Wash-U Tops Hope, Meets Amherst for Title

Ruths' 30, Thompson’s Run Lead Bears’ Surge

March 21, 2008

 

SALEM, Va. --- Troy Ruths dropped in 30 points and Aaron Thompson put together a personal 13-point scoring run Saturday evening as Washington University in St. Louis moves one step further than a season ago in defeating Hope College, 89-74, for the chance to play for the NCAA Division III men’s basketball championship.

 

Washington U. (24-6), playing in its second-straight NCAA D-III championship series after finishing third in 2007, meets up with Amherst College in the national title game on Saturday afternoon.  The Lord Jeffs (27-3) are looking for back-to-back D-III championships while the Bears are in search of their first men’s basketball national crown.  Hope (27-4) takes on Ursinus College (29-3) in the consolation game to decide the third place finisher.

 

“I thought that was quite a Division III game,” explained Wash-U head coach Mark Edwards.  “I thought both teams were alike, but I felt the difference really came down to experience.  I think coming here last year helped us, not only on the resolve of wanting to win, but also how to win.”

 

Ruths scored 19 of his game-high 30 points in the second half as the Bears shot 65.4-percent in the second half in knocking off the current top-rated Flying Dutchmen (rating according to D3hoops.com).  Ruths made 11-of-15 shots from the field and another 8-of-9 from the charity stripe to go with six rebounds.

 

Aaron Thompson helped the Bears open up the game in the second half with a 13-point run.  At the 15:02 mark, Thompson dropped in a lay-up to give Wash-U a 46-42 lead.  Hope came back to tie the score with lay-ups on its next two possessions, but Thompson responded with a three-pointer to give the Bears the lead for good at 49-46 with 13:19 on the clock.  He went on to hit two more three pointers and a jumper to push the Bears out to a six-point edge at 57-51 with 11:38 to play.

 

“At halftime, Coach Edwards told me to keep looking for my shot and to keep being aggressive,” said Thompson.  “I got the first one in, and after that it kind of just steamrolled.  It felt really good.”

 

Hope continued to battle as it worked its disadvantage down to two points, but an 11-3 Bear run highlighted by seven points from Danny O’Boyle catapulted Washington U. to a 68-58 lead with 7:10 to play.

 

Hot shooting kept the Bears a leg-up as Hope fought to get back into the contest.  Wash-U’s lead increased to as much as 17 points with 1:47 to play.

 

“I think we were just hitting on all cylinders,” explained Ruths when asked about the Bears’ performance in the second half.  “I think Aaron Thompson’s run put us in the lead and then we used our experience to keep it there.”

 

For the game, Washington U. shot at a 55.8-percent clip (29-of-52), connecting on 8-of-19 from beyond the arc.  Hope shot 40-percent from the field and cropped in 11 makes in 26 tries from deep.

 

Tyler Nading and Thompson each notched 15 points for Washington University while O’Boyle chipped in 12 markers.  Thompson hit 3-of-6 from three-point territory.  Moss Schermerhorn matched Ruths with a team-best six boards.

 

Derek VanSolkema led the Flying Dutchmen with 19 points including a 5-for-11 showing three-point range.  Jesse Reimink added 15 points, five rebounds and six assists, and Marcus Vanderheide notched 100 tallies.  Zach Osburn pulled down a game-best nine rebounds.

 

“I thought we played hard. I thought Washington University played hard,” explained Hope head coach Glenn Van Wieren.  “They had exceptional shooting.”

 

Both Washington University and Hope will be in action on Saturday, March 22.  Hope will meet Ursinus in the third place match at 1:30 p.m.  Washington U. and Amherst will square off in the national championship game at 4:00 p.m.

 

Live video of the third place game can be viewed by either visiting www.ncaa.com or the championship website at www.odaconline.com/hoopchamp.  The national championship game will be carried live on television by CSTV.