William & Mary bounces ODU from the CAA quarterfinals

RICHMOND

His shot wouldn't be classified as high percentage.

He took it while fading away.

He had to shoot over a 6-foot-10 post player.

It was from 22 feet.

And since William and Mary senior guard Nathan Mann had been in what he called the worst slump of his career, the shot didn't have much of a chance.

Tell that to Old Dominion.

Mann's 3-pointer with 7.5 seconds to play clanked the rim three times, kissed off the backboard at just the right angle, then fell in for a 63-60 Tribe victory Saturday in the Colonial Athletic Association quarterfinals at Richmond Coliseum.

It marked the second consecutive day the Tribe won on a late 3-pointer. William and Mary beat Georgia State 58-57 on David Schneider's 3-pointer with a little over a second remaining Friday.

William and Mary (16-15) will meet VCU (24-6) in the semifinals at 3 p.m. today.

"I'm honored to be a part of turning this program around," Mann said. "Since day one, we've felt we had a chance to battle for the league title."

The Tribe, one of the few Division I teams to have never played in the NCAA tournament, is two wins from a trip to college basketball's promised land. And after winning twice on 3-pointers, there's no doubt there's a bit of a Cinderella build-up in the air.

For ODU (17-15), the air is out of the ball.

ODU's Brandon Johnson launched a 24-footer from the right wing with three seconds remaining, but it caromed off the back of the rim. Falling facedown, Johnson banged the floor with both hands in frustration.

"Laimis Kisielius was running at me, so I had to get it off kind of quick," said Johnson, who made a similar shot against Drexel on Feb. 14 to force overtime in ODU's double-overtime win. "I thought he was trying to foul me and I kind of rushed the shot."

The Tribe had only committed five team fouls in the second half to that point, so it had one to give without sending ODU to the free-throw line.

William and Mary shot 73.7 from the field in the second half, a hard number to beat. Kisielius and Danny Sumner each had 16 points while Mann finished with 10.

Still, the Monarchs had their chances.

Possibly the best was in the opening minutes when the Tribe missed its first 10 shots but trailed just 9-2. The Monarchs couldn't increase their lead, and eventually went into their own six-minute scoring drought.

Trailing 24-23 at the half, one thing was clear: ODU sophomore forward Gerald Lee was having a great game. He had 14 points at the half.

Problem was, the Monarchs struggled to get him the ball after the break.

"We called his number a few times and had some misreads, particularly from the younger players," ODU coach Blaine Taylor said. "A couple times we turned right when we should have turned left.

"And their defense collapsed on Gerald a little bit. That's why really good college post players can't wait to get to the pros where they aren't surrounded by 'student body right' all the time."

ODU spent much of the second half trailing by a half-dozen points, but actually took its final lead with 1:41 to play on a basket by Lee, his only field goal of the half. Lee finished with a game-high 20 points while senior guard Brian Henderson, whose 3-pointer moments earlier pulled ODU within one, added 15 points.

At the other end, Schneider answered with a 3-pointer and the Tribe retook the lead at 60-58 with 1:17 left. The Tribe was 6 for 7 from beyond the arc in the second half.

ODU came down and pounded the ball inside, missing three close shots before Johnson's tip-in tied it at 60 with 38 seconds remaining.

That set up Mann's game-winner. Not wanting William and Mary to hold the ball for the last shot, ODU switched to man-to-man and had the Tribe running the weave beyond the 3-point line before Mann got off the shot.

"I wouldn't do anything different on their last possession," Taylor said. "We pressured them and disrupted them and they took the shot with nine seconds to go. It was a pinball wizard shot."