Virginia Union Holds Off Bryant University to Clinch NCAA Division II Basketball Championship

March 26, 2005

Walton hit a hanging jumper in the lane and drew the foul as the senior forward provided the Panthers with their most important points of the game. Walton finished with a team-high 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Luqman Jaaber’s steal and pair of free throws with six seconds remaining clinched the victory for Virginia Union. It was a fitting end for the Panthers, who hit 18-of-20 foul shots in the game, outscoring Bryant 18-4 from the free throw line.

The Panthers led throughout the first half, but a 17-9 run by Bryant midway through the second half gave the Bulldogs their first lead since the opening minutes at 50-49. Sophomore Chris Burns, who led all scorers with 24 points off the bench, scored five of Bryant’s points during the second half run.

After Virginia Union scored the next nine points to grab a 58-50 lead, Burns brought Bryant back again, tying the game at 58-58 with a three from the far corner. The Bulldogs shot 8-of-15 from beyond the arc in the second half.

However, it wasn’t enough. Walton, who scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half, broke the final tie almost a minute and a half later to lift his team to the title.

Virginia Union head coach Dave Robbins become just the third man to win three Division II national championships and the first to win at least one title in three different decades. Robbins joins Evansville’s Arad McCutchan and Cal State Bakersfield’s Pat Douglass as the only three-time Division II champion coaches.

--Courtesy North Dakota