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| Justin Kouyoumdjian gets the crowd out of its seats as No. 22 Tufts handed No. 5 Colby its first loss of the season. Tufts athletics photo |
Wooster lost for the third time in four games, John Carroll rallied from a halftime deficit and Swarthmore survived an upset challenge on the road. All that and Tufts handed Colby its first loss of 2019-20 in Saturday's Division III men's basketball action.
Eric Savage turned in 22 points and Luke Rogers helped with 19 as No. 22 Tufts picked up a hard-fought 80-67 win over No. 5 and previously undefeated Colby in front of a packed Cousens Gym. Savage was honored as part of the senior day festivities in Cousens Gym prior to the start of the game. He turned in a career-high 35 points last night against Bowdoin and then led the Jumbos with 22 points, six rebounds and three assists in the win over Colby on Saturday. The Jumbos (16-4, 6-0 NESCAC) dominated Colby on the boards, outrebounding the Mules (18-1, 6-1) by a 43-23 mark. Alex Dorion led Colby with 23 points, including 5-for-11 shooting from beyond the arc.
The last remaining unbeaten team in Division III men's basketball, top-ranked Swarthmore emerged unscathed after a back-and-forth second half, which featured nine ties and 11 lead changes, and got past Gettysburg on the road, 74-70. Danny Duffey brought the crowd to its feet by swishing a 3-pointer from the corner to give the Bullets a 61-60 lead with 5:53 left. Nate Shafer came right back for the Garnet, backing his way to the hoop for the score. DeAngelo added another layup on the next possession to lift Swarthmore in front 64-61. Nick Antonlini answered with a pull-up 3 on a fast break to tie the game, but the Bullets turned it over, Conor Harkins hit a 3-pointer and Swat hit enough free throws down the stretch. Gettysburg fell to 11-8, 5-7 in the Centennial Conference, while Swat remains unbeaten at 19-0, 12-0.
Danyon Hempy hit a 3-pointer with 13.9 seconds left to cap an 8-0 run and give No. 17 Wooster its first lead of the game, at 67-66. But Wabash answered with a Kellen Schreiber jump shot in the lane with 5.2 seconds left to retake the lead, and the Little Giants (12-7, 8-4 North Coast Athletic Conference) held on to win, 68-67. The loss is Wooster's third in four games since the Scots knocked off No. 2 Wittenberg on Jan. 18. Schreiber, Jack Davidson and Tyler Watson scored 15 points apiece to lead Wabash. Hempy scored a game-high 27 points for Wooster (14-5, 8-4).
John Carroll rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit and outscored No. 12 Marietta 46-21 on the way to a 67-54 win. JCU made just six field goals in the opening half and shot just 18.2 percent from the field, but Jackson Sartain hit back-to-back 3-pointers in a 15-2 run to close out the win for the Blue Streaks (13-6, 6-6). Jimmy Berger led the Blue Streaks with 27 points, while Sartain added 17.
Terry Butterfield joined the 500-win club as Texas-Dallas won at University of the Ozarks, 64-60. Butterfield, who has spent 20 seasons at UT-D and 31 in as a collegiate head coach, improved to 500-321 all-time. He spent 11 seasons at Virginia Wesleyan and was 159-127 there. Kelden Pruitt finished with a team-high 12 points, along with nine rebounds and four assists, in the milestone victory.
Ben College scored a career-high 44 points and tied his own Whitworth record with 11 3-pointers to lead the visiting Pirates to an 87-81 Northwest Conference win at Pacific Lutheran. College scored 32 points in the second half to lead Whitworth (15-4, 9-1 NWC) to its 31st consecutive win against the Lutes (9-10, 5-5). College made 11 of 16 3-pointers and went 5-5 at the free throw line. He surpassed his previous career high of 41 points set at Wooster in December.
Matthew Mancuso posted his 10th double-double of the year with 19 points and 12 rebounds, but it wasn't enough, as Elizabethtown rallied from a 19-point deficit in the second half to take a 70-68 win against Scranton. Down two, the Royals turned it over with 19 seconds left, which led to a made Elizabethtown layup that gave the Blue Jays a 70-66 lead with 10 seconds left. With three seconds left, however, Mancuso scored to cut the Elizabethtown lead to two. On the proceeding inbound play for Elizabethtown, the Royals recorded a steal. But, a Scranton shot with one second left that would've sent the game to overtime was missed, sealing E-town's come-from-behind win. Elizabethtown was led in the win by Connor Moffatt and Ethan Dubois, who scored 18 points apiece.