INDIANAPOLIS—It was, without question, the best airball of Kye Robinson’s career.
As the University of Mary Washington star guard brought the ball up the court during the final seconds of Sunday’s Division III national championship game, he drew a pair of Emory University defenders who appeared determined not to let the Eagles’ best player beat them.
He didn’t.
Robinson’s shot missed everything, before alighting in the waiting arms of teammate Colin Mitchell, who put it back at the buzzer to secure a 75-73 UMW victory and the first national title in program history.
“Definitely the best missed shot of my life,” said Robinson, who led the Eagles with 27 points, “because it led to a game-winner.”
Jay Randall added 14 points, and Kaden Bates recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds for UMW (30-3), which led by 13 with 3:30 to play but had to withstand a late run from Emory, which tied the contest at 73 on a 3-pointer from Ethan Fauss with 12 seconds left.
UMW’s Jay Randall holds up a length of net after the Eagles won the NCAA Division III championship on Sunday in Indianapolis.
“We knew they were going to make a run, that they wouldn’t go away,” UMW head coach Marcus Kahn said.
UMW trailed 30-28 at halftime, but the Eagles held national player of the year Ben Pearce to his worst shooting performance of the season. Pearce went just 1 for 8 from the field and didn’t make a field goal until late in the second half.
“We worked a lot on it over the last two weeks,” Kahn said of defending Pearce. “It was a lot of preparation in just trying to limit him with stunting and different guys going at him.”
Jair Knight and Fauss had 24 points apiece to lead Emory (27-4), which defeated UMW in last year’s Sweet 16 in a game that also came down to the wire.
“I’ll take that trade now,” joked Kahn. “A year ago I was obviously sad in the locker room.”
The Eagles (30-3) left Fredericksburg on Thursday amid a groundswell of support. Lamp posts on William Street were festooned with blue UMW flags, the kind typically reserved for commencement week. Most downtown storefront windows featured posters promoting the championship game.
An official send-off event on campus last week drew hundreds of supporters, and students packed three buses — plus a lengthy waiting list — for the privilege of making the nine-hour drive to Indianapolis’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The Eagles had fans in high places, too. Fredericksburg mayor Kerry Devine and members of City Council recorded a video in city hall wishing the team well.
UMW’s Kye Robinson soars to the hoop Sunday in Indianapolis in the NCAA Division III championship.
But any celebration seemed premature when Emory, which had resigned itself to fouling with about three minutes to play, proceeded to chisel away at its deficit with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.
“We’re in the huddle, like, ‘Just keep chipping away,'” Emory head coach Jason Zimmerman said. “We kept chipping away, and we did it.”
Their lead suddenly evaporated, the Eagles in-bounded the ball with 12 seconds remaining and no timeouts left.
Not that Kahn would’ve called one anyway.
“It would’ve been bad coaching,” he said. “That gets them the chance to set up and take Kye away. It worked out ideally for us.”
Everyone in the arena — from Kahn to Emory to thousands of fans who took seriously their imperative to make noise — expected Robinson to take the final shot. As he neared the paint, however, he started to stumble.
“Once I felt my leg buckle a little bit, I knew I just had to get [the shot] up,” said Robinson, a sophomore who was named the tournament’s most outstanding player.
Mitchell was simply grateful to be in the right place at the right time.
“No one guarded me, so I guess, thank you,” Mitchell said.
