Saturday no better for men's ranked teams

More news about: Christopher Newport | LaGrange | Plymouth State | St. Joseph-s (L.I.) | Tufts | UW-River Falls
Feb 12, 2022
Dante Rivera was one of four Plymouth State players in double figures in a Little East Conference win.
Plymouth State athletics photo
 

No. 4 Christopher Newport survived a challenge from Salisbury, No. 3 UW-Oshkosh and No. 7 UW-La Crosse played a game worthy of two top 10 teams, No. 5 UW-Platteville sustained another defeat, LaGrange outlasted No. 11 Maryville, Tufts took it to No. 12 Williams and Plymouth State knocked off No. 25 Mass-Dartmouth at the buzzer. All that and more in Saturday's Division III men's basketball action.

No. 5 UW-Platteville lost for the third time in four games, taking a 74-71 loss at UW-River Falls. The Falcons hit on 50 percent of their 3-pointers, going 9-for-18 from beyond the arc, and shot 54 percent from the floor as well in the win, as Noah Hanson scored 22 points, shooting 7-for-13 from the floor. Jacke Reeck added 15 for UWRF (12-9, 5-7 WIAC). The Pioneers (19-4, 8-4) went 26-for-64 from the floor and got just four points from their bench.

LaGrange roared back to upset No. 11 Maryville 101-98 in overtime. The Panthers improved to 12-10 and 7-2 in conference play. The Scots (18-2, 8-1 USA South) suffered their first conference loss and had a 14-game winning streak snapped. Kyle Brown had a double-double to lead the Panthers, tying his career high with 25 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Brown had 17 of his points in the second half and overtime. Maryville led 54-39 five minutes into the second half. Over the next 10 minutes, the Panthers stormed back, outscoring the Scots 38-16 to take a 77-70 lead. Brown's layup gave LC the seven-point lead with 4:48 remaining. The Panthers kept the lead and were up 87-85 after Hill made a free throw with 24 seconds left. Maryville sent the game into overtime when Kaleb Powell scored on a layup with eight seconds showing on the clock.

Ryan Turell scored seven points in the last seven seconds and hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer -- and even all that was only enough to make No. 15 Yeshiva's second loss in three games look more respectable: a 79-76 loss at home. Turell finished with 32 points, but that only meant that a game St. Joseph's (Long Island) was leading by seven with nine seconds to go looked closer. The Maccabees, who fell to 19-3, 12-2 Skyline Conference, tied it up on a Turell jumper with 2:01 left in the game, but Alec Tabada answered with a layup on the Golden Eagles' next possession amd assisted on a 3-pointer by Gordon Shouler to make it 72-67 with 56 seconds left. Ryan McNeely scored a team-high 17 points off the bench for St. Joseph's (13-8, 9-5) and Tabada added 16 in the win. The Golden Eagles connected on 10 of 18 3-pointers, while Yeshiva went 6-for-27 from beyond the arc.

Eddie Muench scored a game-high 27 points and shot 7-for-8 from 3-point range to lift No. 3 UW-Oshkosh past No. 7 UW-La Crosse 80-77. (Photos from this game.) Hunter Plamann scored eight points in the first three and a half minutes to launch the Titans to a 10-4 lead and Oshkosh actually led wire-to-wire. The Eagles (19-4, 9-4) cut the lead to one with eight seconds left on a Craig Steele 3-pointer, then did the same when Steele hit two free throws moments later. But Oshkosh (19-3, 9-2) hit its free throws down the stretch to keep the Eagles at bay. Seth Anderson scored 23 for La Crosse, Ethan Anderson added 20 and Steele contributed his 14 off the bench.

After playing no games at all for 16 days, Williams got waxed by Wesleyan on Monday night, missing multiple starters and key bench players. And the No. 12 Ephs did not fare much better on Saturday, despite having most of those players back. Williams lost at Tufts, 81-66. The Jumbos (12-9, 7-2 NESCAC) won their fifth game in a row. Dylan Thoerner scored a team-high 19, and Luke Rogers and Tyler Aronson scored 15 apiece for Tufts, two of six double-digit scorers on the day. Nate Karren returned from a game off and scored a game-high 25 for Williams (14-3, 4-3).

Kyler Bosse drilled a straight-on 3-pointer as time expired to lift Plymouth State to a 75-74 win over No. 25 Mass-Dartmouth. The Corsairs drained a triple to take a 72-70 lead with 29 seconds remaining, but Gerald Fleming sank a tough interior bucket to tie the game with 17 seconds on the clock. Mass-Dartmouth went back in the lead on a baseline jumper with only five seconds to play, but PSU inbounded quickly and Bosse sprinted down the court before pulling up for the game-winner as the clock went to 0:00, sending the home crowd into a frenzy.

Mass-Dartmouth gets another crack at Plymouth State on Sunday in a makeup of a previously postponed game.

Christopher Newport held off a second half charge from Salisbury, escaping with an 80-76 victory over the Sea Gulls at the Freeman Center. The Captains, now 21-2 and ranked fourth in the nation, won their 18th straight game by holding on in the final minutes after leading by as many as 25 in the second half. Fifth-year senior Jason Aigner, who was honored along with two teammates before the game on Senior Day, led the way for the Captains with 23 points. Aigner cemented the victory by sinking two free throws with 12 seconds left after Salisbury had cut the lead to two, 78-76.

No. 9 Illinois Wesleyan clinched a share of the CCIW regular season championship and avenged one of its two conference losses as the Titans defeated No. 13 Wheaton (Ill.) 79-71. Matthew Leritz had a huge night, going 12-for-20 from the floor en route to 31 points, while Cory Noe added 17. The Titans (19-4, 12-2 CCIW) trailed by three, 35-32, entering the second half but leaned on their defense to get things rolling in the right direction. With Wheaton only managing points at the free throw line, Leritz took control. He hit a triple on an assist from Ryan Sroka. He followed with another three-point play, this time a layup and free throw to give IWU a 48-39 advantage with 13:23 to go. Wheaton had no answer for Illinois Wesleyan, as Leritz and Peter Lambesis extended the lead to double-digits, 52-41. Wheaton (18-5, 10-4) got no closer than five points the rest of the way.

Millikin is going to the CCIW tournament for the first time in program history, as the Big Blue defeated North Park 66-54. Calvin Fisher led Millikin (13-10, 8-6 CCIW) with 18 points and the Big Blue got all five of their seniors in the scorebook on Senior Day. In the 15-plus years since the CCIW instituted a conference tournament, Millikin has only twice won more than four conference games. North Central, Wheaton, Elmhurst and Illinois Wesleyan have all clinched bids to the six-team field as well. 

The final three and a half minutes of the game featured 10 lead changes and three ties, as the top two teams in the CUNYAC took it down to the final minute before Lehman beat Baruch 80-76. Gian Batista connected on a pair of free throws to tie 75-75 and then give the hosts a 76-75 advantage with 34 seconds left. He then was fouled again on their next possession and made one of two free throws to raise the score to 77-75. After a Bearcat miss, Lehman was quickly fouled on the rebound and Lennox Degrasse connected on one of two free throws for a three point 78-75 lead with 18 seconds remaining. Michael Richards was then fouled on the next possession and he made a free throw to cut the score to 78-76. The Bearcats quickly fouled again on Lehman's very next possession and Will Feldman hit both free throws for an 80-76 final. It's Baruch's second consecutive loss after an 11-0 start in conference play. 

Penn State-Altoona recorded its 18th overall win of the season in an 82-66 victory at Hilbert. The win sets the stage for a big AMCC matchup next Saturday in Erie, when Altoona (18-5, 13-2 AMCC) will face conference opponent Penn State-Behrend in a game that could decide the No. 1 seed in the AMCC tournament. "Another day of firsts for the guys, setting the team record for most wins in a season and most AMCC wins in a season. But like I keep saying, 'we are not done yet,' " said coach David McGreal. "I think, by far, it was our best defensive effort for 40 minutes. We actually did the best job we have done all year with putting our defensive game plan to work. Obviously, we have some break downs, but for the most part, we did what we wanted to do to neutralize their two scorers." Andruw Harman and PJ Charles both had double-doubles for Penn State-Altoona. Harman scored a team-high 16 points on a 7-for-9 shooting performance while securing 12 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season, and Charles grabbed a game-high 15 boards to go along with 13 points.

Senior Day was a big one for Buzz Anthony as he poured in 32 points to lead No. 1 Randolph-Macon to a 102-60 win against Shenandoah. It's the Yellow Jackets' 16th consecutive win. Randolph-Macon has won 39 of its past 40 games, not to mention 43 consecutive games at home in Crenshaw Gymnasium. Anthony racked up his 32 points in 27 minutes, including an incredible 8-for-11 performance from 3-point range. Will Coble added 20 points in 20 minutes off the bench.

No. 2-ranked Marietta had a similarly easy time with Wilmington, rolling out to an incredible 44-9 halftime lead and running away with a 77-46 win. The Pioneers have won 18 consecutive games, improving to 20-2, 15-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, and clinched the top seed in the conference tournament. Marietta has won a piece of the regular season crown seven of the last eight seasons, the most successful men's basketball run in the history of the conference. The Pioneers hit 10 triples in the first half as Marietta seemingly scored at will. Jason Ellis poured in 17 first half points hitting three shots from behind the arc and 6-of-9 field goal attempts. Cooper Parrott drained four 3-pointers in the first half and added 12 points.

Chris LaBelle and Isaac Poueriet combined for 63 points to lead the Centenary (N.J.) men's basketball team to a 95-94 overtime win at Marywood in Atlantic East play. The Cyclones improved to 3-0 in overtime contests this season and 9-10 overall. LaBelle contributed 38 points and 11 assists in the contest. Poueriet had 25 points and 10 rebounds while Billy Veras added 15 points and 13 rebounds.

And the Northern Athletics Conference race got even tighter on Saturday as Concordia-Chicago knocked off St. Norbert and Edgewood beat Concordia (Wis.) to help put no fewer than eight teams within one half-game of first place in the NACC standings. Wisconsin Lutheran, Marian, St. Norbert, Concordia (Wis.) and Benedictine are all tied for first at 10-6 in the league, while Concordia-Chicago, Illinois Tech and Edgewood are at 9-6. A distant ninth, but just one game behind (and none in the loss column), is Rockford at 8-6.