Graduate student Jaden Ignacio became the first player in Mary Baldwin's men's basketball history to score 40 points in a game and led the Fighting Squirrels to a 95-85 victory over Wilson College Friday in the opening round of the 2024 Messiah Tournament.

The Fighting Squirrels, playing their first game under first-year head coach Daniel Eacho, advance to Saturday's tournament championship game at 3 p.m. against the winner of Friday's second game, which features Maine Maritime against host Messiah.  

Ignacio drained 13-of-20 field goal attempts, including 5-for-7 from three-point range, then completed the win with a 9-for-10 performance at the free throw line, including six straight free throws in the last 52 seconds of the game.  The previous MBU record was 35 points in a game by Zach Fullagar in a119-115 overtime loss vs Randolph on Nov. 17, 2021.  Ignacio also had a team-high five of MBU's 15 assists.

Not to be overlooked was a standout performance by junior Zach Sloan, who burried 11 of 19 field goal attempts on the way to a 23-point performance for the winners.  Sloan also had four assists, two steals and three rebounds.

Fellow grad student Quentin Hart was MBU's third player in double figures in the scoring column, hitting 4-for-8 from long range on the way to a 12-point night.

Two newcomers provided key sparks in MBU's win.  Junior transfer Raymond Benton collected a team-leading 10 rebounds while freshman DJ Via drained two long-range shots from just in front of the Fighting Squirrels bench late in the game to ward off several Wilson challenges down the stretch.

Wilson, which was led by Gary Robertson (34 points) and Armani Jones (18 points, 11 rebounds), kept battling thanks to fewer fouls (MBU 29, WC 17) and turnovers (MBU 18, WC 16).