| Calvin Cheek broke the all-divisions record for career steals on opening night and will have plenty of games to put his new record out of reach. New England College athletics file photo |
Opening night of the Division III basketball season brought a record-setting performance in Massachusetts, a program milestone in Washington and successful coaching debuts across the country.
- Friday men's scoreboard
- Friday women's scoreboard
- More headlines: Men | Women
New England College senior guard, Calvin Cheek recorded his fifth steal of the game against Fitchburg State just before halftime. That theft gave him 445 for his career, passing Tennyson Whitted of Ramapo for first across all NCAA divisions. Cheek finished with 13 steals in the game and led the Pilgrims with 25 points, but New England College ultimately fell to the Falcons, 95-89. Fitchburg was led by Jalen Morgan's 23 points.
Jordan Lester posted Whitworth's first triple-double since 2009 and the 19th-ranked Pirates set a program scoring record in a 146-110 romp over Greenville. Playing in his seventh season of college basketball, Lester tallied 18 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists, and he had plenty of company in putting up big numbers. Nine Pirates scored double-figures and Miguel Lopez just missed a triple-double (17 points, 12 rebounds, nine assists). Greenville, which runs the score-happy System, had 31 points from Kenneth Cooley.
No. 15 UW-La Crosse All-American Wyatt Cook was held to just two points, but the Eagles easily topped Methodist 73-50 on the back of Ethan Anderson and his 18 points. The Monarchs got 21 from Dante Burden. Another set of Eagles also started the new season on the right talon. Eastern edged Salisbury, 73-72, and the Eagles put last year's winless COVID-shortened campaign behind them.
No. 14 Hardin-Simmons hit all its late free throws and held on for a season-opening road win at Texas Lutheran, 93-81. The Bulldogs stayed within striking distance for much of the game and pulled within two possessions of the Cowgirls late in the fourth quarter. But Hardin-Simmons converted all eight of its free throw attempts down the stretch and went 27 for 31 from the charity stripe in the game. Paris Parmer, Brittany Schnabel and Hallie Edmonson combined for 54 points for the Cowgirls.
No. 22 Millikin defeated Westminster (Mo.) 83-63 in a meeting of two teams that won their conference tournaments in last season's COVID-shortened campaign. Preseason All-American Elyce Knudsen scored 27 points for the Big Blue and Millikin converted 23 Westminster turnovers into 25 points. The season-opener was No. 17 UW-Oshkosh's third game in seven days, and this time the Titans prevailed, beating Finlandia, 60-53. Nikki Arneson scored 16 points for UW-Oshkosh which played exhibitions against Division I Wisconsin on Sunday and Division II Michigan Tech last night.
Opening night brought happy coaching debuts in Massachusetts, Virginia and Louisiana. Didier Dinh led Eastern Nazarene past Fitchburg State, 69-57, thanks to 21 points from Sydni Oviatt and a double-double from Sophia Torres (12 points, 11 rebounds). Centenary outscored LeTourneau 31-15 in the fourth period and the Ladies rallied past the Yellow Jackets, 69-64, to win its first game under Dana Dunson. Mary Baldwin tipped Bridgewater (Va.) 64-62 in a meeting of two new head coaches. Demet Saygili's jumper with two seconds left was the difference for the Squirrels and coach Meghan Austin.