Mary men’s basketball team upended No. 4 seeded Old Dominion, 63-60, in the CAA Quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon. For the first in the 23-year history of the CAA, W&M won two games in the league tournament and advanced to the semifinals for the third time in the program’s history. The College upped its season ledger to 16-15, while ODU fell to 17-15.

Senior Laimis Kisielius and sophomore Danny Sumner paced the Tribe in scoring with 16 points each in the victory. Kisielius was an impressive 7-of-10 from the floor, while adding three assists and four rebounds. Sumner was 5-of-8 from the field, including a 3-of-4 effort from long range. Mann finished with 10 points on a pair of 3-pointers to go along with a career-high six assists.

W&M led the entire way in the second half until an offensive putback from Gerald Lee gave the Monarchs a 58-57 lead with 1:41 remaining in the contest. Schneider answered right back on the ensuing Tribe possession, knocking down a trifecta from the top of the key. ODU drew even with 37 seconds remaining as Brandon Johnson tipped in a miss shot to knot things up for the fourth time at 60.

The Tribe called a timeout with 29 seconds remaining to draw up the final play. Stein handed ball off to Mann on the left wing, and the Overland Park, Kan., native saw his opportunity rattle in to give the Tribe a 63-60 with 7.5 seconds remaining. Johnson had a chance to tie with a deep three with four seconds left, but the shot hit off the backboard and Mann grabbed the rebound to cement the Green and Gold victory.

The College shot a sizzling 73.7 percent from the floor (14-of-19) in the second half and knocked down six of its seven 3-point chances. Schneider led the College with a career-high seven assists, while juniors Chris Darnell and Peter Stein pulled down six rebounds each to lead the W&M charge. The Tribe defense also limited ODU to just 37.5 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from 3-point range.

For the second straight game, W&M got off to a cold start, missing each of its opening 10 attempts from the floor, including seven from 3-point range. ODU raced out to a 7-0 lead in the opening three minutes of the game. The Tribe kept it close thanks in large part to its own defensive effort. After a Lee dunk gave the Monarchs a 9-2 lead at the 15:59 mark, W&M held ODU scoreless for the next six and a half minutes.

While the Tribe did not hit its first shot of the game until a 3-pointer from Schneider at the 11:15 mark, the College pulled within a single point on its second straight three. Stein lofted in a 3-pointer from the left wing, cutting the Old Dominion lead to 9-8 with 10:42 remaining in the first half.

After four-straight points from Lee pushed the ODU lead back to five points, W&M went on a 14-0 run to seize its first lead of the ball game. Schneider canned his second 3-pointer of the game, before Kisielius scored six straight points. The Vilnius, Lithuania native converted a pair of nifty lay-ups, before adding a tip-in to give W&M a 17-13 lead at the 5:10 mark. Sumner knocked down his first 3-pointer of the game, before Mann added a pair of free throws. The two tallies from the charity stripe extended the Tribe lead to its largest at 22-13 with 3:14 remaining.

ODU responded with a quick 10-point spurt to regain the lead over the next two and half minutes. Lee scored six points on the run with a pair of conventional 3-point plays. Freshman Brian Finney gave the Monarchs the lead, 23-22, on a lay-up capping the run with 57 seconds remaining. The Tribe, though, took the lead to the locker room as Mann was fouled and drilled a pair of free throws to give W&M a 24-23 lead at the intermission.

The Tribe quickly extended its lead, scoring the opening five points of the second stanza. Kisielius scored on a lay-up before Sumner nailed a free -throw line jumper. The Fairfax, Va., native converted 1-of-2 from the charity stripe, to give W&M a 29-23 lead two minutes into the second half.

Old Dominion pulled even at 33 with the Tribe following five straight points from Brian Henderson. The senior guard knocked down a trey from the left wing, before knocking down a pull-up jumper from the top of the key at the 14:12 mark.

W&M answered with a 7-1 run to retake a six-point lead. Kisielius knocked down a free-throw line jumper, before some nice ball movement got Darnell free for a 3-pointer from the left wing. A lay-up from Kisielius off the dish from Schneider gave the College a 40-34 lead with 12:26 remaining.

The Monarchs closed the gap to two points, 42-40, on an Abdi Lidonde 3-pointer. Sumner took over for the College, scoring the program’s next eight points to extend its cushion to eight points, 50-42. The 6-7, 215-pounder nailed back-to-back threes, before converting 2-of-3 from the foul line with 8:35 left after being fouled on a 3-point attempt.

Every time the Monarchs narrowed the gap to single digits, the College had the answer. After ODU closed to 50-47 on a lay-up from Henderson, Mann drilled his first 3-pointer of the CAA Tournament to extend the lead to six. The lead remained six, 55-49, with five minutes remaining, before ODU used a 9-2 run to take its only lead of the second half on Lee’s offensive putback.

After starting the game 0-of-10 from the floor and 0-of-7 from 3-point range over the opening eight minutes of the game, W&M shot 63.6 percent (21-of-33) from the field and 58.8 percent (10-of-17) from 3-point range over the rest of the contest. The College finished the game shooting 48.8 percent from the field overall and 41.7 percent from 3-point land. The College knocked down 10 treys in the contest, marking the ninth time this season W&M has drilled double-digit 3-pointers in a game.

The Tribe will face the No. 1 seed VCU on Sunday, March 9, in the first semifinal at 3 p.m. The game will be televised on CN8 and webstreamed over the Internet at CN8.tv. Fans can also catch the action over the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley, Bill McDonald and Charlie Woollum on the call. The broad will also be available over the Internet at TribeAthletics.com. The entire CAA Men’s Basketball Championship will be broadcast nationally on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 119, and in Richmond on ESPN Radio 950 AM. Live statistics for the event will also be available at CAASports.com.

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