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| Nolan Ebel scored 17 points including the game-tying and go-ahead layups in the final minute of Augustana's road win at Wheaton (Ill.) File photo by Dave Hilbert, d3photography.com |
Augustana, Montclair State and Hanover earned regular season splits with conference title contenders in very different ways while Frostburg State shocked York (Pa.) on Wednesday night
No. 5 Augustana avenged its earlier home loss to Wheaton (Ill.) by beating the Thunder in King Arena, 86-84. The Vikings took an 80-75 lead with four minutes when their offense went cold. Wheaton All-American Aston Francis scored a layup and hit a three in front of the Thunder's bench on back-to-back possessions to give Wheaton an 82-80 lead. After an empty Augustana possession, Francis had the ball again but this time Vikings' guard Nolan Ebel swiped the ball near midcourt and coasted in for an uncontested layup. Ebel scored again after Francis split a pair of free throws to put Augustana in front 84-83 with 29 seconds left.
Wheaton called timeout to set up a play with 12 seconds left, but never got a shot off because Chrishawn Orange stole the ball and converted a layup to extend the Vikings lead to 86-83. The Thunder had one more chance to tie the game with two seconds left. Francis made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second, but missed the rim entirely, enabling Augustana to cleanly inbound the ball and seal the victory. Box score
Augustana (15-3, 7-2) had a balanced attack keyed by forwards Brett Benning (11 points, 11 rebounds, six assists) and Micah Martin (19 points). Francis scored 37 for the Thunder (13-5, 6-3) on 11-for-18 shooting and eight 3-pointers.
No. 18 UW-Oshkosh ended its own two-game skid and stopped UW-Stevens Point's six-game winning streak by beating the Pointers, 68-53. Ben Boots and Adam Fravert scored 16 points each for the Titans (14-3, 4-3). Canon O'Heron scored 14 for the Pointers who went 0-for-2 from the foul line. Stevens Point's lead in the WIAC shrunk to one game because UW-Platteville topped No. 8 UW-Whitewater, 84-67.
Montclair State built a 23-point lead with six minutes to play and cruised to a 74-60 win over Ramapo, splitting the season series with the Roadrunners. Myles Mitchell-White led the Red Hawks with 13 points and 11 rebounds. That result cleared the way for TCNJ to grab first place in the NJAC with an 84-69 win at Stockton.
Hanover wiped out the memory of its earlier loss to Transylvania by crushing the Pioneers 93-56. Cam Fails scored 23 points in a nearly flawless shooting performance and Wes McKinney added 20 more for the Panthers who sit in a three-way tie for first with Mount St. Joseph and Rose-Hulman. Those two teams played on Wednesday night and the Fightin' Engineers beat the Lions, 66-61.
The most surprising result of the night came from Western Maryland where Frostburg State handled No. 7 York (Pa.), 95-85. Lawrence Pettis scored 29 points in 27 minutes for the Bobcats (8-10, 6-5). Frostburg State shot 54 percent from the field with 13 three-pointers and 28 assists.
For the third time this season, No. 24 Baldwin Wallace followed its entrance into the Top 25 with a loss. Heidelberg edged the Yellow Jackets 82-80 in overtime for just its fourth conference win of the season. John Carroll scored 48 points from behind the arc and ripped through Mount Union 98-66 to take over first place in the OAC.
Wilkes moved into sole possession of first place in the MAC Freedom by beating Misericordia 87-82 in overtime. Zach Brunner scored 13 points, including the game-tying free throws with 12 seconds left in regulation, for the Colonels (13-5, 6-1). Sophomore Jake Ross reached the 1,000 point plateau in Springfield's 89-67 win over WPI. Bradley Jomard notched a triple-double (21 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) in MIT's lopsided win over Clark.
| Jacy Jones scored a three-point play with 18 seconds left to lift Otterbein over No. 19 Marietta 69-68. Photo by Jeremy Morgan, Otterbein athletics |
After narrowly missing an upset in regulation, Otterbein got one in overtime as the Cardinals knocked off No. 19 Marietta 69-68.
Delaney Cutteridge's jumper gave Otterbein (10-8, 6-5) a 61-59 lead with 29 seconds left in regulation. The Pioneers (16-2, 9-2) answered when Corrie Burkhardt grabbed an offensive rebound, got fouled and hit both free throws to send the game to overtime. It looked like Marietta would escape with the win when Shay Lett made one of two free throws and put the Pioneers ahead 68-66 with 22 seconds let. But Jacy Jones scored a layup, got fouled and sunk the winning free throw on Otterbein's next possession.
No. 11 Trine ground out a win over Calvin in Grand Rapids 49-46 and swept the season series with the Knights. Hayley Martin hit a three-pointer and Brandi Dawson made a layup on back-to-back possessions to give the Thunder (17-2, 9-1) the lead for good with 2:35 to play. No. 3 Hope stayed above the fray in the MIAA by beating Albion 69-57.
The Lady Royals of Scranton are back atop the throne in the Landmark Conference, at least for now. No. 15 Scranton took care of Drew 64-51, running its winning streak to 12 games, and Elizabethtown surprised No. 20 Juniata, 79-55. Mara Benvenuti scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds in St. Vincent's 69-58 win over Washington and Jefferson.
With almost a month left in the MIAC regular season, No. 12 St. Thomas secured a spot in the conference tournament by beating Gustavus Adolphus, 61-45. Hannah Spaulding continued her stellar play with 22 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks for the Tommies (16-2, 11-0).