Tyler Kathan scored 25 points and Nick Drouin came off the bench to add 22 as No. 24 Keene State defeated No. 22 Rhode Island College 92-81, completing the regular season sweep of the series in the Little East.
The win, in front of 1,800 enthusiastic fans at Keene, was the team's first game after a home loss to Eastern Connecticut. Rhode Island College led 56-50 in the second half before Keene State rattled off a 19-3 run. Photo gallery
One theme of the day: Teams winless in league knocking off strong contenders for titles.
It happened for Marietta's men, which shocked No. 8 Ohio Northern, 72-68. The Pioneers, just 3-43 in OAC play over the last 3 seasons, beat a Polar Bears squad that has dropped three of its last five. On a lesser scale, it also happened for Gallaudet, which stunned Catholic 55-51 and Rutgers-Camden, which topped NJAC rival Rutgers-Newark, 65-61 to snap a 44-game conference losing streak. Saturday's men's schedule and scores.
Saturday featured both a quadruple-overtime game and a triple-overtime contest. Hiram edged out Denison, 120-117 in a four-overtime contest that featured 24 ties and 27 lead changes. It was Denison's second game of at least three overtimes this season, both losses. Defending Little East champ U. Mass-Boston squeaked past Eastern Connecticut, 115-114, needing three extra sessions to do do. The Beacons, 3-1 in overtime games but 3-8 in regulation this season, won it on Rodney Bennett's basket with a second to play. Utica and St. John Fisher needed only two overtimes to decide the lead in the Empire 8, with Utica victorious 62-54.
No. 2 Amherst had little trouble with struggling archrival Williams, winning 72-51. No. 4 Wooster avoided the clutches of Ohio Wesleyan, defeating the Battling Bishops 61-54. Wheaton (Ill.) beat No. 9 Elmhurst to give the Bluejays their first conference loss, while No. 15 Augustana survived at North Central. No. 5 Virginia Wesleyan beat Randolph-Macon 65-60.
On the women's side, No. 3 Scranton survived a late flurry from DeSales to win 69-68. The Bulldogs played without their top scorer Kirby Lutz for much of the game but still had two shots to win. Scranton lost senior center Tiffaney Williams to injury but extended its home win streak to 56. (AUDIO: final possessions from Dean Corwin, WUSR) The Lady Royals had 21 steals in the victory. No. 2 Hope fell at Albion 82-75, losing for the second consecutive Saturday and costing itself a real chance at No. 1. Saturday's women's games.
Scranton wasn't the only highly rated women's squad to barely escape Saturday unscathed. No. 1 for-the- moment Bowdoin barely got past Wesleyan, 62-59, surviving a game-winning Cardinals shot attempt in the final seconds.
And the upset bug that affected the men's conference contenders also bit both the No. 23 Muhlenberg women, who fell at Washington College and No. 24 Bridgewater, which lost at Washington & Lee. That may clear a cleaner path to the poll for the likes of Maine Maritime (now 15-0 after pounding Maine's St. Joseph's) or William Paterson, which snapped a 12-game losing streak to College of New Jersey and extended its own win streak to 14 with a 61-57 win.
No. 7 Howard Payne passed its first real test of the season, knocking off Mary Hardin-Baylor 77-62. Meia Daniels led the Lady Jackets with another 20-point plus performance. Capital won for the sixth consecutive game, defeating No. 12 Baldwin-Wallace 83-75 in overtime behind 24 points from guard Caitlin Graessle and ending the game on a 10-2 run.
Claire Sheehan led with 21 points and 11 rebounds and Mallory Heydorn added 19 as No. 19 Illinois Wesleyan defeated North Park 66-55. No. 21 Kean improved its record to 16-1 with a 78-55 win against Montclair State.