A Full Spectrum Of Emotions

By John Feinstein
Tuesday, March 11, 2008

RICHMOND There really is no other joy in college basketball quite like that which comes with winning a game that punches your ticket to the NCAA tournament. In the big-time leagues, they celebrate winning a conference tournament because someone hands them a bunch of hats with corporate logos on them and tells them to cut down a net.

In leagues such as the Colonial Athletic Association, the celebrations are real -- and so is the despair. Monday night, the joy was George Mason's, the Patriots getting to cut down the nets at Richmond Coliseum for the first time in seven years after their 68-59 victory in the championship game.

The despair was William & Mary's. The Tribe put on a remarkable performance all weekend, winning three games to reach the final, including an improbable upset of top-seeded Virginia Commonwealth on Sunday. But in the second half, with Mason's relentless defense coming at them in waves, they just didn't have quite enough in their legs to make it to the finish line.

Afterward, William & Mary Coach Tony Shaver and his star player, Laimis Kisielius, sat red-eyed, bravely answering questions they probably barely heard. They knew their team had done things never before accomplished in school history, but at this moment it didn't matter.

"I told our players before the game that I wanted them to love this moment," Shaver said. "They earned the chance to be on this stage and that was a great feeling. But I also told them they were here to win a game."

They didn't because Will Thomas and Folarin Campbell wouldn't let them. The two seniors, the last remaining starters from the 2006 Final Four run, made play after play down the stretch, combining for 38 points, and keeping the Tribe at bay every time they tried to make a run.

"These two guys have been the heads and tails of George Mason basketball, the face of the program for four years," said Coach Jim Larranaga, who won his third CAA title. "Folarin is our Magic Johnson. Will is our Bill Russell."

Larranaga is occasionally given to hyperbole but his point was well taken: Campbell is the creator for this team and Thomas is the finisher. Monday, Campbell, whose jump shot had been shaky most of the weekend, buried two long threes with William & Mary trying to keep the game close, the first closing out a 9-0 run that extended a 27-26 halftime lead to 36-26. William & Mary tried gamely after that but never got closer than seven because the two seniors simply wouldn't allow it.

"We wanted to win this game and not have to spend all week worrying about Selection Sunday," Thomas said. "Now we can sit back and enjoy it."

At halftime, it looked as if getting to enjoy the week might not be that easy. Kisielius hit a short jumper to close the gap to one -- his 15th point -- and the Tribe raced to the locker room full of momentum. Larranaga said he talked to his players about staying confident and continuing to rely on their defense. His tone was calm as he described the halftime locker room. Was he that calm then?

"No," Thomas said before Larranaga could answer. "Absolutely not."

Mason came here thinking it would have to go through VCU to win the championship. But a hot underdog can be just as dangerous as a favorite and William & Mary never quite went away until the end.

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.