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| NYU's Darren Rubin caught fire in the final minute and finished his flourish with this fade-away game-winning three. |
New York University swept Washington U. with a buzzer-beater on the men's side and another double-digit win for the top-ranked Violet women. Elsewhere, the Averett men found late-game magic again and Linfield head coach Casey Bunn-Wilson completed a week to remember in Friday night's Division III basketball action.
The Bears shot 60 percent in the opening quarter and held an 18-16 lead after one period. That was the first time this season that the Violets trailed after one period, and that didn't last long. Two minutes into the second period, Brooke Batchelor hit a three that put NYU in front by one, and then Aila Kaibara and Caroline Peper followed with field goals that took the Violets' lead to 26-20. Yasmene Clark scored at the halftime buzzer to send the Violets into the break up 10, and Kaibara's jumper gave NYU a 16-point lead entering the fourth quarter.
New York University (15-0, 4-0 UAA) outscored WashU 24-3 from behind the arc, allowing the Bears just one three-pointer on six attempts. First-year guard Kaibara scored 23 points and hit four 3-pointers, and Peper made her first four field goal attempts on her way to 18 points. Lexy Harris had 22 points and seven rebounds for the Bears (11-4, 2-2 UAA), but was limited by foul trouble to 22 minutes.
NYU has now won 77 straight and needs just four more to tie the 81-game winning streak held by Washington U. The Violets play at No. 17 Chicago on Sunday, and then play four games against Case Western and Carnegie Mellon.
No. 17 Chicago prepped for that showdown by downing Brandeis, 57-36. The Maroons outscored the Judges 24-8 in the fourth quarter, as Chicago went 3-for-3 from three and 7-for-7 from the foul line in the final period.
After the ODAC shifted its games to Friday night to stay ahead of a major winter storm, Randolph surprised No. 21 Shenandoah, 56-54. The WildCats won with balance, as Sophia Stevens scored 12, Taniya Jackson had 11, and two other players had nine apiece for Randolph (8-9, 2-6 ODAC). Addisyn Banks scored 18 for the Hornets (14-3, 6-2 ODAC) who slipped two games behind conference leader Washington and Lee.
The sixth-ranked Generals also got pushed to the limit before fending off Guilford in North Carolina, 81-78. Mary Schleusner celebrated her record-breaking week by scoring 29 points and grabbing 26 rebounds for W&L (17-0, 8-0 ODAC). She is now tied with Randolph-Macon’s Kelly Williams and Swarthmore’s Kathryn Stockbower for first place all-time with 83 career double-doubles.
After giving birth to her daughter earlier this week, Casey Bunn-Wilson coached Linfield past George Fox, 74-69, in a battle between NWC title hopefuls. Eve Burke scored 21 points and grabbed eight boards for Linfield, which scored 42 points in the paint against the Bruins. Linfield (14-0, 7-0 NWC) has won 10 straight and is 7-0 in conference for the first time in program history.
No. 24 Cortland needed a fourth-quarter rally to get past one-win Morrisville State and got one to beat the Mustangs, 54-49. The Red Dragons trailed 40-36 entering the final period but battled back to take the lead on Bella Zingoni’s three with 1:56 to play, and then put the game away on Sam Dembinsky’s layup.
On the men’s side, Darren Rubin scored 10 points in the final minute, including the game-winning three at the buzzer, to lift New York University over No. 18 Washington U., 77-76. The Bears led 73-67 before Rubin erupted, hitting two free throws, followed by a layup, and then a three-point play that tied the game at 74 with 19 seconds left. Connor May put WashU back in front with a layup, but Rubin answered with the game-winning shot from the top of the arc as time expired.
Rubin finished with 28 points for the Violets (11-4, 2-2 UAA). May scored 18 for the Bears (11-4, 1-3 UAA) who sit three games behind No. 2 Chicago (72-56 winners over Brandeis) and No. 3 Emory (72-63 winners over Case Western) in the UAA standings.
No. 21 Scranton narrowly avoided a second straight road loss before the Royals edged Goucher in overtime, 74-71. After Goucher’s Avree Harris tied the game at 62 with 1:14 to play in the fourth, Scranton had three looks at a game-winning shot but came up empty. The Royals made up for those misses by opening overtime with back-to-back threes from Ben Robinson and Jon Spatola and led the rest of the way. Brendan Carr scored 21 points in 41 minutes for Scranton (15-2, 8-2 Landmark).
Jackson Sellars scored 24 points, including the game-winning shot in overtime, and Averett tipped Hampden-Sydney, 84-82. Sellars gave the Cougars an 82-80 lead in the final minute of overtime, only to have Shane Fernald pull Hampden-Sydney even with a layup. Sellars responded with a fadeaway jumper with 0.7 seconds left, giving the Cougars their second last-second win of the month. Averett also beat No. 2 Randolph-Macon on a buzzer beater on Jan. 7.
In other key conference clashes…
- Maine-Farmington went on the road and clipped Husson, 81-80, in a meeting between the NAC’s top two men's teams. Zach McLaughlin hit a three to pull the Beavers within one of Husson in the final minute, and then Kory Donlin put Maine-Farmington in front with a tip-in. UMF (14-5, 11-1 NAC) moves a game clear of Husson in the standings and sweeps the season series with the Eagles.
- On the women’s side, Southern Virginia seized first place in the USA South Athletic Conference with a 72-68 victory at Brevard. The Knights got 31 points combined from Maria Savvun and Abigail Snyder who each played 40 minutes. Southern Virginia (13-4, 11-0 USAC) will host the rematch on Valentine’s Day.