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St. Louis, Mo., March 14, 2008 – Sophomore Aaron Thompson scored a career-high 25 points to lead the No. 11 Washington University in St. Louis men’s basketball team to an 85-77 overtime win over Buena Vista University in the NCAA Division III Championship Sectional Semifinals at the WU Field House in St. Louis, Mo., on Friday night.
Washington U., which was hosting the men’s basketball sectional round for the first time in school history, won its second-consecutive overtime tournament game and improved to 11-3 all-time at home in the NCAA Tournament.
"They were collapsing so hard on Troy on the inside and when they do that, it opens things up on the outside," said Thompson. "When you have that inside-outside game, it takes your team to a different level."
Up next for the Bears is No. 14 Millsaps College, which defeated St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 82-73, in Friday night’s other Sectional Semifinal game. Washington U. and Millsaps will square off in the WU Field House on Saturday, March 15, at 7 p.m.
BVU jumped out to a 13-6 lead using 6-of-9 shooting through the first seven minutes of the game. Senior Troy Ruths scored his first bucket of the game to make the score 13-8, and junior Tyler Nading stole the ensuing inbounds pass and laid it up to bring it to 13-10.
 Beaver turnovers aided the Washington U. comeback, as Buena Vista gave the ball away seven times during the first eight minutes of the game. BVU finished the game with 31 turnovers, and the Red and Green tied a school record with 20 steals.
After freshman Caleb Knepper hit a pair of free throws to pull Washington U. within one, 18-17, junior Andre Wagner took over the game for Buena Vista. He scored 12-straight points for the Beavers to give his team a 28-17 lead.
Buena Vista (23-7) stretched its lead to 13 points before the Red and Green began their comeback. Trailing, 34-21, with 4:33 to play in the first, Ruths hit two free throws to cut the WU deficit to 11, and a lay-up from Nading pulled the Bears within nine points. Three-pointers from Thompson and sophomore Ross Kelley completed a 12-1 Washington U. run to end the half, leaving WU down by just two points, 35-33, at the intermission.
The Beavers shot a blistering 66.7 percent (14-of-21) from the field in the first half, and were led by Wagner who tallied 12 points. Ruths paced the Bears with 10 points and Nading tallied six, also recording four steals.
With BVU leading by three points in the second, Thompson hit a three pointer at the 12:19 mark to tie the score, 51-51, the first time the score was tied since 2-2. The long-range shots continued to fall for the Bears as senior Danny O’Boyle drilled a triple at 10:19 to give WU its first lead of the game.
Knepper made a three-pointer to put WU up by four, and Thompson hit his fourth three to extend the Bears’ lead to seven points, 64-57. Senior Eric Holton ended the 11-4 Washington U. scoring run with his own three, the first made-field goal for Buena Vista over a span of 5:27.
An 8-2 run from the Beavers cut the WU lead to a single point with under a minute remaining, leading to a photo finish to end regulation. After Ruths was whistled for a travel as he spun through the lane towards the WU basket with 24 seconds remaining, Nading drew a charge from Wagner on the other end to give the Bears the ball back with a one-point lead.
Thompson hit two free throws with 9.6 remaining to make the WU advantage three points, but it would not hold as Matt Cleveland sunk a long three-point basket with 0.8 seconds left to knot the score at 71-71 and send the game to overtime.
Nading powered the Bears’ offense in overtime, scoring six of his 14 points before fouling out. His last basket was a 15-foot jumper that put Washington U. up by six points, 79-73, with 52 seconds remaining. WU clinched the win by going 6-of-6 at the line in the final minute and the Bears shot 20-of-22 (90.9 percent) for the game.
"This was a great Division III basketball game and I am proud of both teams," said Washington University head coach Mark Edwards."It’s a game that could’ve gone either way, but as it has done most of the year – the ball bounced in our favor. We had some big buckets, but also had some big defensive plays, which I thought was key."
Four Washington U. players finished the game in double figures. Ruths 18 points, becoming just the second player in school history to surpass 1,700 career points, and O’Boyle finished with 12 points. After making two-thirds of their shots in the first half, Buena Vista shot 39.3 percent (11-of-28) from the field in the second half in overtime, making just 1-of-7 field goals during the extra period. Wagner finished the game with a team-best 22 points, while Cleveland chipped in 16, and Fogelman scored 14.
"They had some really talented posts and they kept them going in and out," Ruths said. "The fatigue got to us, but I think they started making some decisions that came through in the overtime."
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