Joey Flannery scored 17 of Babson's first 22 points and 33 overall in the Beavers win at No. 12 WPI. Babson athletics file photo

Alma, Babson, Hampden-Sydney and UW-River Falls asserted themselves in their chase for conference titles by beating ranked opponents on Wednesday night.

• Wednesday's men's scores
• Wednesday's women's scores
• Even more men's game stories
• Even more women's game stories

Alma defeated No. 4 Hope 86-75 to take a one-game in the MIAA title hunt. Early in the second half, the Scots used a 14-4 run to build a double-digit lead that was too much for the visiting Flying Dutchmen to overcome. Alma shot 60 percent from the field (34-for-57) with hot shooting nights from Trevor Gernaat (6-for-6, 13 points) and Scott Nikodemski (6-for-8 for 16 points). Doug Bradfield led the Scots with 20 points while Ben Gardner tallied 16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for Hope. Recap

Alma (10-4, 3-0 MIAA) has won nine of its last 10 games after losing three of four to start the season. Hope (12-2, 2-1) picked up its second loss of the season and its first against Division III opponents. 

After a relatively rocky non-conference season, Babson showed it's still a force in the NEWMAC. The Beavers went to No. 12 WPI and beat the Engineers 75-71 in overtime. Babson built a 20-point lead with 13 minutes left but WPI came all the way back to take the lead 64-61 in the final minute of regulation.  Joey Flannery made enough free throws to pull Babson even and the Beavers scored on their first three possessions in overtime.

Flannery finished with 33 points, including the 1,500th of his career, seven rebounds and five assists. Babson won its first overtime game in four tries this season.

Guilford celebrates a game winning shot from Will Freeman at Emory and Henry. Guilford athletics photo by Ava Nadel

The ODAC conference race is very tight with three teams tied for first and three teams one game back after Wednesday night. Hampden-Sydney beat No. 20 Roanoke 100-92 to pull the Maroons back to the pack. Six players scored double-figures for the Tigers who made more three-pointers (14) than free throws (10).

Roanoke drops into a three-way tie for first with Virginia Wesleyan and Guilford, which both survived scares. The Marlins won at Eastern Mennonite 96-94 in overtime while the Quakers edged Emory and Henry 61-60 on Will Freeman's layup with three seconds left.

UW-River Falls was 6-5 outside the WIAC but they are 3-0 inside it after beating No. 14 UW-Whitewater 75-70. The Falcons outscored the Warhawks 10-2 in the final two minutes with John Christensen getting five from the free throw line. Garret Pearson led River Falls with 24 points on 10-for-15 shooting.

On paper the matchup between No. 3 Augustana and No. 25 North Central (Ill.) looked exciting. On the court it was not. Augustana outscored the Cardinals 33-2 to start the game and cruised to a 76-49 victory. No. 2 Elmhurst had a similarly easy time in beating Carthage 78-58 on the road.

No. 7 John Carroll and No. 19 Mount Union cleared the final hurdles before their big showdown on Saturday. John Carroll had seven players score double-digits and took care of Otterbein, 94-80. Jarrett Ruffin scored 26 points for Mount Union and J.J. Kukura added 26 more off the Purple Raiders' bench in a 94-70 win over Muskingum.

Susquehanna's reserves scored only five points against Juniata and that was the Crusaders' margin of victory over the Eagles, 60-55. Josh Miller scored 20 points for Susquehanna which stayed unbeaten despite shooting 29 percent from three. Merchant Marine knocked off No. 24 Scranton 66-65 on a last second free throw by Preston Padgett.

Beyond the Top 25: Don't forget about Wooster, either

Wooster emphatically ended Hiram's eight-game winning streak by blitzing the Terriers, 100-69. The Scots rolled up 55 points with 11 different players scoring in the first half. Dan Fanelly scored 18 points on 9-for-10 shooting for Wooster (10-4, 6-1 NCAC). Kelvin Jones scored 14 points for Hiram (11-3, 5-2 NCAC).

Lehman topped Baruch 79-72 to stay one game in front of the pack in the CUNYAC. Olando Minott scored 18 points for the Lightning (11-3, 6-1 CUNYAC). Delaware Valley shook off a slow first half and pulled away from Manhattanville, 73-52. The Aggies outscored the Valiants 49-28 in the second half for their 12th win in 13 tries.

Joel Scudder scored 23 points to lead Mount St. Joseph past Hanover 75-61 and into sole possession of first place in the HCAC. The Lions have a one-game lead on the Panthers and Manchester, which defeated Bluffton 67-62.