Friday men: Three's company

More news about: Baruch | Neumann | Stockton
Feb 27, 2015
Neumann celebrates its first CSAC title and its first trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Neumann photo by Jill Weigel
Baruch celebrates surviving the CUNYAC title game vs. Brooklyn in double overtime.
CUNYAC photo 

Three Atlantic region teams became the first to punch their tickets to the 2015 NCAA Tourmanent on Friday night, and two of them did it in dramatic fashion.

Baruch outlasted Brooklyn 90-83 in double overtime for the CUNYAC championship, thanks to a buzzer beater that saved the Bearcats at the end of regulation. With Baruch trailing by two, Granville Gittens hit a jump shot as time expired to send the game to overtime.

In the second overtime, Lorenzo Williams hit a 3-pointer to put the Bulldogs up by 83-82 with under two minutes to play. The Bearcats scored the last eight points of the game and secured their first CUNYAC title since 2000.

Neumann beat Cabrini in similar fashion to capture its first CSAC title. Neumann's Kevin Greene made a contested three-pointer with three seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 83. The teams traded scores in overtime until Denzel Yard's driving layup with 12 seconds left gave the Knights the lead for good. They forced two Cavalier turnovers in the final seconds to seal the 93-92 victory.

Cabrini All-American guard Aaron Walton-Moss capped his career with 36 points and 17 rebounds in 45 minutes of play. Neumann's James Butler scored 31 points and was named the tournament MVP.

After Stockton swept the regular season series, Stockton beat the Pioneers 65-61 to make it three and win the NJAC title on Friday night. Josh Blamon scored a layup to tie the game with a minute left and two free throws to give the Ospreys the lead. Blamon finished with 24 points.

Four top seeds were eliminated from their conference tournaments in the semifinals. DePauw knocked off NCAC favorite Ohio Wesleyan 69-65 behind Tommy Ferntiz's double-double (22 points, 11 rebounds). The Battling Bishops made 13 three-pointers, but only nine two-point shot. DePauw faces Wooster after the Scots eliminated Wabash 68-55. Keene State built a big lead over Little East top seed Eastern Connnecticut, withstood the Warriors' rally and then pulled away for an 81-63 road rwin. Tom Doyle scored 30 points for the Owls who will play Rhode Island College for the title. Ryan Brewster blocked a potential game-tying shot by Penn State-Behrend and Hilbert upset the Lions 64-59 in the AMCC semifinal. Fontbonne shot 71 percent from three (10-for-14) and ousted Webster from the SLIAC tournament, 67-61.

Stefan Bock was one of five St. John Fisher players in double figures as the top seeds advanced in the Empire 8. More photos from this game.
Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com 

St. John Fisher will play for its first Empire 8 title since 2007 as the Cardinals defeated Ithaca 90-75. Chaz Lott scored a season-high 23 points for St. John Fisher, 17 of them in the second half. Second-seeded Alfred knocked off Hartwick, the two-time defending champions, by a score of 79-72, winning its ninth consecutive game. Tyler Seelman scored a team-high 19 for the Saxons, including a deep 3-pointer with 51 seconds left to make it a two-possession game. 

Top-seeded East Texas Baptist advanced to the American Southwest Conference finals, but its opponent is surging Concordia (Texas), the No. 6 seed which knocked off third-seeded Louisiana College and second-seeded Hardin-Simmons on consecutive nights to advance. Justin Felicia led the team with 18 points while Ahnre Gray added a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds for ETBU, which won for the 13th time in 14 games. The Tigers survived 75-73 when Howard Payne's 3-pointer rimmed out and it could not get a putback attempt off.

In the MIAC, St. Thomas struggled but survived in overtime against an old foe, while St. Olaf fell once again to Bethel, losing to the Royals for the third time in three meetings. Senior guard Marcus Alipate scored 20 points, including a 14-foot shot with three seconds left in regulation to tie the game, and host St. Thomas went on to defeat Gustavus Adolphus 83-79 in overtime. Kyle Zimmermann had 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead Bethel, which has handed St. Olaf (21-5) three of its five losses. Ben Figini shot 15-for-20 from the floor for 31 points for St. Olaf against a much smaller Bethel lineup, but his teammmates were a combined 13-for-38 as Bethel (19-8) won 75-67.

North Atlantic Conference top seed Colby-Sawyer survived in double overtime to defeat Castleton 79-76 and advance to the NAC title game. The Chargers were trailing 62-58 with 1:32 left to play in the second half before senior Mike Dias made a jumper and junior Wol Majong knocked in the game-tying free throws with 54 seconds left. Colby-Sawyer had a chance to end it at the buzzer, but a Dias jumper caromed off the rim to send the game to overtime. Majong finished with 27 points. Aaron Willis had a game-high 33 points for Husson as the second-seeded Eagles advanced as well.

Thayne Recker had another big game for Bluffton (30 points, 13 rebounds) and Billy Taftinger added 28 off the bench as Bluffton advanced to the HCAC semifinals with a 98-93 overtime win vs. Anderson. Hanover advanced as well vs. Rose-Hulman and will face top-seeded Defiance, while Bluffton plays Mount St. Joseph.