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| Dontae Williams was 9-for-12 from the floor, as Wooster shot 63 percent in defeating Wittenberg. Wooster athletics photo |
No. 20 Wooster dispatched previously unbeaten and No. 2-ranked Wittenberg with ease, while No. 15 Colby remained undefeated and Clark rallied from a big deficit against Babson and made it stick in Saturday's Division III men's basketball action.
Wooster shot 68 percent from the floor in the first half and never let up as the Scots dealt their archrival their first loss of the season, defeating Wittenberg 98-86. It's Wittenberg's first loss of the season, and it comes in Steve Moore's last scheduled home game against the Tigers (14-1, 7-1 NCAC).
One of the biggest matchups in the game came down low, where Wittenberg's Connor Seipel – the national leader in field-goal percentage – squared off with Wooster junior Dontae Williams, who entered the weekend fourth nationally. Williams quickly had the upper hand, as he started 4-of-5 from the floor, en route to helping Wooster jump out to a 24-12 lead at the 11:37 mark of the first half. In all, the Scots went 10-of-13 from the floor during the opening 8:23, while the Tigers were just 4-of-12 during that stretch, which included a 1-of-7 showing from beyond the arc.
Wooster, which led by 20-plus points for the vast majority of the second half, got 27 points from Danyon Hempy and 21 from Williams, who combined to shoot 20-for-27 from the floor. The Scots, who improved to 13-2, 7-1 in conference play, shot 12-for-22 from 3-point range. That includes Brandon Styers, who came off the bench and went 4-for-6 from beyond the arc.
It's the best shooting performance for Wooster since 2009.
No. 12 Colby followed up Friday night's win over No. 5 Middlebury with a 73-61 victory at Williams. Sam Jefferson had 33 points in 36 minutes for the Mules (14-0, 3-0 NESCAC) who shot 54 percent. Jefferson was 12-for-16 from the floor in the win. Colby and No. 1 Swarthmore, which beat Dickinson 81-62, are the only unbeaten teams left in Division III men's basketball.
The battle between No. 7 UW-Platteville and No. 14 UW-La Crosse turned out to be everything a top 15 matchup should be. And it needed a big-time performance from Carter Voelker to help the Pioneers (14-2, 4-1 WIAC) rally for a 69-67 win.
The Eagles (13-2, 3-2) led by as many as 19 points early in the second half at 47-28. Later, Wyatt Cook hit a jumper and Zac Haese a 3-pointer to give the Eagles a 63-50 lead with 5:04 left. UW-Platteville then used a 17-1 run to take a 67-64 lead with :31 remaining after Drew Gunnink's 3-pointer. Voelker scored 11 consecutive points in the run to make it a two-point game. Terek Nesheim tied the game at 67-67 for UWL with a 3-pointer with 19 seconds remaining. Voelker then hit the eventual game-winning jumper with three seconds left. Cook's halfcourt shot missed at the buzzer for the Eagles.
Trinity (Texas) held on for an 85-82 win vs. Colorado College, marking the 500th career victory for coach Pat Cunningham. The win comes in his 21st season at Trinity, which followed head coaching stints at Manchester and the University of Chicago. Cunningham has won 348 of his 500 victories with the Tigers.
RPI outscored Hobart 16-5 over the final nine minutes of the game, including a scoreless stretch that dragged on for nearly six minutes, as RPI got past Hobart 65-53. For the Engineers, it's the 12th consecutive win after an 0-2 start. Patrick Mahoney led all scorers with 20 points. Hobart fell to 12-3, 6-2 in the Liberty League.
Frank Oftring went to the bench with 15:34 left in the second half and his Babson team leading Clark 58-43 and he did not return. From there, the Cougars (8-7, 3-1 NEWMAC) rallied, including scoring the last eight points of the second half to tie the game at 81-81. Crew Ainge got off a good look on the other end in the final second of regulation with his chance rimming out. In overtime, Biko Gayman hit a big 3-pointer to tie the game at 87, and Charles Stevens added another with 33 seconds left to take a three-point lead, and Stevens hit his free throws down the stretch to secure the 92-89 win for Clark. No. 17 Babson (12-3, 2-2) missed two 3-pointers in the closing seconds. Andrew Jaworski led all scorers with 31 points for Babson, while Gayman led Clark with 25 and Tyler Davern added 23.
The win snapped an 11-game skid for Clark against the Beavers.
Jack O'Connor's double-double paced Emerson past No. 19 Springfield, 74-70. O'Connor tallied 21 points, including the go-ahead three with 1:18 to play and a layup that extended the Lions lead to four. Jake Ross scored 14 points for the Pride (12-2, 3-1 NEWMAC) but was just 2-for-13 from the field. Saturday's results leave a four-way tie for first in the NEWMAC standings.
Tim Fisher had a double-double with 22 points and 15 rebounds as No. 23 Virginia Wesleyan defeated Roanoke 67-62. The Maroons closed the gap to one, 46-45, midway through the second half, but the Marlins took off from there going on a 6-0 run over three minutes to lead 52-45 with 6:20 remaining. The Marlins held a five- to seven-point lead throughout the rest of the game as VWU (14-2, 6-1 ODAC) held on to win.
Gwynedd Mercy pulled away from Marymount to notch its fifth win in a row in a 78-61 Atlantic East Conference win over the Saints. Rich Dunham led the scoring, registering a game-high 23 points with a team-high six rebounds and four assists. The senior was also a perfect 10-for-10 at the free throw line to boot as GMU improved to 12-4, 3-0 AEC. Marymount fell to 9-8, 2-2.