Tribe's Magical Run Comes to a Close in CAA Title Game

W&M led the way with three members on the All-Championship team with Laimis Kisielius, David Schneider and Danny Sumner earning the honor.

03/10/08 10:50PM

Richmond, Va. - In front of a national television audience on ESPN, the William and Mary men’s basketball team had its magical run in the Colonial Athletic Association Championship come to a close at the hands of George Mason, 69-58, in the title game on Monday night at the Richmond Coliseum. After a trio of come-from-behind wins that culminated in last-second, game-winning shots, the Tribe could not get by the Patriots, falling short of the program’s first-ever CAA Championship. A season filled with memorable moments ended with the Tribe tallying its first winning season in a decade at 17-16.

Senior Laimis Kisielus was sensational in his final collegiate game for the Green and Gold, leading all scorers with 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field and 4-of-10 from 3-point range. He also added five rebounds a trio of assists in 38 minutes of action. He along with the sophomore pair of David Schneider and Danny Sumner headlined a three-member W&M contingent on the six-person All-Championship Team. Mason’s Folarin Campbell was the MVP of the Championship, while Will Thomas of Mason and Eric Maynor of VCU were also named to the All-Championship squad.

Schneider and Sumner were the only other W&M players in double figures, scoring 12 and 10 points, respectively. Both players hit a pair of 3-pointers in the defeat, while Schneider had a team-best four assists compared to zero turnovers and Sumner pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. On the night, W&M hit nine 3-point field goals to bring its season total to 257, which set a new CAA record.

Mason raced out to a 10-3 lead on the strength of its low post game. Thomas and Louis Birdsong scored the Patriots first 10 points of the ballgame as a free-throw line jumper from Birdsong gave Mason the seven-point advantage, five minutes into the contest. Four quick points from the Tribe on a Sumner offensive putback and a Chris Darnell leaner in the lane narrowed the margin to three less than a minute and a half later.

Mason scored seven of the game’s next nine points as its lead ballooned to eight. Freshman Cam Long scored on an air-balled 3-pointer turned alley-oop, before knocking down a 3-pointer from the top of the key with the shot clock running down. The trifecta gave the Patriots at 17-9 lead with 9:39 left in the opening half. Mason maintained its advantage over the next three and half minutes, before W&M went on a run to slice the margin.

The Tribe traded threes for twos on the run, outscoring the Patriots, 11-4, to cut the lead to one point. W&M drilled a trio of 3-pointers on the run as Kisielius connected on a pair and Schneider drilled one, before a Nathan Mann pull-up jumper from just inside the 3-point arc forced a 30-second Mason timeout and closed the gap to 25-24 with 3:23 to play. After a Campbell lay-up at the two-minute mark, Kisielius closed the gap back to one at the halftime horn with a fadeaway jumper from the left baseline. The bucket brought the W&M faithful to its feet and sent the Tribe to the locker room down one, 27-26.

Coming out of the locker room, the Patriots scored the first nine points to push it advantage to double digits for the first time. John Vaughan scored on a baseline floater, before a Thomas putback and a Dre Smith leaner in the lane continued the run. Campbell capped the sizzling start for the Patriots with a 3-pointer from the left wing, giving Mason a 36-26 lead just over three minutes into the second stanza.

The resilient Tribe, who had rallied from deficits in each of its opening three wins in the CAA Tournament, could not get any closer than seven the rest of the way. W&M narrowed the margin to eight at the 8:29 (50-42) and 6:45 (52-44) marks, and despite, having possession of the basketball saw its chances of closing the gap bound harmlessly off the iron. A 3-pointer from Kisielius cut the lead to 54-47 with 4:27 remaining, but on the ensuing possession for the College a runner in the lane came up short and Mason hit is free throws down the stretch. The Patriots connected on 14 of its 16 chances from the foul line over the final three minutes to ice the CAA title and the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The result brought an end to the great careers of head coach Tony Shaver’s first recruiting class of Laimis Kisielius, Nathan Mann, Chris Stratton and Kyle Carrabine. The quartet was instrumental in helping to turnaround the Tribe program and led the Green and Gold to only the school’s sixth 17-win season and its first-ever CAA Championship Game appearance this season.

Box Score