| Edgewood's defense harrassed
UW-River Falls into just 25 percent shooting from beyond the
arc. UW-River Falls photo by Kathy Helgeson |
A freshman led Becker on the road in the first round and Edgewood's small lineup gave UW-River Falls fits as the Hawks and Eagles pulled off road wins against ranked teams in the first full night of action in the 2012 Division III men's basketball tournament.
Edgewood shot 9-for-18 from three-point range and led by as many as 23 points before having to survive a furious rally to knock off UW-River Falls 75-67 on its home floor. The Eagles' victory is the first for a team representing the Northern Athletics Conference.
Becker used a 13-2 run in the second half to blow the game open on the way to beating No. 13 William Paterson 69-53. For the third year in a row, an NJAC representative has lost at home in the first round, twice to the champion of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference and now to the champ of the New England Collegiate Conference.
| Trinity (Texas) overcame a
43-28 rebounding deficit in beating Mary
Hardin-Baylor. UMHB athletics photo |
Trinity shot a blistering 57 percent from three-point range in the first half and hit 58 percent overall to build a 46-35 halftime lead. The Cru battled back to within six points early in the second half before the Tigers built lead back to double digits at 57-46 with 11:42 remaining. UMHB eventually took the lead, but gave up a three-pointer to Ryan Beall with 17 seconds left and missed a runner in the lane in the closing seconds.
The Tigers earned a neutral court game against Whitworth, which downed McMurry 90-79. Felix Friedt scored a career-high 35 points for the Pirates.
The Cinderella named Carroll is still dancing. The Pioneers, who needed help just to make their own conference tournament, upended host Transylvania 84-74. Carroll will try to keep it going against Wittenberg which ended Birmingham-Southern's first trip to the NCAA Division III tournament 63-56.
Endicott nearly pulled off an upset, leading by as many as 14 points in the second half, but lost at Oswego State 72-71 in overtime. Oswego had two foul shots with no time left in regulation but missed both, forcing the extra five minutes.
The defending national champs are still around, as St. Thomas knocked off No. 11 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in overtime behind a big night from Will DeBerg. The Tommies, who have no starters back from the team that made last year's title run, will face host school UW-Whitewater, which defeated Northwestern (Minn.) 83-68.
Friday night was a big night for big performances. DaQuan Brooks scored a career-high 52 points for Western Connecticut and the Colonials eliminated Christopher Newport 94-84. Brooks took 35 shots for the Colonials, nearly half of their total (73). Western Connecticut advances to play host Franklin and Marshall which beat York (Pa.) 72-50.
The Little East had a good night all the way around. Along with the Colonials' win, Rhode Island College beat Salem State 77-60 and Eastern Connecticut defeated Medaille 66-51.
The CCIW also went 3-0 in the first round. Illinois Wesleyan earned a shot at No. 1 Hope tomorrow night by beating UW-Stevens Point 69-61. Wheaton (Ill.) topped Gustavus Adolphus 68-60 and North Central (Ill.) held off Rose-Hulman 74-71.
Center AJ Matthews led Farmingdale State with 33 points and 19 rebounds in a 98-88 overtime win at Hartwick. The Rams overcame 40 points from Jared Suderley and denied Hartwick its first tournament win in 24 years. Farmingdale will battle MIT for a spot in the round of 16.
Scranton rallied from an 18-point deficit and beat Messiah in overtime 70-67. Royals coach Carl Danzig, who earned his 200th career victory, said, "This has to be the largest comeback I've ever been involved in."
Hobart's leading scorer Matt Pebole was 0-for-7 from the field until the final 39 seconds of the Statesmen's game against Ohio Wesleyan. Then he scored five points in 10 seconds and Hobart rallied to eliminate the Battling Bishops 64-60. Hobart will face Cabrini, which ran past Castleton State.
Illinois Wesleyan won a first-round game for the third season in a row, defeating UW-Stevens Point 69-61 at Hope. IWU never trailed, behind 15 points from senior John Koschnitzky and 14 from Stephen Rudnicki. Hope defeated Westminster (Mo.) 79-65.
Capital rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit, holding Randolph-Macon scoreless from the 10:03 mark of the second half to the 1:06 mark in a 68-60 win. The Crusaders will face Wooster.