Laimis Kisielius' Bank Shot Propels Tribe into CAA Championship Game

Senior Laimis Kisielius scored 23 points, including the game-winning jumper with three seconds remaining, to send the College to its first-ever CAA title game.

03/09/08 6:45PM

Richmond, Va. - For the third time in as many days, the William and Mary men’s basketball team needed late-game heroics, this time in the form of a six-foot bank shot with three seconds left from senior Laimis Kisielius. The bucket sent the College into the Championship Game of the CAA Tournament for the first time ever and capped a 56-54 upset win over top-seed and regular season champion VCU on Sunday afternoon at the Richmond Coliseum. W&M improved to 17-15 overall with the win, marking only the sixth time in school history the Tribe has won 17 or more games.

With the game tied at 51 and less than a minute remaining, Kisielius put the College on top with a 3-pointer from the top of the key. The longball came after a huge offensive rebound from junior forward Peter Stein. VCU’s Jamal Schuler answered right back on a long-range triple of his own with 40 seconds remaining. In the final sequence following a timeout from the Tribe, W&M got the ball in the hands of Kisielius, who backed down a VCU defender, spun at the elbow and hit a banking leaner to put the Green and Gold on top for good at 56-54. The Rams last ditch effort came on a 25-foot 3-point attempt at the horn, but the shot hit off the front iron and bounded away, sending the Tribe faithful into a frenzy.

Kisielius led all scorers with 23 points on 10-of-17 from the floor to go along with six assists. Sophomore Danny Sumner once again starred for the College scoring a career-high 19 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, while also adding seven rebounds. Stein led the Tribe charge on the boards with nine, and sophomore guard David Schneider added four assists and five rebounds.

The Tribe took the early lead in the contest, hitting five of its first seven shots from the floor. After Sumner connected on a 3-pointer from the left wing, Kisielius made a driving lay-up to take an 11-7 lead with 13:51 remaining in the opening half.

With W&M leading, 13-10, VCU went on a 9-0 run to take a six-point lead. T.J. Gwynn gave VCU a 14-13 advantage on a tip-in at the 10:14 mark, before adding a leaner 45 seconds later. Nixon capped the spurt with a conventional 3-point play, hitting a fadeaway jumper in the lane and adding the free throw. The 3-point play gave VCU a 19-13 lead with 8:17 left in the first half.

The College finally ended a seven-minute scoring drought as Sumner knocked down a 3-pointer from the right wing off a nice inside-out pass from Kisielius. W&M finally pulled even on a trey from Schneider with three minutes remaining. The long-range bucket knotted the score at 22. VCU, though, gained the momentum heading into the locker room, scoring the final six points of the half. A pair of free throws from Jamal Shuler with 0.7 seconds remaining made it 28-22 at the intermission.

The Tribe quickly tied the score as it hit its first three shots from the floor over the opening 2:15 of the second stanza. Kisielius’ fadeaway jumper from the right baseline knotted the score at 28. After back-to-back baskets from the Rams, W&M used a nine-point spurt to retake the lead for the first time in the second half. Sumner scored seven of the nine points on the run. After drilling a 3-pointer, he put the Tribe back on top, 33-32, with an offensive putback at the 14:49 mark. The Fairfax, Va., native capped the run with 2-of-3 from the charity stripe after being fouled on a 3-point attempt.

The Rams answered with back-to-back 3-pointers from CAA Player of the Year Eric Maynor and freshman Brandon Rozzell to regain the advantage. The lead reached four, 43-39, after another Maynor 3-pointer with 9:22 remaining in the game.

W&M scored the contest’s next 12 points on a flurry of 3-pointers and 3-point plays from Kisielius and Sumner to take its largest lead of the game at eight, 51-43, with 6:46 left. Sumner pulled the Tribe within a point on a 3-point play, before Kisielius drilled back-to-back triples to give the College the lead. Sumner capped the run with a tough 3-point play in the paint.

VCU scored the game’s next eight points to even the contest at 51. W&M on the other hand went cold from the field as the Rams held W&M scoreless for nearly six minutes, before the final minute of the contest. A steal by Shuler on the defensive end resulted in a 3-pointer from Maynor that knotted the game at 51 with 3:26 remaining.

W&M shot 43.1 percent (22-of-51) from the floor and hit seven 3-pointers in the win. The seven triples brought the W&M single season total to 248, which is second-most in CAA history. The Tribe also forced VCU into 17 turnovers, while W&M dished out 16 assists in the win.

W&M will take on George Mason in the finals of the league tournament on Monday, March 10, at 7 p.m. The contest will be televised nationally on ESPN as part of Championship Week. Fans can purchase tickets for the title game online at TicketMaster.com or by calling the Richmond Ticket Master at 804-262-8100.

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