Mary Washington's Bradley Reister drained a game-winning three-point goal with 18 seconds left to top Hood while York guard Julian Watson knocked down the game-winning jumper with 31 seconds left at St. Mary's as both the Eagles and Spartans advanced to the 2012 CAC Men's Basketball Championship Game.

The second-seeded Eagles won a back-and-forth battle against sixth-seeded Hood, 56-54, to advance to the CAC title contest for the first time since 2008, where the second-seeded Eagles were upset at home by fourth-seeded St. Mary's by an 82-72 margin.  UMW's lone CAC men's basketball title was won in 2003.

The fourth-seeded Spartans outlasted the two-time defending CAC champion Seahawks by a 61-58 margin after losing to SMC twice during the regular season.  YCP, led by retiring head coach Jeff Gamber, returns to the CAC title game for the first time since the Spartans' magical 2005 campaign that featured a 73-62 CAC championship game victory over Catholic University and an eventual berth in the NCAA Division III Final Four.

The Eagles and Spartans split their season series, each successfully defending home court.  UMW won the Jan. 7 battle in Fredericksburg, 73-67, while YCP gained a 76-68 decision at York on Feb. 11.

At Mary Washington, Riester hit a three pointer with 18 seconds left to push the University of Mary Washington men's basketball team to a 56-54 victory over Hood.

Hood jumped out to an early lead, assuming a 9-2 edge five minutes into the game, and led 11-4 with 13:02 left. From there, UMW went on a 12-0 run to take its first lead at 16-11 with 7:45 remaining. After a pair of Blazer baskets cut the deficit to 16-14, UMW scored seven straight to run the lead to nine, at 23-14. When Hood cut the deficit to seven, Riester hit a three with 42 seconds left to give UMW a 28-18 halftime advantage.

In the second half, UMW upped the lead to 13 at 34-21 with 16:39 left on a dunk by Sean Armstrong. Hood then answered with a 13-1 run to cut the deficit to one at 35-34 with 11:50 to go. The Blazers regained the lead at 43-42 with 6:49 to go on a layup by Ramon Smith. From there, lead changed hands seven times, including three times in the final minute. With UMW leading, 53-52, Hood's Trey Quinn scored on a followup with 27 seconds left to give the Blazers the lead at 54-53. Riester came off a screen on the right baseline and buried the eventual game winner with 18 seconds left. After both teams turned the ball over in the waning seconds, Hood's last-second shot to tie missed.

Mary Washington was led by freshman Armstrong, who scored 21 points in 25 minutes. Riester added 13 with five rebounds as the only other Eagle in double figures. Senior Tad Dickman had a team-high nine rebounds before fouling out. Hood was led by Smith's 25.

The Eagles shot 32% from the floor (19-59), while Hood shot 33% (20-59). The Blazers went 10-22 from the free throw line, while the Eagles went 12-18.

At St. Mary's, Watson hit a go-ahead jumper with 31 seconds left in regulation, giving the York a lead they wouldn't relinquish as the Spartans defeated top seed St. Mary's College 61-58.  The victory puts the Spartans into the conference tournament championship game for the first time since 2005 and extends retiring head coach Jeff Gamber's career at least one more game.

The action heated up in the last four minutes of the game as the Seahawks took a 55-53 lead on a Chris Hutchinson jumper only to have Adam Earle come up big with a lay up, tying the game with 3:31 remaining in regulation. After a steal and a missed three by the Spartans, St. Mary's turned it over as guard Nick Laguerre was called for a charge, giving the ball back to York. Senior Paul Kovaris then did what he has done all year for York, hitting a big bucket with the shot clock winding down, giving the Spartans a 57-55 lead.

St. Mary's Devin Spencer answered with his fourth three of the game, giving the hosts a 58-57 lead with 1:34 remaining in the game. York's Todd Maciejewski was called for a player control foul but Spencer missed a three on the Seahawks ensuing possession and Maciejewski came down with the board, giving the Spartans life with 47 seconds remaining in regulation. That set the stage for Watson's huge game-winner as he hit a jumper just outside the lane for the lead.

The Seahawks had one last chance down one point and 30 seconds left. St. Mary's went to Spencer again and for the second consecutive time, he missed the three and Kouvaris pulled down one of the biggest rebounds of his career. He was fouled and calmly sank a pair of free throws with 0.6 seconds left, giving the Spartans the final three-point margin of victory.

Paul Kouvaris powered the Spartans with a game-high 19 points while he also grabbed a team-high seven boards. Watson added 12 points, two rebounds and four assists in the victory.

Christian MacAuley led the Seahawks with 13 points and game-high eight rebounds.  MacAuley also had a game-high four blocked shots. Spencer added 12 points with all of his tallies coming on three point field goals. Spencer handed out a game-high five assists while he also pulled in three rebounds. Mike Fitzpatrick was the third Seahawk in double figures with 11 points.

The win at St. Mary's snaps a few streaks for the Spartans. They had lost five straight to St. Mary's, including the two regular season games this year by a total of four points, while York had lost four straight in St. Mary's City. York's last victory at St. Mary's came on January 9, 2008 as the Spartans escaped with an 85-84 win. The last overall win against the Seahawks came on December 12, 2009 when current assistant coach Nick Brady hit a game-winning three to lift the Spartans to a 64-61 win.

The victory for York is the 492^nd of Gamber's storied career and he will get the chance to coach in his 918^th game on Saturday at Mary Washington.  The Spartans improve to 17-10 overall while the Seahawks fall to 19-7 as they must now wait to see if they will earn an at-large bid to the upcoming NCAA Tournament.