Wednesday wrap: Moore than all but one

More news about: Augustana | Ohio Northern | Wooster



All-Time Division III MBB Coaching Victories

  1. Glenn Robinson, Franklin & Marshall - 920 *
  2. Steve Moore, Wooster - 787 *
  3. Jim Smith, St. John's - 786
  4. Dave Hixon, Amherst - 777 *
  5. Randy Lambert, Maryville - 670 *

 * Coach is active

Bo Ryan (UW-Platteville), Dick Sauers (Albany) and Larry Hunter (Wittenberg) have more than 666 career wins but many came outside Division III.

Wooster breezed past Allegheny 91-67 and Steve Moore picked up his 787th career victory, placing him second all-time on the Division III men's basketball coaching list.

The Scots led Allegheny for nearly the entire game and used a 22-6 run to put the Gators away in the second half. Moore's 787th win is also his 700th at Wooster. He went 87-65 in six years as the head coach at Muhlenberg before moving to Wooster in 1987. Recap

"I've been extremely blessed, and I thank God for the opportunity to coach for this many years, and at a place like Wooster," said Moore after the game. "I've been blessed with so many good players because that's what it's about since players win games. 

No. 1 Babson built 24-point second half lead against WPI and then withstood the Engineers' rally to win 65-59. The Beavers (13-1, 3-0 NEWMAC) took a 60-38 advantage with less than nine minutes to play before WPI went on an 19-0 run. The Engineers got as close as 60-57 with a minute left before Bradley Jacks and Joey Flannery made free throws to put the game away. Recap

Scranton pulled No. 11 Susquehanna back to the pack in the Landmark Conference race by beating the River Hawks on their own floor, 76-68. The Royals (11-3, 3-0) shot close to 60 percent in the second half and got a double-double from John Vitkus (20 points, 13 rebounds) to pull a game ahead of Susquehanna (12-2, 2-1) in the early conference race. Recap

The men's side is down to three undefeated teams and the only one in action on Wednesday night stayed perfect. Thomas Bonacum dropped 33 points on Rowan in 34 minutes and Ramapo won handily, 96-78. Playing without two starters hurt and a third battling the flu, No. 24 New Jersey City came up short against Stockton, 70-65. 

UW-River Falls got a win and some help to take sole possession of first place in the WIAC. The seventh ranked Falcons topped No. 21 UW-Whitewater 90-74 behind 56 percent shooting and a 45-33 rebounding advantage. Alex Herink had 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting for River Falls (13-1, 3-0 WIAC). Derek Rongstad scored 15 to pace Whitewater (11-3, 0-3), which has lost three straight.

In other WIAC action, No. 10 UW-Eau Claire rallied past UW-La Crosse 62-58 to keep pace with River Falls. George Diekelman scored 24 points, including the go-ahead free throws with 44 seconds left, for the Blugolds. Stevens Point won its second straight and sent Stout to its first conference loss, 71-68.

The four-way tie for first place in the OAC turned into a three-way tie as No. 23 Marietta beat Mount Union 96-78 to push the Purple Raiders a game back of the tri-leaders. Keith Richardson scored 30 points for the Pioneers (10-4, 5-2) who are tied for first with John Carroll (82-58 winners at Otterbein) and Ohio Northern (86-77 winners over Baldwin Wallace). Joey Hurles became the all-time assist leader for Ohio Northern in the Polar Bears' victory.

Augustana scored the first eight points of the second half against No. 22 Illinois Wesleyan and gradually pulled away for a 92-77 win over the Titans. Playing without low-post power Trevor Seibring, Illinois Wesleyan was outrebounded 40-27. Chrishawn Orange scored 19 points for the Vikings (11-3, 4-1 CCIW) who have won four straight since dropping their conference opener to No. 18 North Park. That set of Vikings took care of Wheaton (Ill.) 87-83 for its first home win in conference.

Outside the Top 25, Daniel Noe hit another big shot late in the game and Randolph-Macon picked up another conference victory, this time at the expense of archrival Hampden-Sydney. Noe's jumper with 42 seconds left lifted the Yellowjackets over the Tigers, 49-47. St. Olaf beat St. Thomas 64-56, sending the Tommies to their third loss in MIAC play. St. Thomas (9-4, 5-3) has not lost more than four games in conference in the last decade.

Greenville won a shoot-out in the most exciting way possible when Kenny Greene hit a half-court buzzer beater (video below) to beat Eureka, 145-142. The Panthers' run-and-gun System offense put up 54 three-pointers, including the game-winner. Greene scored 27 points in 24 minutes and Shane Smith had 34 in 24 minutes for the Panthers (11-3, 5-2 SLIAC). Hank Thomas (44 points) and Kendall Davis combined for 80 of the Eureka's 142 points. Box score

Eastern Connecticut turned its Little East Conference showdown with Mass-Dartmouth into a 78-51 lopsided win. The Warriors (10-5, 4-0) outscored the Corsairs 40-17 in the second half. Tarchee Brown led the way for Eastern Connecticut with 27 points. Lycoming went on the road and beat Albright 76-70 in a meeting of early MAC Commonwealth leaders. Those Warriors outscored the Lions 36-12 in the paint and improved to 14-2, 6-1 in conference.

Eastern Nazarene edged Nichols 71-69 to snap the Bison's nine-game winning streak and send Nichols into the Saturday game against Endicott on a down note. Endicott rebounded from Saturday's loss and beat Salve Regina, 82-66.

Women's recap follows below.

Claire Ryan and DePauw outscored Denison 17-4 in the second extra period to grab control of the NCAC race.
DePauw athletics file photo 


DePauw and Ohio Northern put some distance between themselves and their closest contenders for conference titles by beating Denison and Baldwin Wallace respectively.

No. 17 DePauw needed rallies at the end of regulation and the first overtime period to put Denison away 63-50 in double overtime. Gabrielle Nottage's jumper with 3:01 to play in regulation gave the Big Red a 41-38 lead. Melinda Franke answered with a three to pull DePauw even and neither team scored the rest of the half. Denison again held a three-point lead with 20 seconds to play in the first overtime before Maya Howard hit another game-tying three for DePauw. The Tigers scored 11 of the first 13 points in double overtime to put Denison away. 

DePauw (15-1, 7-0 NCAC) has a two-game lead on Denison (8-8, 5-2), Kenyon and Hiram. The Terriers (13-3, 5-2) nipped Ohio Wesleyan 65-63 to set a program record for wins in a season. Recap

No. 14 Ohio Northern increased its lead on Baldwin Wallace to three games by beating the Yellow Jackets 60-55 in Berea. Britt Lauck scored 22 points and Amy Bullimore added 14 more for the Polar Bears. Ohio Northern has a three-game advantage on Baldwin Wallace and Muskingum and a two-game advantage on Wilmington which topped the Muskies 67-60.

Eight other undefeated teams played on Wednesday night and all of them stayed perfect. Michaela North and Melissa Baptista combined for 38 points and No. 1 Tufts cruised past Worcester State 73-46 in a Wednesday matinee. Bridgette Mann hit five 3-pointers and the third-ranked Lady Royals kept rolling with a 66-53 win over Susquehanna. No. 24 Gustavus Adolphus saw four starters score double-figures and forced 23 turnovers in a 62-58 win over Bethel.

At the other end of the spectrum, Alvernia edged Widener 67-65 in overtime for its first win of the season. Torie Zerbe came up big for the Crusaders at both ends of the floor with a block and two made free throws late in the game to seal the win.