University of Mary Washington guard Kaden Bates’ shots weren’t falling during the first four games of the NCAA Division III men’s basketball tournament.
Bates was just 3-of-14 from 3 entering the Eagles’ national semifinal contest against defending national champion and No. 1 ranked Trinity (Connecticut) Saturday night at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
But Bates’ lack of success from deep didn’t prevent him from letting it fly against the Bantams. Sophomore guard Kye Robinson found an open Bates in the right corner and the junior from Bristow drained a game-winning 3 with 24 seconds remaining, propelling UMW to a 64-61 victory and its first ever trip to the national championship game.
The Eagles will face Emory University, a 72-58 winner over Christopher Newport in the nation’s other semifinal, in the national title game April 5 at 4:30 p.m. at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
UMW (29-3) rallied from a 16-point deficit to knock off the Bantams (29-3) in its first Final Four appearance.
Robinson, who was coming off a season-low 12 points in the Eagles’ victory over the University of Chicago Thursday night, scored 21 Saturday, including a 12-of-12 effort from the free throw line. He added nine rebounds and six assists. Jay Randall contributed 14 points and five rebounds, while Jadon Burgess added 12 points and four boards.
UMW trailed 37-21 with 1:52 to go in the first half, but scored the last five points before intermission to trail 37-26 at the break.
Robinson gave the Eagles a short-lived 46-44 lead on his only 3-pointer of the night with 10 minutes remaining. Trinity went back ahead 51-46 before a quick UMW burst cut the deficit to 51-50 with 6:25 to go.
It appeared UMW’s dream season might be coming to an end when the Bantams went back up 59-52 on a layup by Jared Berry with 4:27 remaining. But UMW head coach Marcus Kahn called timeout and his troops responded. The Eagles were trailing 61-54 with 3:53 to go, but closed the game on a 10-0 run.
Robinson made two free throws and Ulysses Young buried a pivotal 3-pointer to trim the deficit to 61-59 with 2:19 left on the clock.
Randall made 1-of-2 free throws to cut Trinity’s lead to 61-60 with 1:25 left, setting the stage for Bates’ heroics that made the score 63-61. After Bates’ big shot, Berry missed a short jumper and Burgess drained 1-of-2 free throws with 10 seconds left to provide the final margin.
Trinity’s Jarrel Okorougo was fouled on the ensuing position with 2.1 seconds left but missed the front end of a 1-and-1, prompting a festive UMW celebration. A joyful Kahn pointed and waved at fans in the stands. Burgess slapped UMW’s name on the bracket in the spot for the championship game.
The Eagles will have two weeks to prepare for an Emory team that defeated them 80-78 in the third round of the 2025 NCAA tournament. Emory, also named the Eagles, are 27-3 and ranked No, 2 in the nation.
