| Kaden Bates got the perfect feed from Kye Robinson and buried a three-pointer from the corner with under 10 seconds left to lift Mary Washington past Trinity (Conn.), 64-61. Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com |
By Ryan Scott
D3hoops.com
FORT WAYNE – Mary Washington is still dancing. The Eagles defeated defending champion Trinity 64-61 in the second semifinal at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum and advance to play Emory in Indianapolis on April 5 for the NCAA Division III men’s basketball tournament championship.
Kaden Bates hit a corner three from Kye Robinson with 25.3 seconds to play to put UMW up for good in a game that looked beyond their reach for much of the 40 minutes. Trinity’s bid for back-to-back titles comes to an end, but a third straight final four remains a remarkable, historic accomplishment.
Emory defeated Christopher Newport 72-58 in the night’s other national semifinal.
The Eagles have taken off! Mary Washington advances to the national title game, defeating the defending champs 64-61! #d3hoops pic.twitter.com/Keb11gZeY3
— D3hoops/Patrick Coleman (@d3hoops) March 22, 2026
Trinity looked a bit lost to start the game. Mary Washington’s Jadon Burgess made two threes early and only a couple tough shots by Jarrel Okorougo kept Trinity close. After a timeout early, the Bantams locked in, got a three from Henry Vetter to cut the deficit to five and they slowly built from there.
The defense largely held Robinson in check, with constant double on any Eagle who got the ball near the paint. Relentless rebounding and a plethora of scorers led to a 20-4 run and an 11 point lead at the half.
Vetter and David Ayles had back to back threes in the middle of that run, followed quickly by a line change and another three from Paul Ippolito. The barrage was too much for Mary Washington.
|
| Kaden Bates got the perfect feed from Kye Robinson and buried a three-pointer from the corner with under 10 seconds left to lift Mary Washington past Trinity (Conn.), 64-61. Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com |
Trinity uses lines of five players and sub them in and out wholesale throughout the game. With no real drop off on the defensive end, this constant pressure wears down most opponents and UMW was no different.
Trinity held the Eagles to just 9-of-31 shooting in the first half and severely limited looks near the basket, which is Mary Washington’s bread-and-butter.
The second half began with a couple Okorougo shots that were both nearly down before rimming out, each leading to solid interior buckets from Mary Washington that got UMW back into the game.
It took a while to wear Trinity down, but UMW managed a 46-44 lead on a Robinson three with 9:59 to go. This was followed immediately by a three possession sequence involving two steals and five straight points from Jared Berry to put Trinity back on top by five.
The lead evaporated with the second unit on the floor, but Trinity coach James Cosgrove showed trust and patience, leaving them out, and the second unit built the lead back up again.
The lines got broken up with Drew Lazarre’s fourth foul at 6:25 to go. Berry came in to replace him and Trinity didn’t miss a step.
Robinson struggled to score from open play, but he contributed across the board with nine rebounds, and six assists. He also went 12-12 from the FT line, finishing with 21 points.
“When I drove to the rim looking for teammates,” reflected Robinson, “I did better than when I drove to the rim looking for my own shot.”
The game was always going to come down to which team could make the fewest mistakes. Neither team is prone to turnovers and they had just 17 combined tonight, but Trinity had three huge giveaways in the final four minutes as Mary Washington worked back to lead 63-61 on the Bates three that sent the coliseum into hysterics.
Jadon Burgess, who had two quick threes to start the game and two quick fouls to start the second, sat for almost 12 minutes, but came in late to secure a huge rebound and hit one of two FTs to push the lead to three, 64-61.
Vetter missed a game tying three with four seconds to go, a little chaos ensued on the rebound, Okorougo went to the FT line and missed the front end, Mary Washington got the rebound and time ran out on Trinity’s title defense.
Now Mary Washington will face Emory in the championship game, the very same team that knocked them out of the NCAA tournament last year. Nobody needs motivation to win a title, but the Eagles find it a bonus to go head-to-head with such esteemed opponents once again.
“I want to play Ben Pearce and Jair Knight,” said Robinson, whose face lights up at the prospect of the most challenging opponents. “They sent us home last year; it’s going to be a great game.”
It will be a second bite at the apple for Mary Washington coach, Marcus Khan, who becomes the first Division III basketball coach to take two different schools to the title game. He led Cabrini to a runner-up finish in 2012.
“My wife tells me to get over it at least once a week,” he says. “That one stuck with me. This is a different team and I’m not letting my scars be theirs. This game coming up has nothing to do with me and my past — it has to do with this team.”
This team has been impressive all year and there’s one more to go for a truly magical finish.