Wild Buzzer-Beater Gives Mary Washington First DIII Title
Mary Washington won the wild finish that decided the 2026 Division III men’s basketball championship, edging Emory 75-73 on April 5 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. The championship ended with a last-second putback as the final horn sounded, giving Mary Washington its first Division III men’s basketball title. The title game capped a tournament that began with a selection show on Monday, March 2, and featured a 64-team field.
Mary Washington Seizes the Moment
In the closing seconds, Mary Washington guard Kye Robinson put up a fallaway shot as he fell out of bounds, and forward Colin Mitchell followed with the putback that went in as time expired. The basket turned a tied game into a championship win in an instant, and the celebration began almost immediately on the court.
Robinson finished with 27 points on 12-of-22 shooting, along with eight rebounds, four assists and four steals. Jay Randall added 14 points, and Kaden Bates scored 10. For Mary Washington, the result was a breakthrough moment that delivered the program’s first Division III men’s basketball championship.
The Wild Finish At Gainbridge Fieldhouse
The ending was shaped by a late surge on both sides. Emory’s Ethan Fauss hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 12 seconds left, after Fauss and Jair Knight had helped Emory build an eight-point lead three minutes into the second half. That was Emory’s largest lead of the game.
Mary Washington answered with a 14-2 run to climb back into contention before the final sequence settled the championship. Mitchell said, “We trusted Kye to get to the spot. And he got there and shot a good shot. Right place, right time. ” Robinson called it the “best missed shot of my life. ” The wild finish gave the game its defining image and the title its final margin.
What Emory Brought To The Game
Emory finished with strong scoring efforts from Knight and Fauss, who each had 24 points. Ben Pearce, Emory’s all-time leading scorer who surpassed 2, 000 career points, did not make a shot from the field until he connected on a 3-pointer with 90 seconds left. He finished 7-of-11 from the free-throw line.
Context Around The Championship Run
The 2026 NCAA Division III men’s basketball championship field included 43 automatic qualifiers and 21 at-large bids. The national championship game took place at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, giving the event a neutral-site stage for a title that stayed tight until the final second.
For Mary Washington, the wild buzzer-beater closed a championship run with history attached. The program leaves Indianapolis with its first title, and the final play will define the 2026 Division III men’s basketball championship for a long time.
