| Joey Kizel and Middlebury ran
past No. 21 Alvernia on opening night. Middlebury athletics file photo |
The opening day of the Division III basketball season got off to an exciting start and had lots of thrilling finishes late into the night, including a stunning upset when Southern Vermont edged No. 3 Williams 88-87.
Williams was scheduled to host Southern Vermont in its tip-off tournament, but the game was moved to Massachusetts College because Williams was hosting the NCAA Regional Tournament for volleyball. Maybe the less familiar gym factored into the bizarre ending.
The third-ranked Ephs led Southern Vermont 86-82 in the closing minute of the game. The Mountaineers scored, stopped Williams and then tied the game on free throws by DeShawn Hamlet. Williams converted one of two free throws on its next possession to regain the lead, but Hamlet was fouled at the other end with three seconds left. He converted both free throws to give Southern Vermont the lead.
Williams tried to inbound the ball but the pass deflected off the ceiling, turning the ball over to Southern Vermont. The Mountaineers were fouled on the ensuing possession, but missed the free throw and knocked the ball out of bounds, giving it back to Williams. The Ephs threw the inbounds pass off the ceiling again, turning it over to Southern Vermont who ran out the clock.
Hamlet finished with 19 points for Southern Vermont, which won just one game all of last season.
Across the country, Caltech scored an equally unlikely win over visiting Willamette 58-55. The Beavers have already equaled last year's win total and are over .500 for the first time since December 2011.
Two other northern New England teams also had memorable opening nights. No. 18 Middelbury defeated No. 21 Alvernia 81-71 at Franklin and Marshall's opening tournament. Matt Daley had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Panthers. Rivier hosted Daniel Webster in the season's first game that tipped off in Nashua, N.H., at 12:01 am. The Raiders fell to the Eagles 79-75 in overtime.
Aldin Medunjanin had 17 points, including 10 free throws, as Skidmore knocked off No. 22 Rhode Island College 79-70. Oneonta State had all five starters score double figures, led by Zach Mager's 31 points, and the Red Dragons topped Rochester 95-80.
There were plenty of overtime games, including Augsburg edging Buena Vista 97-95 on a late three-pointer by Dave Weber. Tyler Courson's 26 points paced Oglethorpe past Swarthmore 88-82 in overtime and Delaware Valley outlasted Rowan 102-94 in double-overtime.
Women's recap
| Katie Anderson scored 18
points and Randolph-Macon scored a big win. Randolph-Macon athletics file photo |
No. 11 Whitman edged No. 5 St. Thomas 77-76 in a back-and-forth battle between ranked teams. Katie Stone hit a three pointer with two minutes left to give the Tommies a five point lead on the Missionairies. Whitman answered with a 6-0 run, only to see St. Thomas regain the lead on Taylor Young's two free throws with 33 seconds left. Sarah Anderegg was fouled at the other end and hit both free throws to give the Missionairies the lead and Young missed a potential game winner at the buzzer.
No. 16 Ohio Northern held off No. 12 Carthage 64-56 in the opening game of Manchester's Tip-Off Tournament. The Polar Bears used a 12-1 run midway through the second half to pull away from the Lady Reds. Ohio Northern held Carthage Preseason All-American Stephanie Kuzmanic to six points in 37 minutes while its All-American, Cenzie Yoder, finished with 14 points.
Randolph-Macon upset No. 3 Christopher Newport 92-86 behind a barage of three-pointers. The Yellow Jackets hit shot 53 percent from behind the arc (9-for-17) and only commited eight turnovers. Transfer Taylor Huber scored 22 points for Randolph-Macon.
No. 1 DePauw rolled past Otterbein 80-46 in a meeting of 2013 NCAA tournament teams. The Tigers face another NCAA tournament participant, Franklin, on Saturday. The Grizzlies fell to Denison 53-50 as Kellie Arter scored 17 points for the Big Red.
No. 6 Montclair State shot 60 percent from the field in the first half against Scranton and rode the hot start to an 86-75 victory. Sarah Payonk had 18 points and 18 rebounds for the Lady Royals. Janitza Aquino had 24 points for the Red Hawks.
No. 10 Tufts held off Baldwin Wallace 71-70, thanks to a 44-10 bench scoring advantage. The Yellow Jackets scored five points in the final 16 seconds to come up one point short. Sydney Moss led No. 8 Thomas More past Wittenberg 86-76. Moss, who transferred from Division I Florida, had 19 points and 12 rebounds and teammate Jenny Burgoyne had 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Geneseo State went a long way to beat No. 17 Lewis and Clark 63-62. Shannon McGinnis had a double-double (22 points, 11 rebounds) for the Blue Knights, who travelled close to 2,700 miles for the contest. Gettysburg picked off No. 18 William Paterson 51-47 eight months after the Pioneers beat the Bullets in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Haverford dumped No. 21 Marymount 70-56.