| Patrick Price is part of a senior class at
Birmingham-Southern that has never had a scholarship, yet cannot
play for the conference title, an NCAA Tournament bid or get votes
in the D3hoops.com Top 25. Birmingham-Southern athletics photo by Jimmy Mitchell |
Five years ago, Birmingham-Southern decided it was moving from Division I to Division III. With that, all of the scholarship players left, and the men's basketball program went dormant for an entire season.
When the 2007-08 season opened, the Panthers had a brand-new squad, with no holdovers, no players who had ever had a scholarship to play basketball there. And for that large freshman class, which is now seniors, it's been a long four years in NCAA Division III provisional status. Next season the Panthers will be eligible for the NCAA Tournament. But for now, a senior class has had no postseason and little recognition.
On Friday night, the Panthers achieved a milestone nonetheless, as they won their 20th game of the season, defeating DePauw 71-63. The Panthers' season closes Sunday with a home game against Centre.
RPI moved into a tie for first place in the Liberty League with Hobart, defeating the Statesmen 91-76. The Engineers have a chance to win the regular season title and earn the top seed in the conference tournament on Saturday at Hamilton. Northwestern (Minn.) won its 11th consecutive game, beating Bethany Lutheran 66-61 behind 15 from Wade Chitwood. The loss kept Bethany Lutheran from clinching a spot in the UMAC tournament. Northwestern is the top seed in a conference which will get an automatic bid for the first time.
No. 22 Rochester and Emory remained on track for a final-weekend showdown for the UAA automatic bid as each won on the road Friday night. The Yellowjackets won 63-50 at Carnegie Mellon, while Emory got 22 from Jake Davis in winning at Case Western Reserve.
And there was another buzzer beater in a Rochester Tech game. This time the Tigers were on the short end, however, as Utica's James Patterson knocked down the game-winning shot to defeat RIT 76-75 on Senior Night. Scroll down for the video, plus Friday's women's wrapup.
In Friday night's women's action, No. 8 Chicago defeated Brandeis 70-54 at home. The Maroons will have a chance to clinch the first automatic bid into the NCAA tournament if they can beat NYU at home on Sunday. If they stumble, then a showdown with No. 9 Washington U. could await next Saturday. The Bears handled NYU 68-50 tonight.
The top seed in the Liberty League playoffs is still very much up for grabs. St. Lawrence, Union and William Smith remained tied for first place after each won on Friday. The Saints and Dutchwomen play tomorrow at Union while William Smith hosts Vassar. The Brewers can't win the top seed but they did clinch a playoff spot by beating Hamilton 64-52.
Tenth-ranked Greensboro remained undefeated, winning 64-55 at Shenandoah.