Saturday men: Double take takedown

More news about: Carthage
Feb 08, 2025
Griffin Daun drove the point home in the closing seconds of Carthage's men's basketball win against Illinois Wesleyan.
Carthage athletics photo by Kayleigh Wieska
 

Illinois Wesleyan lost its second consecutive game since ascending to the No. 2 spot, top-ranked Wesleyan needed overtime to win, No. 9 St. John's beat Concordia-Moorhead in overtime, Oneonta extended its winning streak and William Paterson ended a long losing streak. That and much more in Division III men's basketball action on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.

After the Carthage women handed No. 2 Illinois Wesleyan its first loss of the season, the Carthage men wrapped up a CCIW sweep of the No. 2 Illinois Wesleyan men, as Griffin Daun puntcuated the proccedings with a breakaway dunk with 21 seconds left to seal an 85-74 win. It's the second loss in as many games for the Titans, who lost at North Central on Wednesday. IWU (18-4, 10-3) tied the game on its first shot of the second half, but Carthage scored nine of the next ten to take a 49-41 lead. The Titans got as close on two separate occasions in the second half, including with 4:19 left on a Nick Roper fast break layup. That made the game 67-66, but Carthage scored the next 11 to put the game away.

"Some guys have been here for five years waiting for this moment, and this opportunity to play this team in a matchup of this magnitude," Carthage coach Steve Djurickovic said after the game. "That's why you play in the CCIW."

Riley Brooks led all scorers with 23 points for Carthage, followed by Ryan Johnson with 18, Carthage is now in first place all alone in the CCIW at 10-2, 16-5 overall. North Park remains third in the standings at 14-8, 9-4, after an 86-81 loss at North Central (Ill.) on Saturday.

Wesleyan beat Bates for the ninth time in the past 10 meetings, but it wasn't without some drama as the top-ranked Cardinals had to go to overtime to do it. Babacar Coyne hit a shot in the closing seconds of regulation as Bates scored the last four points of the second half to tie the game at 58. Bates (10-12, 1-7 NESCAC) hung with the Cardinals at the beginning of overtime but Nicky Johnson had a steal and a layup to put his team up by four and Bates never again had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead, as Wesleyan went on to win 73-67. The Cardinals (22-0, 8-0) got a game-high 22 points from Shane Regan. Wesleyan is the last unbeaten team in Division III men's basketball.

Redlands improved to 17-3 and handed Cal Lutheran its first loss of the season in SCIAC play as the No. 19 Bulldogs defeated the No. 20 Kingsmen 77-65 on Saturday night. Donovan Ware scored five points in 18 seconds early in the second half to put the Bulldogs up 20 at 52-32, before Cal Lu scored nine in a row to cut the lead nearly in half. Redlands answered with another nine in a row to extend the lead back to 20 and Cal Lu never got back to within single digits. Omari Ferguson finished with a game-high 22 points and added six rebounds and five assists.

Ben Probst and Logan Pearson scored 20 points apiece as No. 4 UW-Platteville outlasted UW-Stevens Point at home, 78-69. The Pointers (15-6, 5-5 WIAC) led midway through the second half before Platteville went on a 10-3 run to establish some breathing room. The Pioneers are now 19-2, 9-1 in WIAC play.

St. John's won its 15th consecutive game, as the Johnnies outlasted Concordia-Moorhead in overtime at home to defeat the Cobbers 80-73. A pair of free throws from guard Kooper Vaughn tied the game at 69-69 with 32 seconds remaining in the second half. With a two-second differential between the game and shot clocks, CC's Jacob Cook drove to the basket seeking the game-winning points, but Vaughn drew the offensive foul with six ticks on the clock. Senior wing Ryan Thissen missed a jumper in the closing seconds and senior wing Griffin Rushin's putback attempt rolled around the rim and out as the horn sounded. The Johnnies (19-2, 12-0 MIAC) then outscored the Cobbers 11-4 in overtime, including a 7-0 margin at the free-throw line. Concordia-Moorhead (9-12, 5-7) went 2-for-7 from the floor and 0-for-4 from three-point range in the extra session.

Kobe Long scored a game-high 28 points and added six assists as streaky SUNY Oneonta won its sixth consecutive game, defeating Plattsburgh State, 82-78. Oneonta improved to 14-8, 9-6 in the SUNYAC. Oneonta started the season with three consecutive wins, then lost three in a row, followed by a five-game winning streak, a five-game losing streak, and now a six-game winning streak. The Red Dragons' next game is against fellow their Red Dragon counterparts in Cortand, which leads the conference at 12-9, 11-3.

Matthew Garside hit his second game-winning three of the season, from just inside half-court, to lift Union to a 78-76 victory over Vassar. The win, the fourth in a row for the Garnet Chargers and the third straight against a top-three team in the conference, moves Union (12-9, 8-6 Liberty League) into a tie for fourth place with Hobart with four games remaining. Just over three weeks after his buzzer-beater to defeat St. Lawrence, Garside did it again to pull out a huge Liberty League win. After Sacha Greenberg put the Brewers ahead 76-75 with 4.2 seconds left, Garside took the inbounds pass from Brendan Reid and dribbled over the half-court stripe before letting go a shot that banked home to give Union the win. Garside finished the afternoon with a game- and career-high 23 points, hitting 7-of-12 shots from the field and 6-of-8 from beyond the arc.

David Martinez and Neftali Valentin combined for 40 points as William Paterson earned a 66-55 win against New Jersey City. The win snapped a 10-game losing streak for the Pioneers, as the improved to 6-16 overall, 2-13 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. Paterson had not won since Dec. 30, and had not won a conference game since Dec. 11. New Jersey City (12-10, 7-8) trimmed the deficit to 47-43 with 9:17 on the clock, but WP responded with a 12-5 push to get the advantage back to double figures (59-48).

Grinnell honored seven players on Senior Day and played 20 players on the day, going on to outlast Lake Forest and win in overtime, 137-130. The victory put the Pioneers a mere half-game behind Midwest Conference leader Monmouth College, moving to 10-3 in league play and 17-5 overall. Lake Forest made one of two free throws with 11 seconds left for a 123-121 lead. Gabe Garcia drove in for a layup 6 seconds later to tie the game, for two of his 34 points, and the Pioneers stopped Lake Forest from scoring after that, forcing overtime. John Vincent and Garcia scored the first two baskets to open overtime, putting Grinnell ahead by four. After two free throws by the visitors, Tolu Johnson scored from close range and Nick Lundy added two free throws. The Pioneers were never pushed the rest of the way.