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| Marietta could not stop Nathan Bower-Malone, who shot 8-for-12 from 3-point range. Mount Union athletics photo by Emily Swisher |
No. 6 Marietta fell hard on the road with three starters nursing injuries, as Mount Union finally got the signature win to erase its frustrating November. Meanwhile, No. 1 Swarthmore survived against Ursinus, but No. 14 Wooster did not survive at Denison. And Curry won a conference game for the first time since 2015 in Division III men's basketball action on Wednesday, Jan. 22. In women's action, John Carroll got past No. 11 Baldwin Wallace and Simpson handed No. 7 Wartburg its second loss in a week and a half.
Mount Union lost back-to-back games in late November, falling against Adrian (7-9) and Trine (11-5) to come out to a 2-2 start. But since then, the Purple Raiders (13-3, 8-1 OAC) have won 11 out of 12, including a 107-70 home win against the No. 6 Pioneers.
Nathan Bower-Malone with a career-high 36 points to go along with 10 assists and seven rebounds, shooting 8-for-12 from beyond the arc in the win. Collen Gurley also had a big night, with 23 points, 7-for-12 from 3-point range. The Purple Raiders answered Marietta's early 7-3 lead with a 9-0 run and never looked back. Marietta was led by Mason Lydic, with 20 points.
In a back-and-forth game, Ursinus led as late as 4:04 remaining, as Bruce Edwards hit a layup to give the Bears a 66-64 lead. But Zac O'Dell answered on the other end 24 seconds later and No. 1 Swarthmore held on to win 81-76. O'Dell led four Garnet in double figures with 16 points, adding six assists, while Conor Harkins added 13 points. Swat improved to 16-0, 9-0 in the Centennial, while Ursinus fell to 8-8, 3-6.
No. 14 Wooster followed up its big win against Wittenberg with a clunker on the road, as Denison picked up just its fifth win against 11 defeats, defeating the Scots 72-71. The Scots (13-3, 7-2 NCAC), who trailed by as many as 14 in the second half, rallied to tie the game at 68 with 2:26 left.
The Big Red responded with a basket by Freeman Brou in the paint. Wooster's Keonn Scott missed a 3-pointer at the other end and Jack Coulter was fouled in the scrum for the rebound with 50 seconds left. He made both to put Denison up four and the Big Red held on. Scott led all scorers with 24 points, while Brou paced Denison with 21.
Buzz Anthony scored 23, including 17 in the second half, Terry Woods tallied a career-best 20 points, and Miles Mallory registered his fourth double-double with 11 points and a season-high 14 rebounds as No. 3 Randolph-Macon posted a hard-fought 67-61 ODAC victory at No. 18 Virginia Wesleyan. Daniel Spencer led VWU with 19 points. R-MC remains the only team without a loss in ODAC play. The Yellow Jackets are 8-0 in conference contests halfway through the ODAC slate.
Daymeann Stewart scored a game-high 23 points and Jared Thorpe-Johnson shot 7-for-11 from 3-point range include to 21 points as Curry (5-12, 1-7) defeated Western New England 73-71. The win is Curry's first in a Commonwealth Coast Conference game since 2015, snapping a streak of 77 consecutive conference losses. WNEU fell to 11-6, 6-2 in the conference.
Four sophomore guards combined for 44 points and John Tauer picked up his 200th career win as the No. 9 Tommies defeated Macalester 80-59. He is believed to be, along with UW-Stevens Point coach Bob Semling, one of just two Division III men's coaches to reach the 200-win mark in fewer than 250 games.
One of North Central's finest defensive performances of the season turned out to be just enough to deliver a 10th consecutive win, as the Cardinals prevailed in a 54-53 nailbiter over Augustana. No. 16 North Central (14-3, 7-1 CCIW) limited the Vikings to 33.3 percent shooting (19 of 57) from the floor, the lowest by any of the Cardinals' opponents in conference play this season, which assisted in keeping a late offensive dry spell from knocking the hosts off the pace at the top of the CCIW standings. Blaise Meredith put up game-high totals of 16 points and 11 rebounds to post his first double-double of the season.
Stevens held off DeSales 72-67 to grab a share of first place in the MAC Freedom. Spencer Cook scored 25 points for the Ducks (13-3, 4-1 MAC Freedom) who held a double-digit lead for much of the second half, but needed three DeSales turnovers late to seal the win. Mike Bealer had 19 for DeSales (11-5, 4-1).
Harry O'Neil scored a career-best 20 points as Johns Hopkins poured in 13 3-pointers and won at Gettysburg 77-71. Hopkins improves to 42-52 all-time against Gettysburg and has won seven straight in the series. It's just the 15th win for the Blue Jays in Gettysburg since 1949.
Yeshiva got back on the court after a five-week break and got back in the win column as the Macs defeated SUNY-Maritime 94-56. Ryan Turell had 20 points, a game-best six assists and down six rebounds as Yeshiva won its 13th consecutive game after a season-opening loss to Occidental. Simcha Halpert led all scorers with 23 points. Brennan Whelan led the Privateers (5-10, 1-5 Skyline) with 16 points.
Women's wrap: JCU dumps BW
John Carroll defeated No. 11 Baldwin Wallace 59-53 in a battle of OAC title contenders and crosstown rivals. Neither team mustered much offense through three quarters, but Baldwin Wallace (14-2, 8-1 OAC) plodded to a 40-30 lead entering the fourth quarter. The Blue Streaks (14-1, 8-1 OAC) broke out in the fourth period, outscoring the Yellow Jackets 29-13. Dani Carlson scored eight of her 10 points in the final frame and the Blue Streaks overcame a rough shooting night behind the arc (2 for 11) and at the free throw line (13 for 24).
Simpson showed that the battle for first in the ARC may actually be a four-team affair, as the Storm knocked off No. 7 Wartburg, 66-62. Cassie Chubb notched 17 points, including five 3-pointers and 13 rebounds for Simpson (14-3, 6-2 ARC), which hit 11 3-pointers as a team. Simpson, Wartburg and Luther all sit one game back of No. 8 Loras which topped Coe, 72-54.
The rest of the Top 25 was victorious, mostly by comfortable margins. No. 1 Tufts completed non-conference play with a 73-51 win at home over Babson. Erica DeCandido approached a triple double for the Jumbos (17-0) with 17 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. No. 3 Hope rolled out to a 41-9 halftime lead and cruised to a 71-33 win over Alma. No. 10 Bethel handled Carleton 67-42 behind another big night for Taite Anderson (21 points, 13 rebounds).
Outside the Top 25, Wheaton (Ill.) rallied from 11 points down at Illinois Wesleyan and toppled the Titans, 62-59. The Thunder (12-5, 5-3 CCIW) trailed Illinois Wesleyan for almost the entire second half until Hannah Frazier split a pair of free throws with 21.6 seconds left to give Wheaton a 60-59 lead. The Titans turned the ball over on their ensuing possession and fouled Kristi Demski who knocked down two more free throws.