The Patriots Confront a Tribe's Quest

Mason won this game at the defensive end of the floor. It had no choice because with Dre Smith on the bench because of a sore knee, John Vaughan's shooting touch absent, Thomas double-teamed and Campbell just 3 of 11 from the field himself, the only option was to stop the Seahawks.

The Patriots did that because Coach Jim Larranaga decided to front wide-body center Vladimir Kuljanin because he had consistently hurt his team in Wilmington's two regular season wins both by scoring and passing the ball from the low post. Reserve Chris Fleming, who chipped in with some critical offense (3-of-3 shooting) helped admirably on Kuljanin, and the entire team did a good job of extending to Wilmington's perimeter shooters, the result being that the Seahawks, the best shooting team in the CAA during the regular season, made just 28 percent.

"They had a great defensive game plan," UNCW Coach Benny Moss said. "They fronted the post extremely well and attacked our shooters. Our effort was good enough to win, but our execution wasn't."

The best offensive execution in the building, by far, was that of William & Mary. The Tribe was a step slower than VCU at every position, and when the Rams came after them defensively, they struggled for long stretches.

"If we didn't have a couple of five- or six-minute stretches in a game where we didn't score, it wouldn't be us," said Shaver, who was 38-77 in his first four seasons but has patiently put together a solid basketball team. "We scored when we absolutely had to."

William & Mary's last drought lasted just less than six minutes and allowed VCU to turn a 51-43 deficit into a 51-51 tie. It seemed certain that Eric Maynor, who always seems to make plays when VCU most needs them, would make a play late and save his team again. Only it didn't happen that way. Kisielius drilled a three-pointer with 49 seconds left, only to watch Jamal Shuler answer it 11 seconds later with a falling down fadeaway that somehow found the net.

Shaver ordered a clear-out for Kisielius, and he dribbled the clock down against Michael Anderson before calmly hitting a short bank shot with three seconds to go for the game winner.

"It was just my turn," Kisielius said with a smile, referencing the fact that teammates David Schneider and Nathan Mann had hit winners the first two nights. "Coach called the play for me. I can't give you details though; we may need to use it again."

They very well might. Anyone who thinks George Mason is now a lock to win the championship is mistaken. A team on a roll such as William & Mary, a team that knows no one expects it to win, is a dangerous team.

Ask Michigan State, North Carolina or Connecticut what it was like facing Mason two years ago in March.

That said, Mason is where it wants to be. The seniors on this team have been to the Final Four, but they have never won a CAA title. They are also keenly aware that the only way they'll get into the 65-team field next Sunday is to win Monday night.

"Every team starts every season with one goal: to get to the Big Dance," Larranaga said. "We know now we're one game away from that."

It wasn't pretty, but no one from Mason cared about aesthetics.

"How many [field goals] did we have?" Larranaga asked when his team's second half offense came up. "Four? Really?"

Yes, four. But statistics simply don't matter at this time of year. All that matters is winning.

The Patriots need to survive one more night to advance to Selection Sunday with their dance ticket punched. It wasn't easy Sunday night. It won't be easy Monday night. Then again, when you get to March, it isn't supposed to be easy.