A Full Spectrum Of Emotions

With 1 minute 4 seconds on the clock and the lead at 12 with Thomas walking to the foul line, the George Mason fans began to celebrate. Larranaga, however, waited until there were just 10 seconds left before he cleared his bench. Then he let out one of his Bronx whistles -- one that could be heard from here to the Bronx -- when the clock hit zero and Mason had escaped with the victory.

It took Mason's best half of the season to put away the Tribe. It took defense -- inside and out -- and it took the two seniors who had done everything in their careers except win this tournament.

There is no feeling quite like that of a win or go home basketball game. Only in leagues like the CAA can you have a championship game like this one. There was absolutely no doubt about what was at stake when the teams came out of their tunnels.

"It's actually kind of a cool feeling when you come out," Shaver said. "The building is electric in a way you just don't feel on other nights."

The matchup was full of storylines. William & Mary is the second-oldest college in the United States, founded in 1693. George Mason didn't come into existence until 1957 -- that's 264 years later, if you're scoring at home. But in a basketball sense, Mason is royalty, the king of the mid-majors because of their miraculous Final Four run, a team that was playing in the championship game for the fifth time in 10 years. William & Mary has played in three championship games in 103 years of basketball -- the most recent in 1983. It has never played in the NCAA tournament.

The Tribe made the Patriots sweat before they finally ran out of steam. "You have to expect runs in a championship game when everything is at stake for both teams," Thomas said. "There's too much at stake for it not to be that way. Fortunately, tonight we had the last run."

In the end, it came down to defense. A month ago, after a win at Drexel, Campbell said he knew there would be more and more focus on defense as February turned to March.

"That's the way Coach L. does it," he said. "We know we have to get our defense to a peak by the time we get to March. We're not there right now. We better be there in a few weeks."

They weren't there a week ago when they lost their regular season finale to Northeastern. Larranaga pounded on them all week, telling them they would only win here if they got out after three-point shooters because every team they were going to face had players who could make the three.

UNC Wilmington, a team that had beaten the Patriots twice, shot 4 for 23 from the three-point line on Sunday. William & Mary was 9 for 29 Monday night.

That's why Mason cut down the nets. That's why they felt the kind of joy that only comes with winning a game like this. And there is crying in college basketball.