Saturday men: Take-charge kind of guys

More news about: Ramapo | Swarthmore | UW-River Falls
Feb 11, 2017
Cam Wiley scored 25 points for Swarthmore against Johns Hopkins, raising his scoring average to 24.3 points per game over the last six.
Swarthmore athletics file photo
 

 

No. 7 Ramapo and No. 11 UW-River Falls grabbed the top seeds in their upcoming conference tournaments while No. 24 Swarthmore has a regular season title within its grasp after handling Johns Hopkins on Saturday.

River Falls gutted out a 68-63 win over No. 18 UW-Whitewater to secure its second WIAC title in the last five seasons. It was a two-possession lead for much of the game and River Falls led 64-58 with 38 seconds to play. Whitewater's Andre Brown scored to pull Warhawks within four and Devin Buckley answered for the Falcons to push the lead back to six. Whitewater got a three-point play from Derek Rongstad to cut the lead in half with eight seconds left, but Buckley added two free throws to seal the River Falls' victory.

Alex Herink, as he has all season, led River Falls in scoring with 13 points. Garrett Pearson added 12 points and 15 rebounds for River Falls (21-2, 11-1 WIAC). Rongstad had 15 points and 10 rebounds in a full 40 minutes for Whitewater (18-4, 8-4 WIAC). The Warhawks have a one-game lead on Eau Claire and Oshkosh for second in the WIAC standings. The top two teams receive byes into the WIAC semifinals.

Ramapo beat New Jersey City 78-70 to split the season series with the Gothic Knights and close out the NJAC race. The Roadrunners' reserves outscored New Jersey City's 31-16 and Ramapo turned 14 Gothic Knight turnovers into 20 points. Ramapo will be the top seed in the NJAC tournament, which starts next Saturday, while New Jersey City missed a chance to move into second place in the conference when Montclair State upset TCNJ, 70-63.

Swarthmore hasn't clinched home court in the Centennial Conference playoffs yet, but the Garnet are very close after dispatching Johns Hopkins, 70-48. Swarthmore held the Blue Jays to 33 percent shooting, including 2-for-18 from three. The Garnet have a two-game lead on Hopkins and Dickinson with two to play and can secure first place with a win at rival Haverford on Wednesday. Box score

The CCIW could be headed for its first week without a ranked team in a long time. No. 25 North Park dropped its third game in a row, this time losing at Wheaton (Ill.) 70-67 in a game where the teams combined for three points in the final two minutes. No. 20 Augustana missed its chance to grab another CCIW title when the Vikings fell at Carroll 75-70. While Augustana is still in the driver's seat for the top seed, six teams separated by one game are fighting for the last three playoff spots in the CCIW's four-team tournament. CCIW standings

No. 10 Marietta moved alone into first place in the OAC with a win and some help. The Pioneers defeated Wilmington 94-79 and Ohio Northern lost at John Carroll 90-82. The Blue Streaks honored head coach Mike Moran, who will retire at the end of the season, before the game. Marietta will still likely need to beat Ohio Northern next Saturday to secure top seed in the OAC.

No. 15 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps lost its second game in five days as La Verne topped the Stags, 75-68. The Leopards used a 7-1 run midway through the second half to seize control. Kendall McClain had 19 points for La Verne (15-7, 9-4 SCIAC) which clinched a spot in the conference tournament. La Verne Coach Richard Reed notched his 100th career victory. Claremont still has a two-game lead on La Verne and Pomona-Pitzer with three to play. SCIAC standings

No. 22 Guilford bounced back from an ugly loss on Wednesday night with a 67-53 win over Randolph-Macon. The Quakers held the Yellow Jackets to 33 percent shooting in the only meeting between the teams in the regular season. Guilford and Randolph-Macon are tied atop the ODAC standings, though winning first place has less of an impact since both teams are in position to get first round byes in the conference tournament that is played at a neutral site.

Grinnell upset No. 9 St. Norbert 91-87, ending a seven-game losing streak against the Green Knights. Sean Cullinane scored 15 points on 5-for-5 shooting from three. Recap

Ohio Wesleyan's season-saving rally kept going as the Battling Bishops beat Wooster 81-72 and took sole possesion of first place in the NCAC. Ohio Wesleyan got 66 points from Ben Simpson (25), Nate Axelrod (24) and Seth Clark (17). The Battling Bishops have won 10 straight since losing three of four over the holidays. NCAC standings

Carleton also extended its winning streak to 10 games with a 79-63 victory at St. Thomas. Freddie Gillespie (19 points, 11 rebounds) and Kent Hanson (14 points, 11 rebounds) had double-doubles for the Knights (14-8, 11-6 MIAC) who were 4-8, 1-6 in conference before this run. Macalester beat St. Olaf 64-61 on a last second three-pointer by Michael Gutierrez and Bethel took care of Augsburg 83-62 to move a half-game back of St. Thomas. MIAC standings

St. John Fisher moved one step closer to securing the top spot in the Empire 8 tournament, as the Cardinals outlasted archrival Nazareth 103-93 in double-overtime. St. John Fisher has a two game lead on Stevens, whom the Cardinals will play in New Jersey this Thursday.