April 3, 2038
NCAA National Semifinal: the Final Four
Code:
#2 Boston College 84, #1 Villanova 81
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Villanova (36-3, 14-2):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Demetrius Reed C 29 4-5 0-0 4 8 0 1 8
Sebastian Roberts PF 32 3-16 0-0 1 4 2 3 7
Charlie Lambert SF 32 10-20 2-3 4 11 1 3 28
Zayden Calhoun SG 32 2-7 1-2 1 5 4 4 7
Dane Barlow PG 32 5-9 0-0 1 2 9 3 15
Nick Spencer PG 12 1-3 0-0 0 0 3 0 2
Luke Christensen SF 14 4-8 2-2 4 6 1 0 10
Tony Flaherty SG 4 1-2 0-0 0 2 1 0 2
Jordi Ballester PF 8 1-1 0-0 0 1 0 2 2
Erick Sullivan C 5 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0
Turnovers: 14 (D.Reed 1, S.Roberts 2, C.Lambert 3,
Z.Calhoun 4, D.Barlow 3, J.Ballester 1)
Blocked Shots: 7 (D.Reed 3, S.Roberts 1, C.Lambert 2,
E.Sullivan 1)
Steals: 6 (Z.Calhoun 3, D.Barlow 1, L.Christensen 2)
3P FGs: 14-35 (S.Roberts 1-4, C.Lambert 6-15, Z.Calhoun
2-6, D.Barlow 5-8, L.Christensen 0-1, T.Flaherty 0-1)
Boston College (33-5, 13-3):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
David Getty C 27 5-10 1-2 0 8 1 0 11
Mark Plourde PF 28 8-12 4-4 2 4 1 2 20
William Pittman SF 33 4-13 2-2 5 9 5 3 12
Damien Walz SG 18 1-6 1-2 2 4 0 4 3
Taylor Murray PG 33 4-9 7-8 0 3 8 2 18
Gary Fairfield PG 19 1-3 0-0 1 3 5 1 3
Garret Slone C 22 2-3 0-0 0 2 2 1 4
Michael Smyth SF 11 3-5 0-0 1 1 1 1 8
Sandy Howells SG 7 2-4 0-0 1 1 0 0 5
Arkady Spiridonov PF 3 0-0 0-0 0 2 0 1 0
Lincoln Dickinson SG 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Turnovers: 11 (D.Getty 3, M.Plourde 1, W.Pittman 1,
D.Walz 2, T.Murray 1, G.Slone 1, M.Smyth 2)
Blocked Shots: 7 (D.Getty 1, M.Plourde 2, G.Slone 4)
Steals: 6 (W.Pittman 3, D.Walz 1, T.Murray 2)
3P FGs: 9-20 (D.Getty 0-1, W.Pittman 2-3, D.Walz 0-3,
T.Murray 3-7, G.Fairfield 1-2, M.Smyth 2-2, S.Howells
1-2)
Player of Game: PG Taylor Murray (BSCOL)
Zayden Calhoun releases the ball an instant before the buzzer sounds. He'll later say that he could tell he missed it when it left his fingers.
Charlie Lambert, who inbounded the ball, sits in the center circle, his head in his hands. Charlie's Villanova career is now over.
Sebastian Roberts pulls his jersey from his shorts and looks upward, closing his eyes. His collegiate career is without a doubt complete, too.
Graham Sims shakes hands with, and embraces, assistants
Greg Seward, Gregg Haddad, and
Tom Caballero. Coach Sims has been to ten Final Fours. Only once before has he lost in the national semifinal game, with Lafayette in 2018. His record in the Final Four is 13-5. None of that matters to him right now; this loss is the one that matters.
The first player Coach Sims speaks to is
Erick Sullivan, the senior walk-on. Tears run down Erick's face as he whispers three words: "Thank you, Coach."
"Thank
you, Erick," Graham whispers back.
"I have two rings," Sullivan observes later that evening. "I know most guys never get one. But I still wanted one more. I wanted my career to end that way."
Erick plays 5 minutes in his final game, and he grabs a rebound. Charlie's swan song is lovely: 28 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocked shots. In their locker room, they and their teammates console each other, but they all manage to find things to smile about together, too.
The season may be over, and with it, their careers, but they have so very much to be proud of.
Record: 36-3.