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| Pierson Wofford scored five points down the stretch, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Augustana the win. Wooster athletics photo by Matt Dilyard |
Augustana knocked off No. 4 Elmhurst at the buzzer, St. Joseph (Conn.) gave Jim Calhoun a big conference win, and North Central and Wooster each picked up losses as well in Wednesday's Division III men's basketball action.
Augustana battled back from a 10-point second half deficit and from a nine-point disadvantage in the final three and a half minutes and Pierson Wofford drained a 28-footer at the buzzer as the Vikings (13-6, 7-3 CCIW) knocked off the fourth-ranked Blue Jays.
Down 86-77 with three minutes left, the Vikings scored eight consecutive points, sparked by an Austin Elledge 3-pointer and a four-point possession in which Augustana benefited from an Elmhurst technical foul. The Bluejays (17-2, 8-2) pushed the lead out to five on a pair of free throws by Derek Dotlich with 26 seconds left, but Wofford hit a layup with 12 seconds left and Elmhurst turned the ball over on its next possession. Matt Hanushewsky hit two free throws and Derek Dotlich missed one of two on the other end, one of just two free throws Elmhurst missed all night, setting up Wofford's heroics.
Micah Martin went 8-for-13 from the floor and 11-for-18 from the line en route to a game-high 27 points.
Albertus Magnus, which needed overtime to win two games last week, had it come back to bite them finally on Wednesday night as St. Joseph rolled past the No. 19 Falcons, 98-79. Delshawn Jackson Jr. scored 36 points, 23 of them in the second half, and Jordan Powell went a perfect 10-for-10 from the floor en route to 22 points in the win. The Bluejays outrebounded the Falcons 46-31.
Sophomores Keondre Schumacher and Matthew Leritz along with freshman Luke Yoder led the Titans with 17 points apiece as Illinois Wesleyan defeated No. 13 North Central (Ill.), 77-71. The win snapped an 11-game winning streak for the Cardinals. Connor Raridon led the Cardinals (15-4, 8-2 CCIW) with 15 points. IWU improved to 12-6, 6-3.
Jordan Rawls and Jordan Greynolds combined for 51 points as Allegheny won at No. 17 Wooster, 89-84. It was the Gators' first win against the Scots since 1998, after a span of 48 games and nearly 22 years. The last time the Gators defeated the Fighting Scots was the 1998 North Coast Athletic Conference championship Game when the Blue & Gold won 66-64.
No. 7 St. Thomas had little trouble with Augsburg, holding Booker Coplin to 18 points as the Tommies defeated the Auggies 101-60. Five scored in double figures for No. 7-ranked St. Thomas (16-2 overall, 12-1 MIAC), who pushed their win streak to five and opened a three-game lead over Augsburg for second place, 1.5 games back of leader St. John's (14-0). The Johnnies defeated Gustavus Adolphus 68-59.
UW-Whitewater picked up just its second conference win of the season, as the Warhawks won at No. 16 UW-La Crosse by a 65-63 score. Breontae scored 17 points, 13 of them in the second half, as the Warhawks improved to 7-12, 2-6. UW-Whitewater shot 52 percent from the floor and 5-for-8 from 3-point range in the second half. Bailey Kale scored a team-high 18 for UW-Whitewater, while the Eagles (15-3, 5-3) were led by Ethan Anderson's 19.
Drew Johnson hit 13 of 14 3-point attempts to lead Mary Washington to a 107-76 win against Southern Virginia. The performance, which set a school and Capital Athletic Conference record, helped UMW shoot 27-for-41 from beyond the arc (66 percent) as the Eagles improved to 11-8, 1-3 in the CAC.
For more from Wednesday's Division III men's basketball action, check out the list of headlines from game stories posted to D3hoops.com by Division III schools.