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| Daniel Purvlicis had a
double-double for the Little Giants. Wabash athletics photo by Tom Runge |
Wabash knocked off No. 10 Wooster, while North Park took down another ranked team, No. 13 Richard Stockton pulled away and then held on to win at No. 25 William Paterson in Saturday's Division III men's basketball action.
Wabash led by 12 in the first half and as many as 11 points twice in the final 10 minutes of the game before the Scots rallied to take the lead behind Spencer Williams (18 points) and Xavier Brown (11 points, all in the final five minutes). Brown hit his third 3-pointer of the game with 44 seconds left to give Wooster a 65-64 lead but couldn't find the mark again and Wabash went on to win 68-65. Daniel Purvlicis had 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Little Giants, who had lost the previous three games.
"It's a great way to break the losing streak," said Wabash coach Kyle Brumett. "Our guys did a great job. They were coming at us. They'd won so many close games because they have great players and they're well-coached. We just had a bunch of guys make plays."
North Park played giant killer again, as the 12-8 Vikings defeated the No. 4 Vikings of Augustana, 76-69. Juwan Henry scored a game-high 23 points for North Park, which actually led the game wire to wire. It was the third consecutive win for North Park, which lost its first six CCIW games of the season after going 8-2 before conference play started.
Stockton blew the game open at Paterson midway through the second half, going on a 13-1 run to turn a one-point deficit into a 55-44 lead. Josh Blamon had six of his 17 points during the run and came up with a big defensive rebound and hit to free throws down the stretch to help the Ospreys hold on for the 61-57 win.
Trailing the entire second half, Keith Richardson gave Marietta the lead for good with a 3-pointer with 6:01 left and the No. 3 Pioneers remained unbeaten, holding off Baldwin Wallace 84-81. The Yellow Jackets had a look from 24 feet off an inbounds play but the shot hit off the rim as time expired.
Josh Altman scored 22 points off the bench, 13 of them in the second half, as Springfield rallied from a five-point deficit in the final 90 seconds to defeat No. 6 WPI 63-59. After Aaron Davis hit a 3-pointer for WPI with 2:16 to go, Springfield scored 10 of the final 11 points.
No. 8 Randolph-Macon scored the final four points of the
game to hold on and win at Lynchburg 72-68. The game was tied
at 68 when Chris Hamilton pulled up from the left baseline and
scored with 27 seconds left. Joe Hassell came up with a steal on
LC's next possession and Lamont Moore knocked down a pair of free
throws to go up four with five seconds remaining.
Thayne Recker lived up to his name with 53 points, 19 of them after regulation, as he led Bluffton to a 103-102 win in triple overtime over Hanover. Recker was an incredible 25-for-28 from the foul line. Austin Rohde added 22 points for the Beavers. Recker's 53 points is the most by a Division III men's basketball player this season.
Trailing by one with 2.8 seconds left, Trae Gaines banked in a 40-footer at the buzzer to send the home-standing Piedmont fans into a frenzy with a 63-61 win over Maryville. Jaumonee Byrd had put the Scots in the lead with a layup immediately before Gaines' last-second heroics.
Pomona-Pitzer sent No. 15 Chapman to its second consecutive loss, 89-87 in double overtime. Michael Cohen had 26 points and Adrian Brandon added 21 to send the Sagehens to their fourth win in a row.
No. 19 UW-Stevens Point won ugly at UW-Eau Claire, shooting just 31% from the floor and 5-for-20 from beyond the arc in a 49-40 victory. Austin Ryf scored a game-high 12 points, going 10-for-10 from the foul line. Nobody scored in double figures for the Blugolds (7-12, 3-7).
Plymouth State snapped Eastern Connecticut's six-game winning streak, defeating the No. 22 Warriors 65-57. Jack Preston (25 points) and Ernie Johnson (17) did the majority of the damage for Plymouth State (7-12, 2-7).
New Jersey City moved to within a half-game of sixth place and the final playoff spot in the NJAC with a 58-55 win vs. Rowan. Rowan was once on the Top 25 radar but has now lost seven in a row to fall to 12-8.
Ty Sabin won the battle of the two top scorers in Division III men's basketball, but Grinnell and Jack Taylor won the war, as the Pioneers defeated the Redhawks 117-108. Taylor had just 20 points, but Luke Yeager led Grinnell with 31 points in the win. Sabin scored a game-high 33 for Ripon.
Alma defeated Calvin for the first time in 34 games as Scott Nikodemski scored a game-high 29 points in an 87-85 overtime win. Calvin last lost to Alma in 1999. ... Juniata had a big second half to carry it past Drew on Shaq The House night, the night Shaquill Smith returned to campus for the first time since a serious illness in October sidelined him. The Eagles rallied past Drew 68-58. ... Corey Pryor completed a traditional three-point play with one second left in overtime as Anna Maria defeated St. Joseph's (Maine) 105-104. Tyler Delorey led the AMCATs with 23 and Pat Bradanese added 22. ... Neumann rallied from a 16-point second-half deficit but Rashaud Kelley hit a big 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down to regain the lead for Keystone, which held on to win 75-72. Keystone is 6-6 in the CSAC after going 0-7 out of conference. ... Transylvania rallied from a 16-point deficit and hit four clutch free throws down the stretch to defeat Manchester 87-84 in overtime. ... St. John Fisher jumped out to a 61-31 halftime lead and shot 71% from the floor, including 9-of-12 (75%) from 3-point range, as the Cardinals pushed their current win streak to 15 games with a 100-65 victory over visiting Utica.