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| Hafeez Melvin wears the Profs' number of NJAC losses on the front of his jersey. Rowan athletics photo by Lee Kotzen |
Rowan rolled to its 10th conference win in as many outings, Western Connecticut rallied from 20 down against its cross-state rival, and Williams blocked a shot in the closing seconds to avenge an earlier loss to archrival Amherst in Division III men's basketball action on Wednesday night.
Rowan posted its biggest margin of victory in two seasons, as five players scored in double figures to lead the Profs past Stockton, 107-69. Of the Ospreys' three losses, two of them are to Rowan, as the Profs won a Nov. 22 matchup 109-98.
Rowan finished the first half on a 12-4 run and held Stockton to 1-for-11 shooting from 3-point range in the second half, and just 32% from the floor. The 38-point margin was Rowan's largest since it defeated William Paterson, 92-69, on Jan. 8, 2020. Ja'Zere Noel scored 17 points and Marcellus Ross added 14 for the Profs, who improved to 14-3 overall, 10-0 NJAC.
Spencer Spivy blocked a last-second three-pointer and the fans stormed the court in Williamstown as the home-standing, No. 6-ranked Ephs survived to defeat archrival Amherst 66-65. Amherst led by as many as seven early in the second half, but Williams rallied to take the lead with 9:33 remaining on three foul shots by Declan Porter. He went 4-for-7 from 3-point range, while Nate Karren scored 25 points and went 5-for-7 from beyond the arc.
"When alumni, fan bases, and players talk about rivalry games, that was what they're talking about," Ephs coach Kevin App said. "You're happy for players of both teams who get to have this experience. The environment, both teams making shot after shot and big plays — that is what people mean when they talk about the Williams-Amherst rivalry. Glad we survived, and it was fun to be a part of it."
No. 15 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps trailed by 10 early in the second half, but Rhett Carter scored 15 of his 24 points after halftime as the Stags rallied past Redlands 81-78. Cameron Brown hit a layup with 11 seconds left to get Redlands within one, but Josh Angle made both free throws with 10.3 seconds left to put the advantage back to three points, and Josh Himel pump-faked, got an open look just right of the top of the arc, but missed a 3-pointer in the closing seconds for Redlands. CMS improved to 14-2, 6-1 SCIAC behind 24 from Carter and 22 from Kiran Kruse. Cameron Brown had 22 for Redlands (12-4, 6-1).
Tyler Dearman scored 11 points and added 11 rebounds as No. 17 Guilford handed Roanoke its first conference loss, 61-50. The Quakers 14-3, 7-1 ODAC) went on a 7-0 early in the second half and quickly found itself up 36-21. Guilford weathered a Maroon wave, pushing the lead back to 55-41 and Roanoke (14-3, 7-1) was only able to cut the lead to single digits once.
Despite trailing for the majority of the second half, No. 10 Swarthmore took a late lead against Ursinus before Michael Caprise provided the game-winning layup with three seconds remaining. Vinny DeAngelo provided the feed on the game-winner as well as putting in 12 points and adding five assists to help the Garnet improve to 15-1, 9-0 Centennial. Ursinus fell to 10-6, 5-4.
Led by a 25-point effort from Donovan Sevilla, as well as a pair of double-double from the Johns, No. 12 WPI erased a 72-68 deficit with 4:06 remaining in the game and went on a 13-1 run, holding crosstown rival Clark without a basket over a four-minute stretch en route to an 83-75 victory. John Lowther finished with a 14-point, 10 rebound outing while John Adams added 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Western Connecticut whittled a 20-point first-half deficit in half by the break and erased a six-point deficit late in regulation to force overtime in a 98-91 win at cross-state rival Eastern Connecticut. Western Conn. (14-1, 6-1 Little East Conference) trailed by 20 with four minutes left in the first half but outscored Eastern (6-11, 3-5) 13-3 over those final minutes to cut it to ten at the break. In a game which featured five ties and seven lead changes, the Wolves outscored the Warriors 8-1 over the final three minutes of regulation, getting an offensive rebound and dunk by Kendall Robinson to take a two-point lead in the final minute before the Warriors sank two of four free throws in the final 49.1 seconds, with senior Rakesh Tibby sending the game into overtime when he converted the second of two free throw after a WestConn timeout with 13.3 seconds left. WestConn owned the extra session, scoring the first six points and outscoring Eastern, 15-8. Robinson finished with 21 points, while Jalen Williams had 37 points and 12 rebounds for Western.
Yeshiva had an 11-point lead in the late stages on Wednesday night, but Wesleyan rallied and then closed the game out with an 8-3 run to snatch an 87-84 non-conference victory. Senior guard Gabe Ravtez converted a driving layup for the Cardinals with 42 seconds remaining that broke an 81-81 tie and gave Wesleyan the lead for good. Zevi Samet went 5-for-11 from 3-point range and scored 25 points for the Maccabees (8-9), but that paled in comparison to the night Preston Maccoux had. He finished with a game-high 35 points, including four key free throws down the stretch to finish off the win for the Cardinals (11-5).