Mary Washington and Wesley each made history on Friday night, claiming the first-ever NCAA postseason victories in program history in first round action of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Mary Washington rolled past Springfield 78-58, while Wesley edged Alvernia 83-78.

With the wins, both UMW (23-5) and Wesley (23-3) advance to Saturday's second round. Mary Washington will take on DeSales at 7 p.m., which defeated host Randolph-Macon 76-70 in overtime. Wesley will meet host Virginia Wesleyan, an 84-72 winner over Johns Hopkins, at 7:30 p.m. 

Trailing 13-11 with just over 13 minutes left in the first half, Mary Washington responded with a 17-0 run over the next seven minutes, with Riester scoring 12 of the points on four three pointers. The Pride trimmed the deficit to seven at 35-28, with 18 seconds left in the half, but a pair of Dom Morra free throws with three seconds left gave the Eagles a 37-28 advantage at halftime.

Senior guard Bradley Riester scored a game-high 22 points for Mary Washington, including 6-for-8 shooting from three-point range, and also grabbed five rebounds. Riester put the Eagles on his back in the first half, shooting 6-for-7 from the field, including a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point range. 

Taylor Johnson scored 12 points, thanks primarily to 7-8 free throw shooting, and Scott scored 11 points on 4-8 shooting with three three pointers. Morra recorded 14 assists, one shy of the school record, and added eight points and five rebounds. Senior Dajon Danielscored nine points in a balanced Eagles attack.

Springfield made several runs in the second half, but the Eagles answered each time, primarily freshman Asa Scott, who scored all of his career-high-tying 11 points following halftime. The UMW lead was cut to eight at 61-53 with 4:49 remaining in regulation, but the Eagles used a pair of Scott three pointers followed by a Morra layup to up the lead to 17 at 70-53 with under two minutes left.

Quincy Pettiford scored a game-high 20 points and hit several pivotal free throws down the stretch to lead Wesley past Alvernia. Three other Wolverines also reached double figures, including David Langan who notched his 14^th double-double of the season with 19 points (9-of-13 shooting) and 12 rebounds.  Eric Selby added 12 points and Anthony Bowers chipped in with 10 points off the bench.

The game was neck-and-neck throughout the entire first half and midway through the second with neither team extending a lead over six points. Trailing 48-47 with 13:10 remaining, Selby drove for a layup to put Wesley back on top for good. Alvernia (20-8) continued to keep it close, but the Wolverines went on a 17-5 run over the next five minutes. Pettiford came up big during the stretch with seven points, including a triple to put Wesley on top by 14.

Alvernia did not go down without a fight, however, and made four three-pointers over the final three minutes and at one point made it a one-possession game at 81-78 with 18 seconds left. The Crusaders immediately fouled Pettiford on the inbounds pass and Pettiford drained both shots to seal the victory.