Captains fall in the final seconds
CNU’s title defense ends in quarterfinal
Christopher Newport’s NCAA Division III title defense ended in heartbreaking fashion Saturday night as Tyler Dearman’s tiebreaking basket with 2.3 seconds left gave Guilford a 50-48 home quarterfinal victory over the Captains in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Dearman, the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, missed his first 15 field-goal attempts in the defensive struggle. But with the score tied at 48, he drove the lane and made a short, contested bank shot from the right block. The Captains (24-7) quickly got the ball upcourt, but Jahn Hines’ heave from just inside midcourt was short, glancing off the outside of the net.
Some Guilford fans among the 1,123 in attendance, ran onto the Ragan-Brown Field House court to celebrate as Guilford (26-4) earned a spot in the semifinals against ODAC rival Hampden-Sydney, the nation’s No. 1 team according to d3hoops.com. Guilford entered the 64-team tournament at No. 7, while CNU was 23rd.
Hines, from Norview High, led the Captains with 17 points and grabbed six rebounds. Toa Hollenbeck, a freshman from Grassfield High, showed why he was the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year, scoring 14 points. He was 2 of 6 from 3-point range, but his teammates were 0 for 21. Overall, the Captains were 17 of 54 from the floor.
Julius Burch led Guilford (26-4) with 21 points and nine rebounds, but Dearman’s shot will be the one most remembered.
“We held that kid 0 for 15 and he makes the shot at the end,” CNU coach John Krikorian said in a radio interview. “I thought it was well-guarded. It hangs on the rim for what seemed like 30 seconds and it falls in.”
Krikorian still was especially pleased about a defense that held the Quakers to 34% (16-of47) shooting after a superlative performance in Friday’s victory over Williams.
The commitment these guys made over the last six or eight weeks … it started to jell,” he said.
Half of CNU’s points Saturday were scored by freshmen.“They’re high-talent, high-character guys, they do the right things, and I’m excited to coach them moving forward,” Krikorian said.
CNU led 16-10 but hit a drought and went to halftime trailing 22-19. It was 33-25 Guilford with 10 minutes left and 37-31 with less than eight minutes on the clock, but an 11-1 surge with numerous stops put the Captains ahead 42-38 on two Hollenbeck free throws with 4:26 to go.
Guilford moved back in front 48-46, thanks to free throws and empty CNU possessions, before Hollenbeck drew a foul and canned two free throws with 15 seconds remaining.
After a Quakers timeout, Dearman delivered despite his previous struggles.
“Incredible resiliency by our guys to get down by six or eight in the second half and come back to get the lead,” Krikorian said. “These guys have given a lot, and they’re hurting. But they’ll be better for it. I’m a proud coach today.”