Macon wins at top-ranked archrival

Feb 03, 2024
Daniel Mbangue went 7-for-7 from the floor for Randolph-Macon in a big win at Hampden-Sydney.
d3photography.com file photo by Mike Atherton
 

Randolph-Macon did something it hasn't done in more than 40 years, while Central's winning streak claimed another ranked team and the York (Pa.) streak came to an end on Saturday in Division III men's basketball.

In front of a packed crowd of 1,492 at Kirby Field House, No. 1 Hampden-Sydney rallied from a 14-point first-half deficit, but missed on three potential game-tying shots in the final 21.1 seconds and fell at home to its archrival, No. 8 Randolph-Macon, by a 48-46 score.

The Yellow Jackets (18-3, 11-1 Old Dominion Athletic Conference) leapt out to a 25-11 lead due in no small part to making eight of their first 13 shots from the floor. But they made just 12 of 33 the rest of the way, allowing Hampden-Sydney (19-2, 11-2 ODAC) to creep back into the game. The Tigers tied the game at 36 midway through the second half at the end of a 12-0 run.

Randolph-Macon extended the lead to seven at 44-37, but Hampden-Sydney scored the next six points, capped by an emphatic putback dunk by Davidson Hubbard.

A jumper by Keishawn Pulley made it 46-43 with 2:34 to play, but Hubbard answered with two free throws about a minute later to make it 46-45. A basket down low from Daniel Mbangue allowed R-MC to edge the lead out to 48-45 with 1:11 left, and Chase Turner hit one of two free throws with 46.8 left to cut the lead to two.

Following a Macon turnover, the Tigers took possession and called timeout at :21.1, missing a contested layup out of the timeout but gaining possession on a ball knocked out of bounds under the basket with 4.6 seconds left. After another timeout, H-SC got Adam Brazil a wide-open look from about 10 feet out on the baseline, but it rimmed out and a putback attempt rimmed out as well as the final buzzer sounded. Mbangue led the visitors with 15 points, while Hubbard had 15 to lead Hampden-Sydney.

The last time Randolph-Macon beat the No. 1 ranked team on the road, it was in a different division. In 1981, R-MC defeated Mount St. Mary's 62-60 in overtime, when the two schools were members of NCAA Division II.

Joshua Van Gorp had another big day for Central, as the Dutch won their seventh consecutive game and took down another ranked team in the ARC, rolling past Loras 90-65. Van Gorp recorded his 12th double-double in 22 games on the season, as he scored 28 points and added 13 rebounds. Central (16-6, 10-3 ARC) scored 53 points in the second half as the Dutch sent Loras (17-3, 8-3) to its third loss on the season.

"Everything obviously looks good when you make shots," Steinkamp said. "We had a lot of open shots. You don't shoot 60% in a half (60.7% in the second half) without getting great shots."

Central, which is second in Division III in rebounding margin, outboarded Loras 49-31.

The winning streak for York (Pa.) has made headlines a couple of times, but it came to an end on Saturday, as homestanding Alvernia outlasted the Spartans in triple overtime, 89-79, snapping the streak at seven games. York (13-8, 6-4 MAC Commonwealth) forced overtime when Jayden Rowe hit two foul shots with 13 seconds to go and the Spartans finished regulation with a defensive stop. York had three starters foul out and ran out of gas in the third overtime. Forced to foul, they sent Alvernia to the line where they made eight of 12 in the final five minutes and went on to win. Nigel Cooke scored a game-high 29 points, while Robert Mullan and Jakob Kelly added 22 apiece for Alvernia (15-6, 7-3).

Freshman Steve DeRegis hit four free throws in the final 20 seconds to help clinch an overtime win for Clarkson, as the Golden Knights claimed a 99-93 victory against RIT. Clarkson (12-9, 6-8 Liberty League) has played in five overtime games this season, winning four of them. It wasn't until the midway point of the extra session that either team could hit a long-range shot, as Jack Dalgety nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key to put Clarkson up three. The teams traded free throws for the next two minutes. With the gap at two, Matt Caggiano turned the ball over in the lane in an attempt to tie the game, and the Knights took advantage, making free throws down the stretch to pick up the key conference victory. Ryan Miles-Ferguson scored 26 points and had five assists before fouling out in overtime.

Nazareth saw just about everything fall as the Golden Flyers doubled up Elmira 118-59 in an Empire 8 game on Saturday afternoon. Logan Blankenberg scored a game-high 32 points, leading a team which shot an incredible 72.7% from the floor, and 18-for-29 from three-point range (62.1%). Five more players scored in double figures for Nazareth, which improved to 15-6, 12-1 in the Empire 8.

Aaron Nkrumah scored 36 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead Worcester State as the Lancers rallied from an eight-point deficit in the final 1:09 to defeat Westfield State, 81-80, in a key MASCAC conference matchup at the Woodward Center. Worcester improves to 13-8, 7-1 in the MASCAC and holds the league lead. The Owls slip to 14-7 overall and 6-3 in the MASCAC, third in the league standings. Westfield led by 11, 79-68 after Brendan Keaveny scored on a breakaway layup with 1:43 left, but the Lancers rallied from there, closing the game on a 13-1 run. After Westfield's Juju Omot went 1-2 at the line, Sam Dion delivered back-to-back buckets on a three pointer and a long two, which trimmed the Westfield lead to 80-79. The Owls missed the front end of a 1-and-1 opportunity for the second time in the closing minute, and Zion Hendrix scored on a driving layup with eight seconds left to give Worcester its first lead of the second half, 81-80. Westfield advanced the ball to half court and called timeout with 5.6 to play, but on the ensuing play, the Owls turned it over in the closing seconds with Goris coming up with a steal as time expired to secure the win.

This recap will be updated.