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| Justin Gielen scored 12 points and had seven assists for Hood against Widener. Hood athletics file photo by Craig Chase, craigchasephotography.com |
Division III's first full Wednesday night of conference play for the 2023-24 season brought with it what usually comes when conference play commences: upsets. Widener lost for just the second time all season, while Shenandoah picked up loss No. 1 in Division III men's basketball action on Jan. 3, 2024.
Five players scored in double figures, as Hood shot 18-for-33 from 3-point range to roll over No. 15 Widener by a 95-70 score on Wednesday night.
Hood never trailed in the game, as Ryan Hollwedell opened the game with three 3-pointers to give the Blazers (9-3) a 9-2 lead. Hood led 31-15 midway through the first half, and was up by as many as 19 before halftime. Hood was 12-for-18 from 3-point range in the first half. Widener never got any closer than 13 the rest of the way. Garrett Cox and Trumaine Strickland scored 18 points apiece, while Hollwedell and Kullen Robinson added 15 apieces and Justin Gielen scored 12.
Widener was just 5-for-20 from beyond the arc in each of the two halves.
No. 18 Virginia Wesleyan handed No. 25 Shenandoah its first loss of the season as the Marlins won 70-58 in a battle of two of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference's five ranked teams. The Hornets led 31-28 at the end of a back-and-forth first half in which the lead changed hands a dozen times. But the Marlins (13-1, 4-1 ODAC) opened the second half on a 21-4 run to put the game out of reach. Shenandoah (12-1, 3-1) did battle back to score the next seven points, but it wasn't nearly enough, as the Marlins went on a 10-4 mini-run to push the lead back to 13 with 6:13 to play. Khai Seargeant led the Marlins with 17 points on 6-for-13 shooting from the field, while Braden Justice added 13 for Virginia Wesleyan. The game was Shenandoah's first as a member of the D3hoops.com Top 25.
Hampden-Sydney's first game as the No. 1 team in the poll in nearly two decades went a little more smoothly, as the top-ranked Tigers tamed the Panthers of Ferrum on the road, winning 60-52. Davidson Hubbard scored 20 points and added 11 rebounds to hand Ferrum just its second loss of the season. Ryan Clements finished with 16 points, including making five of six free throws over the final 2:38, as the Tigers won their sixth consecutive game and improved to 11-1 overall, 3-1 in the ODAC. Ferrum scored the final seven points of the first half to cut the lead to 31-26, and trailed by five on multiple occasions in the second half before the Tigers made their foul shots down the stretch to hold off the Panthers.
No. 3 Guilford defeated Bridgewater 72-62 and No. 23 Randolph-Macon rolled over Eastern Mennonite 87-45 to make it a 4-1 night for ranked ODAC teams.
No. 22 Emory bounced back Wednesday afternoon, defeating No. 20 Christopher Newport 86-70. Sophomore Ben Pearce went for a game-high 22 points with junior Logan Shanahan dropping 14 points and grabbing nine rebounds as the Eagles knocked off the defending national champions in convincing fashion at the WoodPEC. Emory now heads into UAA play with a 9-2 record having won eight of its last nine while the Captains see their five-game winning streak snapped to fall to 12-4. CNU was led in scoring by Jahn Hines and Toa Hollenbeck who scored 21 and 20 points, respectively. It was the sixth consecutive game in which CNU played without All-American Trey Barber, who has been suspended indefinitely, by his own admission.
Concordia (Wis.) rallied from a 27-point first-half deficit to pick up an improbable win, defeating Marian 75-74 to pick up just their fourth win of the season against eight defeats. The Sabres shot 64% from the field in the first half en route to a 43-22 lead, but CUW pushed the tempo in the second half, going on runs of 12-2 and 13-0 to get back into the game before Marian opened things back up, and led 74-64 with 1:45 remaining.
Sam Meerstein helped spark the final comeback with a three-point basket. After the first of four turnovers in the final 1:40, Freeman Jackson sank a free throw to cut the deficit to six. The Falcons took advantage of another bad pass and Jackson struck again with a jumper. Another disastrous pass sent the Falcons down the floor and Zech Hans drained another three-point basket to send the contest into a one-possession game.
The Sabres sent the ball soaring out of bounds once again to give the Falcons the ability to take their second lead of the evening. With 16 seconds left, Jackson drove to the hoop and drew the foul. The senior then made both of his free throws to give the Falcons their second lead of the game, the first since it was 2-0 just seven seconds in. Marian had two shots fall short and the Falcons secured their biggest comeback in school history. Jackson scored 22 and Meerstein added 20.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps may not have NIL all-star Connor Printz on its roster anymore, but the Stags came up with a big win on Wednesday night, defeating No. 21 Redlands 99-93 in overtime. Redlands (8-2, 0-1 SCIAC) trailed 79-78 with 1:25 left in regulation but got to overtime as the two teams combined to miss three of their six foul shots down the stretch. CMS (6-4, 1-1) then scored first in overtime and never looked back, leading by as many as nine in the extra session. Josh Angle scored a team-high 26 points, while Will Householter added 24 and Rhett Carter 21, including the first four of overtime.
Trailing by five points at the half and by 10 with 16:43 left in regulation, St. Vincent (13-0, 8-0 PAC) roared back with a 26-7 run over the next eight minutes to seize a double-digit lead that they would not relinquish. The Bearcats outscored Allegheny (5-8, 3-5) 50-33 in the second half, and 44-24 over the final 15 minutes. Jaden Gales led four double-digit scores for the Bearcats with 24 points, while Osyon Jones added 16 points, Tayler McNeal 14 and Mike Iuzzolino 11. Dev Ostrowski narrowly missed a double-double, scoring nine points with nine rebounds, while also adding five assists.
Rowan played in overtime for the third time in four games and the fourth time on the season as the Profs defeated Swarthmore 91-86. Khalif Meares scored a career-high 30 points in the win, including six down the stretch. With the Profs trailing, 83-81, Jamir Spivey scored four straight to give Rowan the lead for good in the extra period, 87-81. Meares then netted six points in the final 2:29 to seal the victory. Rowan (9-4) is 3-1 in overtime contests.