Saturday men: A Titan Storm

Jan 29, 2022
Concordia Chicago Emmanuel Wilson
Emanuel Wilson drilled a go-ahead three-point shot with 60 seconds left in overtime and hit two late free throws to lead Concordia-Chicago to perhaps the biggest upset of the year in Division III men's hoops.
Credit: cucougars.com.
 

On a Saturday where the East Coast was buried under a foot or more of snow and dozens of games were postponed, 12 games involving Top 25 opponents were on the schedule. The biggest surprise of the evening came in Bloomington where Concordia-Chicago got a key block at the end of regulation to force overtime and unleashed a late squall in the extra session to knock off No. 2 ranked Illinois Wesleyan in perhaps the biggest upset of the year in NCAA Division III men's basketball. In early action, top-ranked Randolph Macon held off Washington & Lee while No. 6 Marietta won its 14th in a row and moved to 11-0 in the OAC with a 94-82 win over Baldwin Wallace. Meanwhile a school that knows a ton about snow buried its opponent in a first vs. second place game in the SUNYAC.

The game of the night featured the first-ever meeting between No. 2 IWU hosting Concordia-Chicago. The Titans clutched a four-point lead with two minutes left before the Cougars countered and took the lead with 42 seconds left after Brent Hatten hit two foul shots. Preseason d3hoops.com All-America Matthew Leritz tied it with a layup with 23 seconds left and after the Cougars turned it over with eight seconds left, IWU had a chance to win in regulation. Cory Noe's final layup attempt was blocked by Izak Ruddell to force overtime. In the extra period, Emanuel Wilson drilled a go-ahead three-point shot with 1:00 on the clock to give the Cougars a 77-75 lead and after the Titans missed their next two field goal tries, Concordia iced the biggest upset of the year with four free throws. Illinois Wesleyan fell to 15-4 with the setback; Concordia-Chicago, the fifth-place team in the NCAA, is 9-7. It's the highest-ranked opponent the program has ever defeated. In doing so, they handed the Titans their first loss on their home floor since February 2020.

Buzz Anthony and Miles Mallory each scored 20 points, and Mallory recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds, as top-ranked Randolph-Macon held off Washington and Lee,  77-72, in ODAC action. Mallory went 8-of-9 from the floor. The Yellow Jackets (17-1, 9-0 ODAC) have won 11 straight since their lone blemish on November 28 at Christopher Newport. R-MC led 77-65 with 44 seconds remaining before WLU scored the final seven points of the game. Robert DiSibio scored a game-high 22 for the Generals, who fall to 7-9 (5-5 ODAC).

No. 6 Marietta College won its 14th in a row with a 94-82 victory over visiting Baldwin Wallace in Ban Johnson Arena. Up 45-40 at halftime, Marietta used a 7-0 run midway through the second half to take control of the game. The Pioneers scored 20 points off 18 Baldwin Wallace turnovers, which lost despite shooting 52.7 percent. Mason Lydic scored 23 for Marietta, which outscored the Baldwin Wallace bench, 32-13. Anthony Mazzeo led the other Yellow Jackets with 27. Marietta is 16-2 and remain atop the Ohio Athletic Conference with a perfect 11-0 league record — two games in front of Mount Union and Heidelberg.

Speaking of Mount Union, the 11th ranked Purple Raiders got 21 off the bench from Michael Skeriotis and rolled over Ohio Northern, 93-71. Mount Union (16-2, 9-2 OAC) led 49-34 at the break.

In the only matchup of two ranked teams on January 29, No. 15 Swarthmore led No. 12 Johns Hopkins at the half, 41-28, and rode out the lead in the second half en route to a 78-68 win. After losing its last two outings, Swarthmore likely salvaged its Top 20 standing, improving to 16-3 and 10-2 in the Centennial. Hopkins suffers its first loss in the Centennial after opening 10-0. Aidan Godfrey finished with a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) and three blocks to pace the Garnet. Conner Delaney led the Blue Jays with 23.

In a matchup of the first and second place teams in the SUNYAC, the Lakers dumped New Paltz. No. 22 Oswego State won its 15th straight, improving to 18-1 overall and 12-0 in the SUNYAC, blowing out the Hawks, 82-53. Oswego had its own blizzard in the first half and led 46-19 after 20 minutes and 13 different players scored for the Lakers. New Paltz fell to 11-7 (8-4 SUNYAC). Oswego now has a four-game lead in the league standings.

Elsewhere in the Top 25, No. 10 UW-La Crosse led Bethel by 30 at the half and eased to a 95-60 win to improve to 16-3. No. 13 Maryville (Tenn.) won its 12th in a row and improved to 16-1 overall (6-0 USA South), fending off Piedmont, 71-67. No. 18 Wheaton (Ill.) used a late three from Tyson Cruickshank with 38 seconds remaining to gain separation and held off North Central, 75-71. 

No. 19 Elmhurst led North Park 44-19 at the break and cruised to a 89-59 home win. No. 21 Mary Hardin-Baylor breezed by McMurry, 93-75. New No. 25 ranked Nazareth won its 13th in a row and improved to 16-1 (8-0 Empire 8) with a 77-71 outcome at St. John Fisher, which falls to 13-5, 7-2 E8.

Outside of the Top 25 the action snowballed as well. Penn State-Harrisburg won its 13th game in a row and moved to 9-0 in the United East, winning at Morrisville State, 80-72. RPI narrowly escaped its third loss, edging Ithaca, 73-71. The Engineers are 15-2 overall and 9-1 atop the Liberty League. Trinity (Texas) upped its record to 16-3 (8-2 SCAC) with a two-point road win over Texas Lutheran, 78-76. Tanner Brown's converted three-point play with four seconds left was the difference. LeTourneau fell a game behind Mary Hardin-Baylor in the American Southwest standings after Belhaven pulled off the 88-73 surprise.

In MAC Freedom action, Delaware Valley survived King's (Pa.), 67-65. The Monarchs turned it over with four seconds remaining with a chance to tie or win. First-place DeSales (17-2,9-1 MAC Freedom) got a scare from Misericordia. The Cougars (7-12,5-6 MAC Freedom) tied it with 25 seconds to go when Nick Hornung notched a layup but the Bulldog, who were upset by another sub-.500 team (Wilkes) earlier in the week, avoided similar catastrophe thanks to Timmy Edwards' layup with five seconds remaining, winning 84-82.

Mason VanDeMortel made a jumper in the paint with 9.5 seconds left to give Keuka a one-point lead over Elmira and Will Tehan's steal on the final play secured the 82-81 Empire 8 Conference victory for the Wolves. It took two overtimes to decide the winner in CCIW action before Millikin survived Carthage, 75-72.

In the Landmark, Susquehanna made two at the line with five seconds left for a cushion and Catholic was unsuccessful with a late three bidding to tie as the River Hawks (14-4, 6-1 LC) got the 62-59 decision. Drew kept pace with SU atop the league, easing past Elizabethtown, 88-70.

Basheem Wilkerson's jumper with three seconds left lifted Alfred State past Mount Aloysius, 72-70, in the AMCC. The Mounties were leading 68-64 with 1:59 remaining but couldn't hold on. Penn State-Behrend leads the AMCC with a 10-0 record after taking down Medaille, 78-65. 

Brevard's David Sealy hit a go-ahead jumper with under a minute remaining and Huntingdon's last-second try to tie was denied as the Tornados won in the USA South, 74-72. Marian avoided falling to a 2-16 Dominican team as Tyler Gouin scored a layup with three seconds to go for a 73-71 final. Principia and Greenville combined for 222 points but two separated them at the end; Principia took home a 112-110 decision.