| Colin Shaw rescued No. 1 Swarthmore with a late layup and the game-winning free throws at Ursinus on Wednesday night. Swarthmore College athletics file photo |
Top-ranked Swarthmore survived a scare on the road at Ursinus to stay undefeated while No. 21 Carthage beat No. 19 North Central in the teams' conference opener. On the women's side, Luther picked up its first W by hanging an L on No. 17 Luther.
No. 1 Swarthmore escaped Ursinus with an 88-86 victory, despite trailing the Bears by two in the closing minute, after Garnet guard Colin Shaw scored a game-tying layup and then drew a foul on Ursinus' next possession with two seconds remaining. Shaw sank both free throws and the Bears missed the potential game-winning three. Zac O'Dell scored 23 points and blocked five shots for Swarthmore (7-0, 2-0 Centennial) but was limited to 23 minutes before fouling out. Ursinus (4-3, 0-2) got double-digit points from its five starters, led by Ryan McTamney who had 28.
No. 15 Johns Hopkins trimmed the number of undefeated teams in the Centennial Conference by one with a 72-66 victory at home over Gettysburg. Ethan Bartlett had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Blue Jays (7-0, 2-0) who shot just 10 for 19 from the foul line. The Bullets (6-1, 1-1) face Swarthmore on Saturday. Johns Hopkins will head to Muhlenberg which beat Washington College 74-66 to push its record to 8-0 for the first time in 64 years.
Babson continued its recent mastery of Amherst as the Beavers topped the 14th-ranked Mammoths, 87-82. Babson has beaten Amherst each of the last three seasons and is 12-3 against the NESCAC since the 2016-17 season. The Beavers (7-0) shot 53 percent from the field and hit 13 three-pointers. Babson's Frank Oftring picked up a double-double with 30 points and 10 rebounds. Amherst has dropped two straight.
No. 21 Carthage also stayed unbeaten by winning its conference opener over No. 18 North Central (Ill.), 83-81. The Cardinals (4-3, 0-1 CCIW) trailed the Red Men by two possessions down the stretch until Matt Helwig and Aiden Chang hit back-to-back threes to pull North Central within one with 23 seconds to play. Kienan Baltimore made one of two free throws on Carthage's next possession and survived two missed North Central shots in the final 10 seconds.
Jordon Kedrowksi paced Carthage (6-0, 1-0 CCIW) with 20 points. On Saturday, the Red Men head to Illinois Wesleyan to play the Titans who dropped their game at home to Wheaton (Ill.), 76-60.
No. 8 Nebraska Wesleyan beat Buena Vista 78-65 to start ARC play 1-0 and give the Beavers their first loss of the season. Nate Schimontiz scored 26 points with half coming from the foul line for the Prairie Wolves (8-1, 1-0).
No. 2 Emory continued its roll through Georgia with a 98-89 vitory at LaGrange. Matthew Schner posted 30 points and 12 rebounds for the Eagles (8-0) who have wins over in-state foes LaGrange, Oglethorpe and Covenant.
Outside the Top 25, Connecticut College topped Coast Guard 62-58 in the battle of New London neighbors. Daniel Draffan led the Camels with 21 points and 12 boards. Rhode Island College rolled up a big lead on Mass-Dartmouth and the Anchormen (7-1, 1-0 Little East) cruised to a 92-69 victory. The Anchormen converted 15 Mass-Dartmouth turnovers into 16 points.
Women: Luther hangs an L on Loras
After starting the season 0-5, Luther picked up its first W in a 70-66 victory at home over No. 17 Loras. The Norse (1-5, 1-0 ARC) fell behind by 11 midway through the third period, but closed that frame on a 22-9 run. Coranda Vickerman drained the game-winning three with nine seconds remaining. No. 8 Wartburg fared better in its conference opener. The Knights (5-1, 1-0) rolled over Central 103-69 behind 19 points, nine assists and six rebounds from All-American Emma Gerdes.
Leah Springer scored 22 points and Jayneisha Davis added 21 more as No. 17 Messiah held off Stevenson 59-53 on opening night in the MAC Commonwealth. Widener crushed Lebanon Valley 84-51 and upped its mark to 7-0, 1-0 in conference.
Gettysburg topped Johns Hopkins 68-48 in a battle of two teams that made the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Ashley Gehrin scored 20 points for the Bullets (6-1, 4-0 Centennial) who have won six straight. Bates sophomore Meghan Graff hit a game-tying shot at the buzzer in regulation and then sank the game-winning free throw with 0.7 seconds left in overtime, and the Bobcats edged CBB rival Colby, 74-73.