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| Jaquann Starks and Trinity
(Conn.) head to Amherst next Saturday for the NESCAC
semifinals. Trinity (Conn.) athletics file photo |
On the final day of the conference season for most, it was also the opening day of the NESCAC and CUNYAC tournaments, a day which saw Trinity (Conn.) upset Bowdoin in triple overtime.
The Bantams knocked off the Polar Bears, who were ranked sixth in the Northeast in the NCAA's most recent regional rankings and the fourth seed in the conference tournament. Jaquann Starks led the Bantams with 21 points, including five of Trinity's seven in the final extra session.
No. 9 Williams outlasted Tufts 88-77 in overtime as Michael Mayer came up big win 30 points. Williams advances to the conference semifinals next Saturday versus Middlebury after the Panthers survived Hamilton 81-77, while Amherst topped Colby 82-77.
In the CUNYAC quarterfinals, Staten Island kept its run going, winning for the 23rd consecutive time in defeating CCNY 85-47. The Dolphins will face fifth-seeded hunter in Tuesday's semifinals.
Kyle Latorre's layup with 49 seconds left in in overtime lifted Kean over New Jersey City in the NJAC quarterfinals. The Cougars head to top-seeded Richard Stockton on Wednesday night.
FDU-Florham rallied from a 13-point second half deficit at Delaware Valley, survived a potential game-winner at the end of regulation and edged the Aggies 78-76 in overtime. Trevor Sykes poured in 32 points and Will Green added 19 points and 15 rebounds in a full 45 minutes. The Devils travel to Misericordia on Wednesday for the Freedom Conference semifinals.
| Going out on a high note:
NYU-Poly won the last game in program history in dramatic
fashion. NYU-Poly athletics photo |
NYU-Poly played its last game ever, since its athletics program will merge with New York University next season. At least the Blue Jays went out on a high note. Brendan Gallagher was fouled as the clock expired and hit a free throw to give NYU-Poly the victory over Mount St. Vincent, 68-67.
Read Rob Knox's story about the NYU merger from earlier this season.
Alvernia held off Messiah 69-63 to knock the Falcons out of first and all the way down to third in the Commonwealth Conference semifinals. Alvernia will host Messiah again in the semifinals on Wednesday while Stevenson claims home court in that tournament.
St. John's ended archrival St. Thomas' 31-game home winning streak by dumping the Tommies, 76-69. The Johnnies have won 10 of their last 12 games.
Even though it already had clinched the top seed in the Skyline Conference tournament, SUNY-Purchase will enter that bracket with a loss as the 16th-ranked Panthers fell to St. Joseph's (L.I.) 65-61. It's just the second loss of the season for Purchase. St. Joseph's, which improved to 9-16, 8-10 in the Skyline Conference, is the sixth seed and last into the conference tournament.
The up-and-down NCAC season for DePauw ended with the Tigers forcing a three-way tie for second place in the conference, defeating Ohio Wesleyan on the road 64-63 behind 20 points off the bench from Pat Haggin. The Tigers got the second seed in the tournament behind Wooster.
Saturday marked the end of the regular season for a large number of Division III teams and, for those seniors whose teams who didn't reach their conference tournaments, the end of their college basketball career. Mark Ghafari finished his career at Kalamazoo in style as he scored 46 points to break the Hornets' single-game program record. Alma defeated Kalamazoo 85-80 in the final game for both teams.