Last season, Joel Scudder and the Lions shared the regular season crown with HCAC tournament champ Defiance. Photo courtesy MSJ Athletics

By Greg Chandler

It's not often you see five teams sharing first place in a conference race at any point of the season.

But in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, men's teams have been taking turns knocking each other off in the first several weeks of conference play. Heading into this week, five teams – Mount St. Joseph, Defiance, Bluffton, Hanover and Rose-Hulman – have 3-1 records in the HCAC.

Mount St. Joseph created the logjam on Saturday, upending Defiance on the road, 72-67, to deal the Yellowjackets their first loss in conference play. Defiance (6-5 overall) built up a 39-30 halftime lead and still led, 64-58, with less than six minutes remaining, but the Lions scored the next 14 points to take the win.

Senior guard Joel Scudder led MSJ (6-5 overall) with 21 points, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range, while Erik Edwards added 17 points and Travis Combs 15.

Bluffton has the best overall record of the HCAC fivesome at 8-3. After finishing runner-up to Hiram in their own holiday tournament, the Beavers joined the first-place fray with a 74-68 win at Franklin. Senior center Thayne Recker had a strong week, averaging 26.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game while shooting 58 percent from the field to earn conference Player of the Week honors. Recker went for 24 points and nine boards in the Franklin win.

Hanover posted an 85-81 HCAC win over Anderson. Cameron Fails scored 20 points, including six free throws in the final 1:19, as the Spartans (5-6 overall) hung on for the win. Earlier in the week, Hanover narrowly missed a major upset at No. 4 Hope, leading by 10 with eight minutes to play in regulation. The Flying Dutchmen tied the game on three free throws by Dante Hawkins with 0.9 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime, and Hope went on to win, 85-81, behind 20 points from Sam Otto and 17 each from Hawkins and Brock Benson.

Rose-Hulman also joined in the five-way tie, using a balanced attack to defeat Transylvania, 72-63. All five starters for the Engineers (6-5 overall) scored in double figures, led by Jimmy Miller with 14 points and Dillon Reynolds with 13. Tyler Duffy had a solid all-around performance with 10 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.

At least two of the five teams in the HCAC five-way tie will fall out of the top spot on Wednesday, as Bluffton hosts Mount St. Joseph and Rose-Hulman crisscrosses the Hoosier state for a road test at Hanover. Meanwhile, Defiance goes on the road to Anderson.

Battle for the top in the NCAC

Four men's teams headed into the week tied for first place in conference play, with Ohio Wesleyan, Hiram, Wittenberg and Wooster all 3-1 in the NCAC.

Wittenberg (8-3) won its Charles B. Zimmerman Memorial Classic in Springfield with a 74-58 win over Earlham and a 72-61 victory over No. 21 Washington (Mo.). Junior guard Jaelin Williams was huge in the Tigers' win over Wash U., pouring in 24 points and grabbing seven rebounds to earning tournament Most Valuable Player honors. Wittenberg has a big week this week, hosting Ohio Wesleyan Wednesday and Hiram Saturday at Pam Evans Smith Arena.

Hiram (9-2) continued its strong start, winning the Bluffton Holiday Tournament with wins over Illinois College, 71-64, and the host Beavers, 91-71. The Terriers then took a bite out of Wabash on Saturday with an 80-64 win over the Little Giants. J.J. Woodson lit it up for Hiram as he scored a career-high 30 points against Wabash, including four 3-pointers.

Ohio Wesleyan remains in the Top 10 of the D3hoops.com after the Battling Bishops romped to a 96-72 win over Transylvania. OWU's inside-outside combination of post player Ben Simpson and guard Nate Axelrod combined for 48 points for the Bishops, as Simpson went for 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Axelrod pumped in 26 points and dealt out seven assists.

Wooster, meanwhile, remained in a first-place tie in the NCAC with an 83-67 win over Denison, as Spencer Williams scored 18 points for the Scots.

Tartans rolling into the women's rankings; Thomas More, Hope still perfect

On the women's side, Carnegie Mellon continues to roll as the Tartans extended their season-opening win streak to ten with road victories over Westminster, 79-39, and Muskingum, 78-63. The 10-0 start has propelled CMU into the Top 25 at No. 25. Forward Lisa Murphy was nearly automatic in the two wins, shooting a phenomenal 90.5 percent from the field (19 of 21) in scoring 23 points against Westminster, and added 31 points and 12 rebounds in the Muskingum win. Freshman Jenn Mayberger set a school record for assists in a game with 12 dimes against Muskingum.

Back with a full lineup, No. 1 Thomas More extended its winning streak to 43 games by clobbering Illinois Wesleyan, 92-69, and Thiel, 102-38. Sydney Moss led the Saints with 37 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists against IWU. Nikki Kiernan added 26 points and nine rebounds in the win over the Titans, then came back with 16 points and 12 boards in the runaway win over Thiel in Thomas More's PAC opener.

Hope is back in the top five of the poll as the Flying Dutch won three games last week to raise their season record to 12-0. Hope romped to a tournament championship in Florida with wins over Mount Ida, 102-56, and Beloit, 72-33, then returned to MIAA play with a 90-57 win over Adrian. The Flying Dutch went on a 39-0 run in the Saturday win over Adrian. Senior center Maura McAfee averaged 14.7 points and 9.7 rebounds while playing just under 18 minutes a contest in the three wins.

Denison center Jordan Holmes continues to smash every record in sight with her dominating inside play. She had her fifth career triple-double with 19 points, 21 rebounds and an NCAC-record 14 blocked shots in a 97-81 victory over North Central at Otterbein's Smokey Ballenger Classic. Holmes later in that same tournament went over the 1,000-rebound mark for her career, becoming just the fifth NCAC player to accomplish that feat. She then closed the week with 17 points, 16 rebounds and seven blocks in leading the Big Red to a 67-48 win over Wooster.

Challengers rising up in the MIAA

Typically, news in MIAA men's basketball tends to center on traditional powerhouses Calvin and Hope. But the Knights and Flying Dutchmen could get some strong competition when conference play begins this week.

Trine is off to a flying start to its season, cracking the Top 25 for the first time in school history. The No. 23 Thunder improved to 10-1, their best start since the 1983-84 season, with a 78-72 win over Ohio Northern. Trine features a dynamic duo in forward Jared Holmquist and guard Will Dixon, who combined for 42 points in the win over the Polar Bears. Holmquist had 23 points, 10 boards, six assists and three steals, his fourth double-double in the last five games, earning him a spot on this week's D3hoops.com Team of the Week. The Thunder face a big test in their conference opener Wednesday in Grand Rapids against Calvin.