| Steven Quinn scored 19 points in Hardin-Simmon's home win over No. 9 Mary Hardin-Baylor on Saturday. Photo by Scott Burkhalter |
Hardin-Simmons dealt rival and ninth-ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor its first loss of the season while No. 8 Wheaton (Ill.) did the same against No. 3 Illinois Wesleyan.
- Saturday men's scoreboard
- Saturday women's scoreboard
- Saturday women: Stevens, Storm surge to victory
- D3football: North Central, Cru headed to Stagg Bowl
- Hoopsville: Feeling fine at 25
- More headlines: Men | Women
Hardin-Simmons used a balanced attack to offset a monster game by All-American Josiah Johnson and knock off No. 9 Mary Hardin-Baylor, 80-77. The Cowboys led for all by 23 seconds in the second half and took a 10-point lead on Aidan Walsh's three with 4:28 to play. Johnson scored six of his game-high 36 points in the final minute to keep the game interesting, but Hardin-Simmons made enough free throws down the stretch to hang on.
Hardin-Simmons (9-1, 5-0 ASC) had four starters reach double figures and the fifth tallied eight points and eight rebounds. Luke Feeley had a double-double off the bench for Mary Hardin-Baylor (5-1, 2-1 ASC).
Nyameye Adom scored 24 points and made 11 of 12 free throws, including four in the final 19 secons, and No. 8 Wheaton (Ill.) defeated No. 3 Illinois Wesleyan, 67-62. Neither team shot well from behind the arc as they combined for nine makes in 44 takes. But the Thunder (9-1, 3-1 CCIW) got big games from Adom and Cade Alioth (15 points, 18 rebounds). Matthew Leritz led Illinois Wesleyan (7-1, 1-1) in points (21), rebounds (14) and assists (four). The teams will meet again in Bloomington, Ill. on February 12.
That result leaves North Park as the surprise team atop the CCIW standings after the Vikings upset No. 7 Elmhurst, 69-67. North Park's Michael Obsorne snapped a 66-all tie with a tough, fade away shot taken while falling across the lane and 19 seconds left in the game. North Park (5-2, 2-0 CCIW) won despite shooting 1 for 11 from three and 14 for 24 from the foul line. Jake Rhode scored 21 for the Bluejays (8-2, 2-1 CCIW).
North Central (Ill.) and North Park are the last two undefeated teams in the CCIW standings, but the former had a rough Saturday out of conference. No. 6 UW-Oshkosh hammered the Cardinals 91-67 as the Titans shot 59 percent from the floor and hit 12 three-pointers. Levi Borchert topped the stat sheet with 25 points and seven boards for UW-Oshkosh (9-1).
Playing its third consecutive ranked foe, No. 13 UW-La Crosse broke through for a victory by beating No. 16 Trine, 68-61. The Eagles' starters shot 69 percent (22 for 32), led by Wyatt Cook's 20-point performance on 8-for-12 shooting. Nick Bowman scored 17 points for Trine which has lost three of its last four games.
No. 4 UW-Platteville also picked up a road win over an MIAA foe, beating Hope, 73-63. Quentin Shields and Kyle Tuma combined for 37 points and 14 rebounds for the Pioneers (11-0) who enter the holiday break unbeaten.
Same is true of No. 20 Williams which took care of Springfield, 74-61. Declan Porter scored 24 points in 27 minutes for the Ephs (9-0) whose next game will be against York (Pa.) at Washington and Lee's holiday tournament.
No. 25 DeSales improved to 10-0 for its best start in program history with an 82-68 victory at home over Misericordia. The Bulldogs (10-0, 4-0 MAC Freedom) outrebounded Miseri by 13 and hit 11 three-pointers.
The most dramatic finish of the night came in Texas where LeTourneau's Andrew Eberhardt beat the buzzer and East Texas Baptist with a 40-foot bomb. Watch the video here on LeTourneau basketball twitter feed.