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| Gordon Jeter led five Sea Gulls in double figures. By Jamie Wilson, d3photography.com |
Salisbury heads into the holiday thankful for its 5-0 record after beating No. 2 Virginia Wesleyan on Tuesday night. Elsewhere the Hope and University of New England women cruised past ranked opponents on the road.
Salisbury followed up its two wins at the Hoopsville Classic with another at home over the highly ranked Marlins. After Virginia Wesleyan seized its first lead at 26-25 with five minutes left in the first half, the Sea Gulls closed the half on a 10-2 run to go in front for good. Kyle Savercool hit two 3-pointers early in the second half to extend the lead to double digits and Salisbury cruised from there. Recap
Salisbury had five players score double figures led by Gordon Jeter (14 points) and Justin Witmer (13 points). Harris added 10 points and seven steals, accounting for nearly a third of Virginia Wesleyan's 22 turnovers. Corey White had nine points and 11 rebounds for the Marlins (2-2).
No. 6 Catholic suffered a tough loss on a late shot for the second consecutive game. The Cardinals had a four-point lead at Washington and Lee with less than a minute to play. The Generals tied the game on a four-point possession with a made free throw, an offensive rebound and a three pointer by Andy Kleinlein. Catholic turned the ball over and Kleinlein hit a jumper with three seconds left to lift Washington and Lee to victory, 74-72.
No. 11 Marietta, which beat Catholic on a last second shot on Saturday night, experienced the other end of the spectrum on Tuesday night. St. Vincent's Jaylon Bell scored a layup with four seconds left to erase Marietta's two-point lead and send the game to overtime. In the extra period Bell scored eight more points and the Bearcats knocked off Marietta, 85-80. Bell finished with 31 points and six steals. Recap
The Centennial Conference started conference play with a thriller in Allentown, Pa. Franklin and Marshall survived three potential game-tying shots from Muhlenberg and outlasted the Mules 81-78 in overtime. Brandon Federici scored 26 points for the Diplomats which got the majority of its points from just three players.
The other two teams involved in last year's chase for first place opened Centennial play with a loss. McDaniel topped Dickinson 66-56 behind Tim Stewart's 26 points while Cody Kiefer poured in 34 points and 10 rebounds in Gettysburg's 83-70 victory over Johns Hopkins.
Albertus Magnus nearly lost its conference opener against visiting Norwich but Jaqhawn Walters made two free throws with 11 seconds left to lift the Falcons over the Cadets, 65-64. Zygimantas Sirvydas tallied 22 points, eight assists and six rebounds for Norwich. The Falcons have lost just four conference games since the 2011-12 season.
| So far, so good. Alanna Vose and the Nor'easters have passed their early tests with flying colors. University of New England photo by Fotografix Studio |
Women: UNE, Hope win handily
So much for home court advantage. The road teams won both matchups of Top 25 teams by comfortable margins.
No. 17 University of New England followed up Saturday's blowout win at Bates with a convincing victory at No. 7 Bowdoin, 66-46. The Nor'easters used a 13-2 spurt spanning the late second and early third quarters to build a double-digit lead. Lauren Hayden led the way with 26 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists. Bowdoin (1-2) shot 27 percent from the field, including 5-for-26 from three.
No. 11 Hope avenged a rare loss at home to Wheaton (Ill.) last season by rolling over the Thunder 68-49 on Tuesday night. The Flying Dutch held the Thunder to 4-for-19 shooting in the third quarter while Maura McAfee scored nine of her 19 points in that decisive period.
In a rematch from last season's NCAA Tournament, No. 3 Tufts handled Eastern Connecticut again, this time by a score of 71-43. Emma Robertson paced the Jumbos' balanced attack with 13 points. Tufts hosts the University of New England next Monday night.
UW-River Falls' Katie Messman hit a three-pointer with 1:16 left to give the Falcons a 61-59 lead over No. 22 Bethel, and neither team scored again the rest of the way. UW-River Falls improves to 5-0 with the victory.
Rowan opened NJAC play with a 97-89 overtime win over Stockton. Kate Matthews scored 23 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for the Profts (5-0). Stevenson got its first win of the season and dealt Salisbury its first loss, 47-41. Goucher improved to 4-0 for the first time since it joined the NCAA. There wasn't much drama as the Gophers held Cedar Crest to one point in the first quarter and routed the Falcons, 75-26.