DJ Via bombed home five three-point goals in the first half and finished with a team and season-high 17 points, to lead Mary Baldwin to a 69-55 victory over visiting Brevard in the opening round of the 2025 USA South men's basketball playoff tournament Tuesday at the PAC.

Quintin Hart added 16 points while Jaden Ignacio and Raymond Benton each added 10 scores to the balanced attack of the defending conference champions.  Ignacio also dished out five of MBU's 13 assists while Zach Sloan came off the bench to contribute eight points and a team-best 10 rebounds for the winners.

Charlie Hester had a double-double of 17 points and 10 boards to lead Brevard (12-12).

The victory, MBU's third-straight playoff win at home, sends the fourth-seeded Fighting Squirrels (14-12) to the conference semifinals at top-seeded Pfeiffer (16-7), with a starting time of 7 p.m. on Thursday.

Against the fifth-seeded Tornados, MBU jumped on top quickly from long range, getting three-point goals by Hart (two), Via (two) and Sloan on the way to a 21-16 lead.  The hosts also mixed in numerous strong drives to the basket to balance the attack throughout the first 20 minutes.  Via then lit up the nets with three additional bombs, including one just before the halftime buzzer, to give the hosts a 42-28 advantage at the break.

In the second half, MBU's stiffling defense took over and limited Brevard's perimeter shooting and driving lanes.  The Tornados hit just 8-of-30 second-half attempts, including 3-of-17 tries from long range, and only once got closer than nine points down the stretch.

MBU finished 28-for-61 from the field for the game (45.9%) and knocked down eight of the team's nine three-point goals (26 attempts, 34.6%) in the first half.