Samantha Swartout had a double-double in the Loggers' upset win over No. 3 Whitman. Puget Sound athletics file photo

After a 20-day layoff, No. 3 Whitman picked up its first loss at Puget Sound while the New Jersey City women stayed perfect. On the men's side, both ranked OAC teams fell and Concordia (Wis.) topped Wisconsin Lutheran.

• Friday's scoreboard: Men | Women
• Saturday's schedule: Men | Women
• More men's news releases | Women's news releases

Through Friday, 213 women's teams have played at least one game, along with 205 men's teams.

No. 3 Whitman played its first game in almost three weeks and picked up its first loss, as Puget Sound toppled the Blues, 85-79. The Loggers (3-4) shot 61 percent and outscored Whitman 25-16 in the third quarter and led 64-50 going into the final period. Led by first-year guard Kennedy Brown, Puget Sound's reserves outscored Whitmans' 38-12. Brown scored 17 points on 8 for 17 shooting. Whitman (4-1) got 24 points from Kaylie McCracken but shot 8 for 21 from the foul line. The teams will play for a fourth and final time tomorrow.

No. 15 UW-Eau Claire overwhelmed UW-River Falls in the second half on its way to a 75-57 victory. The Blugolds outscored the Falcons 43-16 after halftime and had a 48-20 advantage on points in the paint. Katie Essen led UW-Eau Claire (6-0, 6-0 WIAC) with 26 points and seven rebounds.

The Blugolds will finish the abbreviated regular season with two games against UW-Oshkosh, which sits one game behind them in the WIAC standings. The Titans handled UW-Stevens Point 67-40 in a game where they used 18 players, 13 of whom scored.

There are eight letters, but no L's, in NJCU and TCNJ. Both teams stayed perfect with wins on Friday night, as New Jersey City cruised past William Paterson, 69-49, and TCNJ thumped Kean, 67-38. Those two teams, plus Montclair State which was idle, are a combined 14-0 in the NJAC with 13 wins by double-digits. New Jersey City is scheduled to play Montclair State next weekend while TCNJ will play William Paterson.

Messiah got a double-double from All-American Leah Springer (20 points, 12 rebounds) and held off Stevenson, 49-45. The Mustangs erased a 12-point fourth quarter deficit and tied the game at 42 with 3:57 to play. The Falcons (3-0) scored the next seven points to pull out the win. 

Friday's men's games

Marietta rallied past No. 9 Mount Union and into first place in the OAC with a 77-85 road win on Friday night. The Pioneers (6-1, 6-1 OAC) outscored the Purple Raiders 14-3 over the game's final five minutes. Mason Lydic scored a career-high 29 points and Jason Ellis tallied 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals for Marietta. 

"This was a great win for our program. I thought our guys showed a lot of true toughness tonight," said Marietta coach Jon VanderWal. "We took their best shot in the first half and even though we were down seven, we felt like we were in a decent position because we thought we could wear them out. It came true and our guys made some huge plays down the stretch."

The Pioneers have a half-game lead in the conference standings on Mount Union and No. 15 Heidelberg after the Student Princes lost at Ohio Northern, 74-68. C.J. Napier and Brandon Waugh combined for 37 points and 19 rebounds for the Polar Bears (3-3, 3-3 OAC). 

Joey Zietlow made two free throws with three seconds left to lift Concordia (Wis.) over previously-unbeaten Wisconsin Lutheran, 76-74. Jordan Johnson led the Falcons (5-3, 4-3 NACC) with 28 points, including an 11-for-11 showing from the foul line. He took almost as many free throws as Wisconsin Lutheran did as a team (12).

Freshman Aiden Polzin set a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference single-game record with 46 points and the Lakeland men's basketball team ran away from Edgewood for a 114-83 win. It's the highest single-game point total in Division III this season, passing the 43 points from TCNJ's Travis Jocelyn against Stockton on Feb. 6. Polzin made 16-of-24 from the field, including 6-of-9 from 3-point range, plus all eight of his free throw attempts.

DeSales rolled over FDU-Florham 75-49 to improve to 3-0. The Bulldogs men and women are 6-0 with a combined margin-of-victory of 203 points. The game was a lot tighter in Chester, Pennsylvania where Widener edged Albright 81-79 in overtime on Pat Holden's step-back jumper at the buzzer. The Pride improved to 3-0 while Albright was playing its season opener.