Sunday: Bubble preserved as favorites win

More news about: Swarthmore | Trinity (Conn.) | Washington and Lee
Feb 25, 2024
The Trinity Bantams are headed to the Big Dance as NESCAC champs after beating Williams on Sunday afternoon.
Photo by Trinity College athletics
 

Swarthmore moved off the bubble and into the Big Dance by beating Johns Hopkins in the Centennial men's final, Trinity (Conn.) avenged its lone loss against Williams, and Mary Schleusner had a performance for the ages in the ODAC women's title game, as Division III's conference championships concluded on Sunday afternoon.

Adam Brazil scored 27 points, and No. 1 Hampden-Sydney rolled over Washington and Lee, 81-56, in the ODAC tournament final. The Tigers grabbed control with a 19-1 first-half run that staked them to a 24-6 lead. Brazil’s three-pointer midway through the second half put Hampden-Syndey in front 61-38 and the Tigers coasted from there. Davidson Hubbard added 18 points and nine rebounds for Hampden-Sydney, which will try to be the second top-ranked team in three years to win the NCAA Tournament, following rival Randolph-Macon which did so in 2022.

After losing to Williams in the final seconds in their first matchup, No. 4 Trinity (Conn.) returned to Chandler Gymnasium and defeated the 20th-ranked Ephs, 59-52, for the NESCAC title. Henry Vetter scored 16 of his game-high 19 points for the Bantams in the second half and Trinity committed just three turnovers over the final 20 minutes.  The title is the Bantams’ first since 2008.

Swarthmore got 20 points apiece from Michael Caprise and Vinny DeAngelo and the Garnet topped No. 23 Johns Hopkins in the Centennial Conference championship, 67-62. The Blue Jays hung close throughout the second half and got as close as four at 63-59 with 1:41 to play. Swarthmore responded with a jumper from Caprise and two free throws from DeAngelo, putting the game out of reach. The Garnet move from the bubble to the NCAA Tournament by claiming the Conference’s automatic bid.

Berry capped another impressive run through the SAA with a 74-57 win over sixth-seed Rhodes in the SAA tournament finale. The Vikings outscored the Lynx 42-22 in the paint despite being outrebounded by nine boards. Blake Campbell paced five Berry scorers in double figures with 17 points. The Vikings have a 59-4 record against their conference foes over the last four seasons.

Top-seed Farmingdale State closed the Skyline Tournament with a wire-to-wire 87-68 win at home over Yeshiva. The Rams shot 64 percent in the first half and held a 50-37 lead at the break. Nick Hurowitz racked up 15 points and 14 rebounds for Farmingdale State, which picked up its 20th win of the season.

Hobart used a balanced attack to defeat St. Lawrence, 63-55, in the Liberty League championship game. The Saints got 26 points from Adam Dudzinski and 16 more from Trey Syroka, but everyone else combined for just 13. Meanwhile, Hobart had four players score double figures, led by Aidan Rogers with 17. The Statemen’s defense held St. Lawrence to five assists against 15 turnovers. Hobart claimed its first Liberty League tournament crown since 2014.

Centenary (La.) sent its home crowd home happy as the SCAC Tournament hosts defeated Colorado College, 83-76, in the final. Tykeem Singleton came off the bench and scored 33 points in 25 minutes for the Gents. He shot 12-for-14 from the field, hit all five 3-pointer attempts, and all four free throw attempts. Centenary hosted the SCAC tournament as the four seed as the Conference rotates hosting duties to its members.


Women: Schleusner comes up big, Hopkins helps Gettysburg beat Hopkins

After being named ODAC Player of the Year earlier in the week, Mary Schleusner was also named the Conference tournament MVP.
File photo by Washington and Lee athletics


Mary Schleusner had a dazzling performance in Sunday afternoon's ODAC women's championship game, as Washington and Lee outlasted Shenandoah in overtime, 89-80.

Trailing by three in the final seconds, the Generals called time out and got the ball to Schleusner on the ensuing inbounds pass. She drained a deep three at the buzzer to tie the game at 75, and Washington and Lee rolled over the Hornets in the extra period. Schleusner finished with 36 points and 29 rebounds, the highest total for a Division III women’s basketball player this season. Hanna Malik tallied 28 points in 42 points for Washington and Lee.

No. 23 Gettysburg lost the coin flip to No. 13 Johns Hopkins for hosting rights in the Centennial Conference finals, but the Bullets beat the Blue Jays in the game, 64-55.

The game was tied at 49-all with four minutes to play when Kimberly Hopkins scored five straight points for the Bullets, putting Gettysburg in front 54-49. After JHU pulled back within one point, the Bullets scored the next six points and took a commanding 60-53 lead. Hopkins finished with 13 points for Gettysburg and the Bullets had a 23-5 bench scoring advantage.

Despite a strong performance from Hopkins (the Gettysburg guard), Hopkins (the school) is likely a lock for an at-large bid.

Trinity (Texas) took care of the ball and took care of Colorado College, 60-53, to win another SCAC title. The Tigers from Trinity committed just five turnovers and converted 13 Colorado College turnovers into 15 points. SCAC Player of the year Zoe Tomlinson racked up 21 points and 22 rebounds for the Tigers from Colorado. SCAC First-Year Player of the Year Jaime Reude scored 18 points for Trinity, which has won four straight SCAC tournaments (all over Colorado College) and seven of the last nine.

No. 11 Bowdoin beat Bates in the rubber match between the CBB rivals and claimed the NESCAC title and automatic bid. The Polar Bears dominated inside, outscoring the Bobcats by 18 in the paint, and Sydney Jones filled Bowdoin’s stat sheet with 15 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and three steals. Despite the loss, Bates is in great shape for one of the 21 at-large bids.

After a close first quarter, No. 17 Smith overwhelmed Babson, 90-59, in the NEWMAC title game. The Pioneers outscored the Beavers 53-28 in the middle two periods and shot 64 percent from the field with 12 three-pointers in the game. Hannah Martin scored 21 points on seven 3-pointers for Smith.

Offense was at a premium in the Liberty League title game, and Vassar got enough of it to beat Skidmore, 44-32. Vassar shot 30 percent from the field (15 for 50) but that was more than enough to outscore the Thoroughbreds who shot 10 percent (11 for 58) and 0-for-16 from three. Tova Gelb had a double-double (18 points, 16 rebounds) for the Brewers who won their first League title since 2014.

Wisconsin Lutheran shot 50 percent and converted 14 St. Norbert turnovers into 17 points in a 66-42 victory over the Green Knights in the NACC tournament championship game. The Warriors led from start to finish and put the game away with a 12-3 run capped by Mack Hogenson’s three-pointer midway through the fourth quarter. Sam Leisemann led Wisconsin Lutheran with 20 points and five assists.

Haley Franklin showed why she’s the SAA Player of the Year, as the junior guard poured in 35 points in Millsaps’ 68-63 win over Centre in the conference championship game. Franklin scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, including six late free throws to ice the Majors’ win. Franklin took almost as many free throws on her own (21) as the Colonels did as a team (23). This is Millaps’ first conference tournament win in five appearsances.