March 16, 2031
Once again, we're awarded the top seed in the East Region, so we'll face the winner of the play-in game: either Troy or Boston University. Lafayette (29-3) joins us in the East, as the 3 seed.
West Virginia, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt are the other #1 seeds.
March 20, 2031
NCAA East Region, First Round
(1) #2 Villanova 71, (16) Troy 63
Every team in the NCAA tournament field is good, and the Trojans demonstrate this fact by hanging in with us until the final buzzer.
Lowell Welter dominates the game with 25 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 blocked shots. He's backed by a 13-point, 10-rebound double feature by Asher Wise, a 12-point performance by
Reed Weisberg, and a 5-assist return to action by
Justice Stafford.
Record: 31-4.
March 22, 2031
NCAA East Region, Second Round
(1) #2 Villanova 67, (9) #21 Mississippi State 64
Lowell Welter wants to keep playing basketball this season. Tonight, he scores 15 points and takes in 10 rebounds to lead us to a spot in the Sweet Sixteen.
Asher Wise scores 17 points and
Reed Weisberg finishes with 15. We shoot only 39% for the game, and miss 19 of our 28 three-point tries, but we play solid defense and make up for our offensive struggles.
Record: 32-4.
March 27, 2031
NCAA East Region Semifinal...the Sweet Sixteen
(1) #2 Villanova 69, (4) Duke 63
The Blue Devils are not a top-tier program in this universe. Their Prestige has fallen from its starting level of 98 to the high 70s, and they've had three losing records. They're still Duke, however, so beating them feels significant.
We do the "balance" thing again, with four starters scoring between 12 and 16 points.
Lowell Welter is the exception this time, and
Reed Weisberg is the high man. Four starters grab between 6 and 8 rebounds.
Kris DeMello leads this list, and Wise is the odd man out.
Asher Wise's final basket gives him a round
1000 points for his Villanova career.
Lafayette has also won their first three games, so you know what's coming next...
Record: 33-4.
...an instant classic.
March 29, 2031
NCAA East Region Final...the Elite Eight
Code:
(1) #2 Villanova 99, (3) #5 Lafayette 94
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Lafayette (32-4, 12-2):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Joshua Dent C 26 2-10 2-2 1 9 1 2 6
David Bowen PF 25 6-9 1-2 3 12 2 4 13
Mike Wong SF 26 6-9 0-0 1 4 2 4 13
Kevin Wells SG 26 7-15 3-6 1 1 3 3 20
Garth Hartsfield PG 32 4-7 2-2 1 4 8 5 14
E. O'Reilly SF 14 2-4 1-2 0 1 0 2 6
Tracey Burger SG 19 6-13 0-1 1 2 6 5 15
Brian Quirk C 20 1-2 0-0 3 5 1 1 2
Jack Herold PF 8 1-2 0-0 1 3 0 0 2
Joey Shoffner PG 4 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 3
Paul Helms SG 1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Ervin Duren C 1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0
Turnovers: 13 (J.Dent 3, D.Bowen 3, M.Wong 1, K.Wells
1, G.Hartsfield 1, E.O'Reilly 3, B.Quirk 1)
Blocked Shots: 6 (J.Dent 2, D.Bowen 1, B.Quirk 1,
J.Herold 2)
Steals: 3 (M.Wong 1, T.Burger 2)
3P FGs: 13-28 (J.Dent 0-3, M.Wong 1-1, K.Wells 3-9,
G.Hartsfield 4-5, E.O'Reilly 1-1, T.Burger 3-7,
J.Shoffner 1-1, P.Helms 0-1)
Villanova (34-4, 15-3):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Kris DeMello C 33 4-9 2-2 0 6 0 3 11
Lowell Welter PF 32 7-13 2-3 2 6 0 2 18
Asher Wise SF 35 8-18 7-7 2 5 4 0 28
Reed Weisberg SG 33 3-11 8-8 1 6 4 3 17
Justice Stafford PG 32 0-5 5-8 0 3 9 3 5
Ernest Adcock PG 10 1-1 2-2 0 0 0 4 4
Blake Norton PG 5 2-2 0-0 1 2 1 0 6
Noah Gardner SF 5 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 3
Clemens Schwaiger C 15 2-4 3-4 2 8 1 2 7
Turnovers: 9 (A.Wise 1, R.Weisberg 3, J.Stafford 4,
E.Adcock 1)
Blocked Shots: 2 (K.DeMello 1, L.Welter 1)
Steals: 6 (L.Welter 2, A.Wise 3, C.Schwaiger 1)
3P FGs: 14-37 (K.DeMello 1-4, L.Welter 2-3, A.Wise
5-12, R.Weisberg 3-11, J.Stafford 0-4, B.Norton 2-2,
N.Gardner 1-1)
Player of Game: SF Asher Wise (VLNV)
This time it's our turn to bring the curtain down on the Leopards' dreams, a year after they ended ours.
The two teams are never separated by more than the five-point margin we establish when
Justice Stafford sinks two foul shots with three seconds left in the game.
Asher Wise gives Villanova fans more reasons to love him, a local boy making good on the game's biggest stage. So does affable small-town guy
Lowell Welter.
Reed Weisberg completely disregards the option of shooting from within the three-point arc, unless he's standing at the free throw line.
Graham Sims takes a moment to console
David Bowen and
Mike Wong, the last remaining Lafayette players he recruited. Between them, they played 285 games in Maroon and White, starting 220 of them. Both players scored over 1000 points; Wong finishes his career with 1174, and Bowen reaches the milestone with his first basket tonight and finishes with 1012.
It's the 598th victory of Coach Sims' career. His opponent tonight,
Leland Tingle, proves himself a worthy one, despite having exactly 500 fewer wins to his credit.
Now, it's off to the Final Four. It's Graham's fifth trip to the national semifinal, but it's the first for every one of his players.
Record: 34-4.