Schneider Shoots William and Mary to Improbable First Round Win
by Jay Pearlman
RICHMOND, Va. – It sounds more like a law firm than a coach-player tandem. Shaver and Schneider, Schneider and Shaver; perhaps a Williamsburg, Virginia firm. Not much litigation down that way, but a ton of gorgeous real estate (and these days, all for sale). Thursday night, the senior member of the firm was named Coach of the Year in the CAA. Friday afternoon that same senior member controlled the pace of the Tribe’s first round tournament game against Georgia State from opening tip to closing horn. Controlled, yes, but Coach Tony Shaver couldn’t seal the deal from the bench. That was left to the junior member, and with two seconds to go in the Richmond Coliseum, junior member (and college sophomore) David Schneider (20 points, 7-12, 6-8 in treys, 3 assists) hit his sixth trey, jolting GSU and thrusting W & M into a second round tournament match-up against No. 4 Old Dominion. All in a day’s work at that renowned Williamsburg Law Firm.
It was the 5-12 game on day 1 of the CAA Tournament. Normally those games aren’t particularly close, but we all knew this one would be. In fact, while this writer religiously avoids such things, in this year’s highly competitive Colonial, gun to my head I’d have made the 12th seed Georgia State Panthers the favorite over 5th seed William and Mary. Not only did they have a coach in Rod Barnes with more success on bigger stages even than the CAA’s Coach of the Year, but they also have more athletic (and better) players at just about every position on the court.
It wasn’t pretty; more like pulling teeth, or chalk on a blackboard. For 39 minutes and 51 seconds, it was slow, deliberate, mostly non-athletic. Having trailed 6-2, the Panthers went on a run behind Third Team All-Conference junior Leonard Mendez (11 of his 14 points in the first 10 minutes) and senior Justin Bilingslea (8 points, 4-7 shooting, 5 rebounds), and took and held a lead for all but the last 2 remaining seconds.
But with the Tribe’s match-up zone slowing down Mendez, and sophomore Danny Sumner playing big on the biggest stage (17 points, 5-10 shooting, 5 rebounds), Rod Barnes’ team could never quite put away the team from Williamsburg. Then with eight seconds to go (admittedly, nearly double the time Tyus Edney had for his famous play, called for CBS by Tim Ryan), Schneider dribbled out of his backcourt, pulled up from three, and shot the Tribe into the quarterfinal round.
Even the last minute hadn’t been pretty. Down 1 with 43 seconds left and GSU with a full shot clock, inexplicably William and Mary decided to foul rather than defend. Even when a GSU timeout gave the Tribe staff time to reconsider, they came out of the timeout and fouled. Later, with under 20 seconds left (and no choice but to foul), the Tribe let a precious ten seconds slip away before fouling (no, they’re not that non-athletic that it could have taken ten seconds to foul intentionally). Then, again inexplicably, with Trae Goldston at the line for GSU and 8 seconds on the clock, the Tribe burned their final timeout between free throws, rather than saving one in case the final shot didn’t mature without one.
But all of that was made moot by the junior partner with the odd leg-kick jumper (remember Dick Barnett of the late 60’s Knicks?), as Schneider calmly dribbled up and drained a trey with under two seconds remaining (yes, with a team that shoots the three as well as William and Mary having trailed for 36 minutes, a three to win was eminently preferable to a two for overtime).
And now a quarterfinal game at 2:30 today against Blaine Taylor’s Monarchs of Old Dominion.
CAA News and Notes
- In other games, No. 9 Towson’s zone defense, mainly their 1-3-1 matching up with Antonio Agudio wherever he went, provided the difference as Coach Pat Kennedy’s team defeated No. 8 Hofstra 81-66. Josh Thornton had 22 (9-14 shooting, 3-6 in treys), Kevin Durant’s older brother Tony had a monster game with 20 (on 6-12 shooting, with 4 rebounds), and point guard C.C. Williams controlled everything, scoring 14 with 5 assists, just 1 turnover, and 6 steals. Agudio did manage 27 in his final game for the Pride (on 9-20 shooting), but the Tigers’ focused defense caused him to miss 8 of his first 9 shots. Forward Junior Hairston chipped in 8 points and 6 rebounds for Towson despite an obviously painful back. Next stop (uh oh): No. 1 VCU today at noon.
- As hard as No. 10 Drexel guarded, the Dragons didn’t quite have enough against Monte Ross’ No. 7 Delaware team, falling 60-51. Georgetown transfer Marc Egerson had a monster game on the boards for the Blue Hens with 9, to go with his game-high 15 on 3-7 shooting and 9-10 from the line. Next up: No. 2 Wilmington today at 6.
- And in a workmanlike and strong defensive effort, Bill Coen’s No. 6 Northeastern team ended Coach Dean Keener’s career at No. 11 James Madison, 73-55. Center Manny Adako had 12 points (5-9 from the field) for the Huskies, and significantly, 5 rebounds. Hounded from the locker room, Second Team All-Conference guard Matt Janning had 13 (4-10, and 3-6 in treys), 4 rebounds and 3 assists, and All-Rookie selection and point guard Chaisson Allen chipped in with 11 points (4-6 shooting), 3 assists and nary a turnover, in just 25 minutes of play. Allen’s backup at point, French sophomore Baptiste Bataille, had a career-high 10 points (3-7 shooting, 2-4 in treys). Next up is a rematch of last Saturday’s game with No. 3 George Mason, tonight at 8:30.
