Junior Jay Randall scored 22 points to lift the University of Mary Washington men's basketball team to an 81-73 victory over the University of Chicago on Thursday night in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament. The Eagles, 28-3 on the season, advance to the national semifinals on Saturday.

The Eagles built a 14 point halftime advantage by shooting a blistering 63% from the floor in the opening 20 minutes. After surviving an early Maroon run that saw the Eagles trailing, 9-5, through the opening five minutes, UMW went on a 23-4 run to build a 28-13 lead with 8:42 left in the half. Junior Jadon Burgess led the charge with nine points in the run, with a pair of three pointers and three free throws (UMW went 9-9 from the line in the first half).

Another 7-0 Eagle run was keyed by a slam dunk and free throw by junior Jay Randall, but Chicago started to click offensively, with a 12-6 run to pull back to within 15, at 43-28, with 2:47 to go. The teams traded points in a flurry, with the teams combining to score on five straight possessions, to push the score to 49-35 at halftime.

The second half saw Chicago open with an 11-2 run, but the Eagles used a 9-0 spurt in response, with points coming from Ulysses Young, Hassan Hamad, Randall, and Josh Seworder. Chicago scored five straight to pull back to within single digits, before Randall scored another basket with 10:17 left to give UMW a 62-51 advantage.

The Maroons began to chip away at the lead, pulling to within six, before a Kaden Bates three pointer put UMW up, 65-56, at the under eight-minute media timeout. The teams traded baskets over the next three minutes, before baskets from Randall and sophomore Kye Robinson built the lead back to 10, at 73-63, with 4:39 left.

Chicago continued to apply pressure, using a 5-0 run to pull to within 75-71 with 1:20 remaining. Burgess made a big basket with 34 seconds left, preceding another Maroon basket 10 seconds later, to make the score 77-73.

Following a timeout, Young connected on a pair of free throws to push the lead to six, and the Eagles fouled with eight seconds left. After a pair of missed Maroon free throws, Young drew a foul with six seconds left and made both free throws to ice the game.

Randall led the Eagles with 22 points, shooting 10-15 from the floor, while Young scored 13, Robinson 12, and Burgess 11. Robinson and Bates each had four rebounds.

UMW shot 52.7% from the field (29-55), making 8-18 three point shots and made all 15 of their free throws. Chicago shot 48.2% (27-56), making 9-29 three point attempts and made 10-14 free throws. The Eagles were outrebounded, 30-23, but committed just four turnovers in the game.

The Eagles advance to the final four for the first time in program history, and will face defending national champion Trinity (CT) College on Saturday. Game time is set for 8:00 p.m.