Washington University will take on No. 23 Guilford College in the National Semifinals on Friday, March 20, at 5 p.m., at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Va. Guilford rallied for a 64-59 overtime victory over No. 22 University of Texas-Dallas in the Sectional Championship played at John Carroll University.
"St. Thomas caused us more problems that any team we played this year," said Washington University head coach Mark Edwards. "The difference is the game was our experience and poise, and the fact we did not turn the ball over 17 times in the second. I proud of our guys because they competed all night long and came through."
Senior Tyler Nading finished with 28 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots. Nading, who was 10-of-11 from the field, also added two steals in the victory to move into a tie with Matt Tabash (1999-03) for first all-time.
"I did not play much last night so I wanted to make the most of this night. It’s real easy to make lay-ups when our guards create easy buckets inside,” said Nading, who scored his 1,500th point against St. Thomas. "This is a tribute to how well we play together. Once we stopped turning the ball over, we started getting more open looks."
Junior Aaron Thompson added 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists, while senior Sean Wallis had 13 points and 11 assists. Wallis now has 236 assists in 2008-09, tying the single-season mark of J.J. Siepierski set in the 1995-96 season. He also increased his career total to 551 assists, five shy of the all-time Washington University record of 556 set by Siepierski.
Wallis was named the Sectional MVP after averaging 15.5 points and 8.5 assists per game. He also earned Wisconsin-Stevens Point Sectional MVP honors in 2007. Nading, Wheaton’s Kent Raymond, Puget Sound’s Jason Foster, and Tyler Nicolai of St. Thomas joined Wallis on the All-Tournament Team.
"It showed in the first half that we did not know what to expect from their pressure. We took a step back at halftime and switched some things up," said Wallis. "Salem is a great place to celebrate Division III college basketball, and I can’t wait to go back."
The Bears shot a season-best 67.4 percent (29-43) from the field, the second highest field goal percentage in school history. Washington U. also outrebounded St. Thomas, 40-20, and had 26 assists and 22 turnovers.
Washington U.’s motion offense created problems for St. Thomas early in the contest as the Bears hit nine of its first 10 shots from the field. Wallis continued his hot shooting as he hit 3-of-4 from the field, including a fast-break lay-up at the 13:00 mark to give the Bears an early 15-10 lead.
St. Thomas got back into the game with its pressure defense as the Tommies forced five-straight turnovers and capped an 8-0 run with back-to-back lay-ups by Alex Healey to take a 22-19 lead. Thompson answered back with his first three-pointer of the game to get the lead back at 24-22, but that would be the last time WU held the advantage in the first 20 minutes of play.
The Tommies ended the first half on a 17-8 run as they forced Washington U. into seven turnovers in the final seven minutes of play. Nicolai scored 10 of the last 12 points for St. Thomas, including two three-pointers, as UST took a 41-33 lead at half. This marks the sixth time in 29 games played that WU has trailed at intermission.
Washington U. shot a blistering 73.7 percent (14-19) from the field, but committed 17 turnovers in the first 20 minutes of action. Thompson and Nading each had 10 points in the first half to lead the Bears, while Wallis added seven points and six assists. St. Thomas hit 50 percent (18-36) from the field, and had a 17-6 advantage in points off turnovers.
The Bears got back into the contest on the defensive end of the floor forcing three turnovers and allowing just one field goal by St. Thomas in the first eight minutes of play. Wallis nailed a three-pointer from the corner, to cut the lead to five, and then seven-straight points by the Bears put WU back out in front at 45-43 on a three-pointer by Thompson.
A three-pointer by sophomore Caleb Knepper from the corner extended the run to 17-2 and pushed the lead to 50-43 with 11:53 left. Nading scored six-straight points for the Bears to push the lead to double-figures at 61-50 with 9:09 remaining, and then a breakaway dunk by junior Zach Kelly with 3:21 left in the game on Wallis’ 11th assist of the night sealed the victory for the Bears.
The victory for Washington University was its 18th in the last 19 games, and its school-record 27th of the season. The Bears also improved their all-time postseason record to 30-15, including 26-12 in Division III play.
St. Thomas, which ended its season with a 30-1 record, shot 30 percent (9-30) from the field in the second half and 40.9 percent (27-66) for the game. Nicolai had 15 points to lead the Tommies, who were the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) regular-season and tournament champions.