Kyle Beedon drives through a crowded paint against NYU. (Isabella Diaz-Mira | Student Life)

When the Washington University Bears let the No. 12 New York University Violets go on a run near the beginning of the second half to take a seven-point lead, some people in the WashU Fieldhouse may have begun to lose faith. After all, the Bears were playing the Violets, the team that sat in first place in the highly competitive UAA and that is led by superstar guard Spencer Freedman, the first-team all UAA Harvard transfer who torched WashU the last time they met.

“I’m gonna show up to [Freedman’s] graduation this year just to make sure that he walks across the stage and gets a diploma,” head coach Pat Juckem said after the game.

And yet, even as many fans may have lost hope, even as Freedman, who ended the game with a career-high 35 points, was killing WashU from three, even as the cheering from the crowd got quieter and quieter, the Bears never lost their confidence. The outside noise meant nothing to them. 

“They’re a very level kind of group,” Juckem said. “We’re a younger team…and yet we have a lot of guys who played a lot of games here…and I think there is a calmness, a belief in their own abilities. It’s been a pretty consistent theme with this group.”

This mentality is precisely what allowed WashU to pull out the victory. For much of the game, it looked like the Bears were once again going to fall victim to Freedman’s heroics. However, WashU beared down late in the second half, holding Freedman to just four points in the final 12 minutes of the game. 

As they defended their home court down the stretch, the Bears pulled out a 72-61 win, a result that will likely go a long way towards locking up their at-large bid in the NCAA DIII tournament. The Bears extended their win streak to three on Feb. 18, topping Brandeis University 56-53 to bring their UAA record to 7-6.

Hayden Doyle matches up against NYU’s Spencer Freedman Friday night. (Isabella Diaz-Mira | Student Life)

Entering Friday’s game, the Bears knew Freedman, who had scored 13 points in the final five minutes of NYU’s 65-64 victory over WashU earlier in the season, would be a threat. 

“Our game plan today was to try and not let him beat us down the stretch,” junior guard Hayden Doyle said. “Credit to [our coaches], and we did a great job executing.”

In the final minutes this time around, however, it was Doyle who propelled his team to a victory with clutch heroics. The junior guard, who finished with a team-high 25 points, closed out the game with all 10 of the Bears’ points in the final 98 seconds.

“I think it just comes with the trust in my coaches and the trust in my teammates,” Doyle said. “They trust me with the ball in my hands, and most of the time, I’m able to make the right play.”

Sophomore guard Yogi Oliff also impressed with a career-high 17 rebounds, a stat that is especially impressive from the guard position. 

“[Oliff’s] outstanding,” Juckem said. “Our guards need to go clean up the rebounds. When Yogi can go clean up the rebound, it’s an instant fast break, you know? This is the guy we want with the ball in his hands.”

This type of play is becoming typical for the Bears, and was important for WashU’s next opponent two days later, as it would defeat the Brandeis University Judges 56-53. 

The Bears led nearly the entire game, but the matchup remained closer than it needed to be, as sloppy play allowed Brandeis to come within one point after the Bears led by as much as 17 during the second half. 

“Basketball’s a game of runs,” Oliff said. “You just gotta keep your composure and get back to your gameplan — it’s all about staying poised.”

So the Bear’s did precisely that, and did not allow any momentum swing to faze them. They did what they have done all season, and kept calm. Ultimately, it was Doyle who once again put the game away with two timely free throws to seal the score at 56-53.

Yogi Oliff had 34 rebounds in two games over the weekend. (Isabella Diaz-Mira | Student Life)

Oliff again had 17 rebounds to lead all players, with six of them being on offense and creating key extra possessions. 

“A huge emphasis of our team is rebounding,” Oliff said. “Coming in, that’s the easy part. But our big guys…they might not get the rebound on their statline, but they’re the ones doing the hard work.”

It was a total team effort against Brandeis, as junior guard Kyle Beedon led the team in scoring with 13 points. The ball was shared, but it was WashU’s defense and rebounding that let the Bears leave with a win, holding the Judges to a paltry 37.7% from the field and conceding only 31 rebounds compared to 45 from the Bears. 

With the two wins, WashU now sits relatively comfortably in NCAA Tournament contention, but will still need to be selected as an at-large team after it was eliminated from the race for the UAA’s automatic qualifier last weekend. The Bears will have one final chance to polish their resume for the bracket-selection committee when they host the University of Chicago on Saturday, Feb. 24. 

“Once you get into UAA play, you’re playing in tournament-intensity games,” Juckem said. “You just can’t get too high or too low…it’s worked out very well for them.”