The University of Mary Washington men's basketball team extended the most successful run in school history, as last year's edition of the Eagle cagers finished with a 15-11 overall record, and advanced to the Capital Athletic Conference semifinals. Over the course of the past four years, the Eagles have won 76 games, by far the most in any four year period in the 35-year history of the sport at the school. Along the way, the Eagles have won one regular-season CAC title, one CAC Tournament Championship, and advanced to the NCAA Division III tournament for the first time. The Eagles also were one of just four Division III teams in the nation to knock off a Division One opponent, in 2003, when the Eagles topped VMI, 60-56.
The Eagles of 2005-06 opened the campaign with an impressive win over nationally ranked Southwestern University, 64-50, at the Washington & Lee University tipoff tournament. Although the Eagles lost the tourney's title game to Manhattanville, 78-74, sophomore Justin Baker emerged as the Eagles' top
threat, gaining tournament MVP honors despite not playing on the winning team. In the two games, Baker scored 48 points and grabbed 19 rebounds.
Head Coach Rod Wood's Eagles then made their home debut, an 87-73 win over CAC rival Catholic University. Baker led the charge, scoring 28 points on 8-9 shooting from the floor and 11-12 from the free throw line. The Eagle balance also was a key to victory, as sophomore Jon Pierce scored 14, freshman Kiernan Whitworth scored 12, and junior guard A.J. Fitzgerald added 11 points. The momentum of that key early-season win kick-started a four-game win streak, with a road CAC win at St. Mary's and home wins over Frostburg State University and Lancaster Bible College following. After dropping a narrow decision at home to Shenandoah University, the Eagles flew to Las Vegas for the Adidas Division III Desert Shootout. Against two nationally ranked opponents (Wartburg College and Aurora University), UMW fell, but those games prepared the Eagles for the conference schedule, which began in full force after the new year holiday.
After falling at the buzzer to Buffalo State College in the Albright College tournament, UMW rebounded to take the consolation game over Grove City, 81-72. The Eagles then topped Gallaudet University and Salisbury University to improve to 3-0 in conference play. A buzzer-beater loss at Goucher and a five-point loss at nationally ranked York College followed. Playing without injured starting guard A.J. Fitzgerald for a 10-game stretch, Baker moved from small forward to point guard, and he and junior guard Mike Lee assumed most of the backcourt duties, with senior Mike Mattson also adding quality minutes. Freshman Matt Treacy also saw more minutes in the stretch, contributing several impressive games.
The Eagles then won five of seven games, with the two losses coming on the road and in overtime at Catholic and Salisbury, who both eventually advanced to the Capital Athletic Conference championship game. The Eagles topped Marymount University, 86-63, in the opening round of the CAC Tournament, before falling at Catholic, 69-59, to close the season.
Baker and Lee both earned All-CAC honors, and paced four Eagles in double figures, joined on that list by Fitzgerald and Pierce. Baker was named all-region by D3Hoops.com, one year after Lee earned the same honor. With only one player, Mattson, lost to graduation, the Eagles will strive to remain one of the upper echelon teams in the CAC once again in 2006-07. With Baker, Lee, and Fitzgerald, the Eagles possess one of the top backcourts in all of NCAA
Division III, and with Kiernan Whitworth and Pierce returning with starting experience, UMW should be a contender for conference throne.