Nothing but praise can be offered towards the Tribe Basketball team after their heroic, albeit for naught, effort versus the George Mason Patriots Monday night.
The students’ section was, literally, jam-packed in the Richmond Coliseum - a great sign of things to come for Tribe sports. Nonetheless, the College's unlikely drive towards an NCAA bid came to a halt in the CAA Conference Championship Finals.
The Tribe's play can be described as nothing other than gutsy, as they played the entire game close despite being overmatched inside, where George Mason had a considerable size advantage.
Throughout the course of the game, it seemed that Mason was cruising towards an easy title and maybe even a blowout win, but the Tribe never really allowed the Patriots to pull away. After falling behind early in the first half, trailing by as many as eight, the Tribe rallied back to within one point before half-time, as senior Laimis Kisielius dropped a clutch two-pointer to end the half.
The second half did not start well for the Tribe, as the Patriots opened on a 9-0 run, and it would've been easy for the Tribe, facing their first double-digit deficit of the game, to roll over.
However, over the next few minutes, they snapped out of their offensive funk, matching Mason basket for basket, and by adding a couple of three-pointers, managed to narrow the lead to seven.
That would be the closest the Tribe came to the lead in the second half.
The Patriots continued to bury shots, and built an insurmountable 12-point lead. While the Tribe did slowly ebb at it, and never laid down in any sense, they did not have the time to get back into a position to win.
Despite their inability to match the Mason defensive, Laimis Kisielius played nothing short of brilliantly, shooting 50 percent from the field on a day where the rest of the team, outside of Kisielius, shot a collective 32 percent. Kisielius scored a game-high 22 points. In his last game with the Tribe, Kisielius was the heart and soul of the team, and carried them for the duration.
Sophomore David Schneider followed Kisielius with 12 points, six of which came from the free-throw line, and senior Danny Sumner added 10, also shooting 50 percent from the field, like Kisielius, but getting far fewer looks.
Senior Nathan Mann struggled to find his touch, scoring only five points. However, his intangible presence on the court was far more vital than his statline, as his veteran play helped sustain the team.
While for many the outcome was disappointing, especially following the College's stunning upset of VCU the night prior, the Tribe played with poise and resiliency throughout. While it is hard to fall so close to "the Big Dance," the strides that the WM basketball program took last night, just by getting to the CAA finals, were monumental.
First, the Tribe had never in its history won two CAA tournament games, let alone three. They had never advanced past the semi-finals of the tournament, and they had not finished with a record above .500 in a very long time. Rather than posting the 20-loss seasons of the early 2000’s, they instead scratched at a 20-win season.
The Tribe also got national attention, something the program has lacked. The game was on ESPN and the VCU Rams were probably knocked out of the NCAA tournament because of their loss on Sunday.
Looking to next year, the Tribe will not be under the radar, especially with the return of Alex Smith from injury and the arrival of guard Sean McCurdy from Arkansas. Each will help lighten the departures of Kisielius and Mann.
As far as conference play, next year's home game against Mason should be nothing short of epic, what might be a chilly reception. The Tribe, despite losing to Mason, are making their name, if not nationally, certainly in Virginia with their tournament run. They have fostered rivalries, gained postseason experience, and hopefully set the table for a fantastic next few years, especially with the high-scoring potential of Danny Sumner and David Schneider.
While College hoops end on a low note for the season, there are still high hopes for the future. A new leaf has been turned over by the Tribe this week - next year holds hope that there may be additional wins to celebrate.