The University of Mary Washington men's basketball team lost on a half-court heave at the buzzer to Wesley College on Saturday afternoon in Dover, DE. The Eagles fall to 17-6 overall, and 11-5 in the CAC. Senior Eric Shaw led the Eagles with 16 points.
In the early going, Wesley scored the first bucket and then Drew Johnson nailed a three-pointer to give UMW a 3-2 lead just 44 seconds into the game. The Wolverines took back the lead and pushed it to 10-5 on a three-pointer with 15:16 left in the first half. UMW cut the lead to three, 16-13, on a three-pointer from A.J. Robinson with 12:32 left.
Khiorie Stewart tied the game up at 18-18 on a made layup with 11:32 to play in the half. Over the next 3:06, Wesley went on a 7-0 run to take the lead 25-18. That sparked the Eagles and they went on a 7-0 run to tie the game up at 25-25 on a layup from Johnny Cronin with 5:35 remaining. Wesley made a free throw with 3:31 left and that gave them a three point lead, 31-28.
Cronin tied the game up once again at 31 a piece on a made free throw with 1:57 to play in the first half. Stewart scooped in another layup with 36 seconds left to cut the lead to one, but two free throws from the Wolverines with 16 seconds left put Wesley up 36-33 at halftime.
Both teams got off to a slow start out of halftime as they failed to score over the first 2:22. Wesley hit the first shot to go up five, but the Eagles made two three-pointers to put them up one, 39-38. The Wolverines went on a 6-0 run and put them back up five, 44-39, with 15:01 left.
With 12:29 left Wesley was up six, 51-45, after a made layup. Johnson knocked down another three-pointer from Robinson to cut it to one, 51-50, with 10:49 left. UMW took back the lead 53-52 on a three-pointer from Mark Madison with 7:38 to go. Cronin made a layup from Robinson and the Eagles extended the lead top six, 60-54, with 5:02 left.
Robinson made a layup with 2:21 remaining in the game and the Eagles held a five point lead, 64-59. Wesley got two quick buckets and they were all of a sudden down one, 64-63, with 1:50 left. Wesley then made two free throws with 25 seconds left to take the lead, 65-64. Jacob Williams drove to the basket and kicked it to Cronin for a layup with 4 seconds left and that put the Eagles up 66-65.
The Eagles turned the Wolverines over on the ensuing possession and they went to the free throw line for a 1 and 1. The front end of the 1 and 1 was missed, and Wesley threw up a heave from half court that went in to give them the win 68-66.
Robinson scored 14 points and dished out four assists, while Madison scored 10 points. Cronin had a team-high seven rebounds. Paul Clemons scored 17 points to lead the way for the Wolverines.
The Eagles shot 40.0% (24-60) from the field, making 11-35 three-pointers, and 7-11 free throws. The Wolverines shot 45.8% (27-59) from the field, making 6-22 three-pointers, and 8-16 free throws. UMW dished out 16 assists on the day.
UMW will be back in action on Wednesday night when they host CNU at 8 p.m. in a CAC showdown.