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Aaron Walton-Moss' drive to the rim set up Jeremy
Knowles' game winner. |
By Brian Falzarano,
D3sports.com
SALEM, Va. – Of course, their respective roads lead to the same destination – the spotlight of Saturday night's NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship title game – but the paths taken by Cabrini and Wisconsin-Whitewater proved dramatically different.
In the first half of Friday night's Final Four doubleheader at the Salem Civic Center, a Cabrini squad making its first-ever appearance in the national semifinals got a game-winning shot from an unlikely source when Jeremy Knowles knocked down a three-pointer with 3.5 seconds left as the Cavaliers eliminated Illinois Wesleyan, 81-78.
After Cabrini left the court, UW-Whitewater ensured the second semifinal would be drama free, using a 14-0, second-half surge to tame MIT by a 71-56 count. Senior Chris Davis, who sat the first half's final four minutes of foul issues, scored 21 of his 30 points after intermission – including eight during the run that will allow the Warhawks to play for their first national championship since 1989.
As it was, Cabrini provided plenty of drama during Friday's first game. With less than seven minutes left, the Cavaliers trailed 70-61 and looked lethargic despite getting a career-high 34 points from senior John Boyd, who canned seven three-pointers, before their press ignited a stirring comeback against a balanced Illinois Wesleyan squad led by Jordan Zimmer, who scored 19 points in his final collegiate contest.
Surprisingly, Knowles took the final shot despite Boyd's hot hand and the presence of playmakers Cory Lemons and Aaron Walton-Moss. Lemons never touched the ball in the final sequence: Walton-Moss took the inbounds pass with 13.5 seconds left, drove into the paint, and kicked it out to Knowles in the right corner when the Illinois Wesleyan defense collapsed on him.
“In practice every day, coach says, 'Attack for a teammate,'” Walton-Moss said. “When I went to the rack, I saw Jeremy open.”
Before the final minutes, Knowles missed nine of his first 10 shots. He converted a lay-up off a steal and assist by Boyd with 35 seconds remaining, then hit his first three-pointer after three previous misses, the last of which clanged off the rim with 1:18 remaining.
“I had confidence in my shot even though I was struggling,” said Knowles.
Davis never lost confidence in his shot for UW-Whitewater. He just needed to stay off the bench over the final 20 minutes. However, the Warhawks found themselves trailing 32-30 approaching the first TV timeout of the second half.
Then he started dominating.
“Everything seemed to come to life,” UW-Whitewater head coach Pat Miller said. “I thought Chris played great, hit some shots, and got us going.”
After draining a jumper that put Whitewater ahead to stay, 34-32 with 16:04 left, before converting a lay-up and canning two free throws on his team's next two trips down the floor. Overall, he scored eight of his points during the decisive 14-0 run.
“I definitely didn't want this to be my last game, so I had to step up and hit some big shots,” Davis said. “That's what I did today.”
After holding Davis to nine first-half points, MIT head coach Larry Anderson just stared at the stat sheet after his team was eliminated from its first Final Four appearance and shook his head.
“He's the best big man we played against all year,” MIT head coach Larry Anderson said. “He made some really tough shots. They may not be tough for him … you could see why he scored 30 today.”
Saturday night's championship game will be the first meeting between Cabrini and UW-Whitewater. Both teams took different roads, but each enters with the same goal in mind: