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| Riley Miller switched hands and took this layup in left-handed to stake No. 4 St. Thomas to a five-point lead. The Tommies went on to win at No. 2 St. John's, 71-66. Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com |
Saturday's Division III men's basketball action, includes one rival snapping another's 22-game winning streak, Randolph-Macon winning its 10th in a row and Wittenberg avenging its only loss of the season. Check back for more wrapup as the day continues.
Riley Miller scored all five of his second-half points in a two-possession span, as he drained a 3-pointer at the top of the key and followed it with a nifty left-handed layup, as No. 4 St. Thomas held off a second-half rally and downed No. 2 St. John's on the road, 71-66.
The sequence came shortly after the Johnnies, who had a 22-game win streak snapped, had tied the game on a pair of free throws by Oakley Baker. Baker was sent to the line with 8:35, despite the Tommies having fouled Kyle Sorenson. The teams traded layups to even the game at 49 nefore Miller hit his 3 with 7:27 left to help St. Thomas (21-2, 17-1 MIAC) retake the lead.
Zach Theisen threw up an off-balance 3-pointer a minute and a half later and completed the four-point play to increase the Tommies' lead to nine, and UST was able to hold on down the stretch. Tommy Anderson led St. Thomas with 19 points, shooting 8-for-11 from the floor and 2-for-3 from beyond the arc, while sophomore Anders Nelson added 16. Baker led St. John's (22-2, 18-1) with 19, in front of a standing room-only crowd of 2,560 at SJU's Sexton Arena.
Buzz Anthony scored a game-high 29 points to put No. 3 Randolph-Macon in position to potentially move up the poll. His points, seven rebounds and six assists helped the Yellow Jackets make it look easy against Washington & Lee. The loss snapped an eight-game winning streak for the Generals, who fall to 18-5, 10-4 in the ODAC. Miles Mallory added a double-double for R-MC (22-1, 14-0), with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Vinny Deangelo scored a game-high 27 points, and Nate Shafer scored seven of his 11 points in the second half as top-ranked Swarthmore pulled away to a 96-69 win vs. Dickinson. Conor Harkins gave the Garnet (23-0, 16-0) the lead for good with a 3-pointer with 2:57 left in the first half, and added another for good measure on the next trip down the floor as Swat took a five-point into the locker room at halftime. The Garnet shot 50 percent in the second half to put the Red Devils (3-20, 3-13) away.
Bates senior Nick Gilpin made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift the Bobcats to a 90-87 victory at No. 10 Middlebury, clinching a place in next weekend's NESCAC playoffs. If Bowdoin defeats Wesleyan on Sunday, Bates will become the eighth seed in the tournament and play at No. 1 Tufts next Saturday in the NESCAC quarterfinals. If Bowdoin loses, Bates will assume the seventh seed and play at No. 2 Colby in the quarterfinals. Bates inbounded the ball with 11 seconds to go and the game tied at 87-87. Jeff Spellman's 16-footer missed and Middlebury rebounded with eight seconds to go. Middlebury guard Jack Farrell pushed the ball up the floor but lost control at the 3-point line as he ran into both Gilpin and Stephon Baxter. Baxter scooped the ball and threw ahead to a streaking Gilpin, who calmly pulled up outside the arc on the right wing and drilled a long three, despite having Matt Folger's hand in his face. Gilpin finished with 28, 13 more than his previous career high.
Colin Molden scored a game-high 30 points on 13-for-26 shooting and Jordan Grant added 20 as Emory & Henry defeated No. 13 Virginia Wesleyan 94-89 in double overtime. The Wasps used just seven players in the marathon win. The win snapped the Marlins' five-game winning streak and dropped them to 19-4, 11-3. It was just the sixth win all season for E&H.
Wittenberg avenged its only loss of the season, as the No. 5 Tigers defeated Wooster 88-81. James Johnson scored a game-high 31 points and added 10 rebounds, while Jake Bertemes added 23 points to lead the Tigers. Wittenberg has won eight in a row since a Jan. 18 loss at Wooster, while the Scots have gone 4-4 since then. Wittenberg is 22-1, 15-1 in the NCAC, while Wooster is 17-6, 11-5.
Nolan Beirne scored a game-high 29 points and Joe Ciriacks added 27 as No. 23 St. Norbert (20-3, 15-1 MWC) got past Grinnell in overtime, 116-113. Beirne hit a pair of free throws with 21 seconds left in the extra session to stake the Green Knights to a three-point lead, but missed two with 12 seconds, giving the Pioneers (12-11, 8-8) one last shot, where Zack Stice's attempt from beyond the arc was missed. Jackson Qualley led Grinnell with 24 points, including a 3-pointer at the end of regulation to force overtime.
Nyameye Adom banked a 3-pointer in from 40 feet out as time expired and Wheaton (Ill.) defeated Illinois Wesleyan 80-79. Adom got the ball near midcourt after Bernie Coderre made one of two free throws and pulled up at the volleyball line, hitting it straight on. Adom finished with 30 points. The win capped a second half in which the Thunder shot 57 percent from the floor and shot 5-for-8 from beyond the arc. "When we drew the play up, I looked at Yay and said, you have enough time to get a 3 off," Wheaton coach Mike Schauer said after the game. "So I wanted him to shoot a 3, I wanted him to try to win it. As soon as he shot it, I yelled bank. I couldn't tell if it was online but I could tell it was going to bank."
Dom Black and Patrick Mahoney combined for 33 points, 19 rebounds, six assists and five steals to lead RPI to a 76-64 victory over RIT, giving the Engineers a school record-tying 20th win on the season. RPI stands alone in first place in the Liberty League. Black filled the scoresheet with 17 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals, while Mahoney added a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Jacob Adler hit big shot after big shot, Caleb Yellin-Flaherty dominated the boards and Ryan Kaneshiro ran the show as Occidental moved into second place in the SCIAC with a 78-69 win at Whittier. Adler, who is second in the SCIAC in points per game, went 11-15 for a game-high 28 points in all 40 minutes played. He hit 6-of-9 from three, including his biggest one with three minutes to play that put the Tigers up 72-67. Yellin-Flaherty scored 19 points and added 16 rebounds. Oxy ends the day tied with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, one and a half games behind Pomona-Pitzer.
Freshman Jeff Hunter poured in a career-high 29 points on 12-of-15 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds as Keene State outscored Rhode Island College 27-7 over the final 8:10 to erase a 16-point deficit and snag a crucial Little East victory. The Owls fell behind 8-0 in less than two minutes to open the game and never led until there were 10 seconds left in regulation, erasing three 16-point second half deficits with a stirring comeback. KSC trailed 73-57 at the 8:10 mark and did not get within single-digits until there were a little over three minutes to go, but was able to rally thanks to a sizzling 66 percent (21-of-32) shooting performance from the floor overall in the final 20 minutes.
Kalamazoo held Hope to 4-for-26 shooting from beyond the arc and defeated the Flying Dutchmen for the first time since 1998, winning 91-72. Hope (11-12, 4-8 MIAA) cut the deficit to one (51-50) with 13:45 left in the second half before an 11-1 run by the Hornets put Kalamazoo (6-17, 3-9) up 12 with 9:23 remaining. Tanner Blyly led the Hornets with 19 points, six rebounds, and six assists.
For more from Saturday's Division III men's basketball action, check out the list of headlines from game stories posted to D3hoops.com by Division III schools.