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| Sam Grieger was unstoppable in UW-La Crosse's thrilling overtime win over Hampden-Sydney in the Eagles' season opener. File photo by d3photography.com |
The Division III basketball season opened with an overtime buzzer beater, the return of two All-Americans from injury, and different paths to victory for the top three teams in the women’s poll.
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No. 7 UW-La Crosse and No. 17 Hampden-Sydney opened the season with a game worthy of March, as the Eagles edged the Tigers 77-75 in overtime on Sam Grieger’s buzzer beater.
After Hampden-Sydney took an eight-point halftime lead, UW-La Crosse rallied past the Tigers with a minute remaining in regulation when Grieger found Jacob Butler for a go-ahead three-pointer. The Tigers regained the lead with two free throws and then Grieger put the Eagles back in front, 70-68, with a three-point play. Hampden-Sydney forced overtime on Tugg Bizzelle’s layup.
Grieger opened the extra period with five straight points before Peter Moye drilled a three for Hampden-Sydney, cutting the Eagles’ lead to 75-73. Alex Cannon knotted the game at 75 and then the teams traded empty possessions until UW-La Crosse got the ball with 19 seconds remaining. The Eagles missed a three, but JJ Paider grabbed the offensive rebound and found Grieger for the winning jumper.
Grieger finished the game with 36 points, including all his team’s overtime tallies, on 14 for 26 shooting. He also had two assists and just three turnovers in 45 minutes. Travis Stickney paced Hampden-Sydney with 13 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists.
The teams return to the court on Saturday with UW-La Crosse playing event host Virginia Wesleyan and Hampden-Sydney battling Keene State. The 17th-ranked Marlins held off Keene State, 87-84, in the event opener.
No. 20 Hardin-Simmons also won its opener in dramatic fashion when Silas Davis drained a buzzer-beating three to lift the Cowboys over Texas Lutheran, 86-83. Davis’ shot followed a game-tying three from Mason Wallace who scored 29 points for Texas Lutheran. The Cowboys took good care of the ball, posting 16 assists against nine turnovers.
Calvin All-American Jalen Overway returned to the court after missing all last season with 29 points in 33 minutes, but Denison came away with the upset victory over the 12th-ranked Knights, 61-59. Calvin had the ball with a couple chances to tie the game in the closing seconds, but the Big Red defense swarmed and did not allow an open look. Trevor Reed scored 23 points in 19 minutes for Denison and the Big Red had a 23-0 advantage in bench scoring.
No. 6 Redlands travelled north to UC Santa Cruz and lit up in the scoreboard in a 102-88 win over the Banana Slugs. Derek Sangster, who previously played at UC Davis and Princeton, led the Bulldogs with 28 points and six rebounds. UC Santa Cruz shot 63 percent from the field (35 for 56) but turned the ball over 21 times, leading to 28 Redlands’ points.
Sophomore Kyle Robinson posted a double-double with 30 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 15 Mary Washington held off Guilford, 82-78. The Quakers tied the game at 75 with 1:10 remaining, but Robinson converted four free throws and Ulysses Young added three more for the Eagles.
Hartford scored the biggest win of its very early Division III tenure by beating Wooster, 89-84. Kyle Winters and Doug Stack combined for 50 points, including a dozen three-pointers, and the Hawks tallied 20 assists against 10 turnovers. You can read more about UHart's transition from D1 in this week's Around the Nation column.
On the women’s side, the top three teams in the preseason poll won their openers in different ways.
No. 3 UW-Oshkosh came from behind to beat Carroll, 62-59, at St. Norbert’s opening event. The Titans trailed by five midway through the fourth quarter before going on a 9-2 run capped by Mahra Wieman’s layup. Bridget Froehlke scored 11 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter for UW-Oshkosh and All-American Sammi Beyer added 14 points for the Titans. Fellow All-American Natalie Gricius led Carroll with 18 points.
No. 2 Scranton shook off a slow start in Upstate New York and then cruised past No. 22 SUNY Geneseo, 60-35. The Knights led 12-8 after one period, but the Royals quickly flipped the advantage with a 22-7 second quarter thanks to seven points from first-year guard Sophia Talutto. Scranton forced 24 turnovers and outscored Geneseo 40-16 in the paint.
No. 1 New York University had no trouble in its opener, as the Violets rolled over Swarthmore 108-49 for their 63rd consecutive win. Caroline Peper scored 19 points and NYU forced nearly as many turnovers (46) as Swarthmore had points.
UW-River Falls hosted both sides of the Rivalry and got a win over No. 18 Calvin, 59-43. The Falcons jumped out to a 12-4 lead and took advantage of a rough shooting performance for the Knights. Calvin went 1 for 13 from three and 10 for 21 from the foul line. Meanwhile, Olivia Hoerl notched 17 points and seven rebounds for UW-River Falls, and the Falcons held the advantage in most statistical categories.
In the second game of that event, No. 23 Hope shot past No. 15 UW-La Crosse, 82-61 on the strength of sophomore Leah Richards’ impressive performance. The second-year center led the Flying Dutch with 21 points, six rebounds and four assists. Hope faces River Falls at 4:30 pm ET on Saturday.
Whitman opened the season on the road with a gritty 57-53 win over No. 25 Mary Hardin-Baylor. Sum Leavell’s layup in the opening minutes of the second half gave Whitman a 40-22 lead, but the Crusaders responded with a 20-4 run that spanned the third and fourth quarters. Rachel Okoye’s free throws pulled UMHB within two but Holly Morgan pushed Whitman’s lead back to four, and then she made five free throws in the final 27 seconds to seal Whitman’s win. Morgan finished with a career-high 17 points.
After missing all last season due to injury, multiple-time All-American Brianna Fitzgerald returned to the court for SUNY New Paltz in the Hawks’ 67-44 home win over Mount St. Mary. Fitzgerald posted 14 points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes, and Karly Wittenbauer scored 19 points for SUNY New Paltz, which led the entire game.