| Marcus Delpeche scored 28 points for Bates in the Bobcats' victory over No. 4 Tufts on Saturday afternoon. Photo by Phyllis Graber Jensen, Bates College |
Hoping to improve their playoff standing as the regular season enters the final month, Bates, Carthage and Moravian beat ranked foes at home on Saturday.
Bates entered the day on a three-game losing streak in NESCAC play and No. 4 Tufts entered it without a loss in the NESCAC. Both trends ended as the Bobcats defeated the Jumbos 84-72 in Lewiston, Maine. Bates shot 6-for-9 from three in the first half and built a 39-31 lead at the break, and Tufts never got closer than seven in the second half. Marcus Delpeche scored 28 points on 10-for-14 shooting with 11 rebounds and Jerome Darling hit four of the Bobcats' 10 three pointers.
"Having the number four ranked team in our gym, we knew we had to come to play," said Delpeche after the game. "We want this victory to be a turning point in the season for us with four games left." Recap
Tufts (16-3, 6-1 NESCAC) remains one game ahead in the NESCAC standings. Trinity (Conn.) was unable to gain ground on the Jumbos as the Bantams fell at No. 14 Amherst, 66-53. Jayde Dawson scored 17 points for Amherst (14-4, 4-2 NESCAC), which moved into a three-way tie for second with Trinity and No. 22 Middlebury. The Panthers won comfortably at home over Hamilton, 115-82. Bates is tied for fifth with No. 25 Wesleyan, which took care of Connecticut College 85-75.
Carthage entered the day in a tangle of five teams vying for the last two spots in the CCIW playoffs. The Red Men beat conference leader Augustana 74-70 in overtime, solidying their current position and gaining a victory that could help in tiebreaker scenarios. Brad Perry scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half for Carthage which erased a 12-point halftime deficit and forced overtime. Neither team scored in the first three minutes of the extra period, and then the Red Men took the lead for good on Kienan Baltimore's three-point play.
Baltimore finished with 20 points off the bench for Carthage (13-6, 6-4). Jacob Johnston led No. 16 Augustana with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Augustana dropped into a first-place tie with the CCIW's other Vikings as No. 23 North Park came from behind to beat Elmhurst, 70-62. CCIW standings
Moravian edged No. 11 Susquehanna 80-77 and created a three-way tie atop the Landmark Conference standings. The River Hawks held a 77-76 lead with under two minutes remaining when Moravian's Brandon McGuire made a reverse layup to put the Greyhounds in front. Sean Hanna, who had the assist on McGuire's go-ahead shot, added two more free throws to put the game away. Moravian notched its first win over a ranked opponent since beating Wilkes in February 2001. Recap
Susquehanna (16-3, 6-2 Landmark) is tied for first with the Greyhounds and Scranton. The Royals shot 63 percent from the field (32-for-51) and drilled Elizabethtown, 81-48. Recap
Wittenberg didn't improve its playoff positioning but it did dent No. 9 Denison's push for an NCAC title. The Tigers erased a five-point deficit in the final two minues to beat the Big Red on the road, 71-70. Shade Edwards' jumper with 10 seconds remaining was the game-winner for Wittenberg who got 23 points, eight rebounds and four steals from Jaelin Williams.
Denison's loss allowed Wooster and Ohio Wesleyan to pick up a game in the NCAC standings. The Scots beat DePauw 111-104 in a double-overtime thriller, despite Luke Lattner scoring 43 points for DePauw. Ohio Wesleyan beat Oberlin, 67-62.
Eric Murdoch, Jr. scored six points down the stretch to push TCNJ past New Jersey City University in the game and the NJAC standings. Murdock's three with 38 seconds left nailed down a 75-69 win for the Lions and moved TCNJ in front of the Gothic Knights for second place. No. 10 Ramapo remained ahead of both teams with an 82-62 victory over Kean.
No. 5 UW-River Falls extended its winning streak to 16 games and improved its WIAC record to 8-0 with a 67-51 win at UW-Stevens Point. Alex Herink scored 17 points for the Falcons who sit three games in front of Oshkosh and Whitewater in the standings. Oshkosh topped No. 17 Eau Claire 79-66 and swept the regular season series with the Blugolds. No. 24 Whitewater continued its strong play with a 67-62 win at La Crosse. WIAC standings
Outside the Top 25, St. Thomas beat rival St. John's 74-65 and stayed tied with Bethel for first place in the MIAC. Grant Shaeffer scored 19 points for the Tommies who have won 10 of 11. Bethel beat Macalester 85-79 and will go to St. Thomas on Monday night. MIAC standings
Delaware Valley moved back into a tie for first place in the MAC Freedom with a win and some help. Tyliek Kimbrough scored 33 points on 12-for-16 shooting and added seven assists and six rebounds in the Aggies' 80-64 win over Wilkes. Eastern dropped back into a tie with Delaware Valley as Kuity Slanger (16 points, eight assists, five rebounds) keyed DeSales 80-66 victory over the Eagles.
Lycoming entered the week with a comfortable lead in the MAC Commonwealth standings that is all but gone. The Warriors' followed up their home loss to Messiah on Wednesday with a 72-70 defeat to Widener. The Pride led for nearly the entire game, but needed an offensive rebound and free throw from Sardayah Sambo to secure the win. As is often the case in this conference, the top seven teams are within three games of each other in the MAC Commonwealth standings.
The USA South Athletic Conference standings are even tighter with six teams within one game of each other. Greensboro beat Huntingdon 89-73 to maintain its slim one-half game lead on Methodist, which beat LaGrange 75-63. The Pride and Monarchs play in Greensboro on Wednesday night.
It was just another night in the System for Greenville. The Panthers fell one-point short of scoring 100 points in the second half and posted 162 overall in a lopsided win over MacMurray. Seven players scored double figures for Greenville, led by Elmo Smith who scored 24. The Panthers went 22-for-54 from three in the victory. Box score
Concordia (Texas) topped Hardin-Simmons 95-89 to snap the Cowboys' nine-game winning streak. Ephriam Price scored 30 points for the Tornados who are a half-game behind Hardin-Simmons in the ASC West. LeTourneau, which leads the ASC East, cruised past Louisiana College 88-68.