The Ephs shook off Friday's loss at No. 9 Wesleyan to win at No. 6 Trinity. Williams athletics file photo by Beneyam Hassen

Williams knocked off No. 6 Trinity (Conn.), No. 7 Illinois Wesleyan pulled one out in triple overtime, UW-La Crosse beat a ranked team on the road, Wabash pulled it out against No. 10 Wooster and UAA play got underway in Saturday's Division III men's basketball action.

• Saturday's men's scores | More men's game stories
• Saturday's women's recap
• Harrer reaches 700 wins at BW
• Castillo hits 2,000-point milestone for Baruch

Wiliams salvaged a split of its NESCAC opening weekend and came away with a big win on Saturday, defeating No. 6 Trinity (Conn.) on the road, 56-51. In a game which featured 10 ties and four lead changes, the Ephs (10-4, 1-1) limited Trinity to 6-for-39 shooting from three-point range (15 percent) and just 29.5 percent for the game. Aidan Yates led all scorers with 15 points for Williams, while Henry Vetter had 14 for the Bantams (13-2, 1-1).

"I'm obviously very proud," said Williams coach Kevin App after the Ephs' biggest win of the season. "I mean, these weekends are mentally and physically taxing, and I told our group afterwards, there's not many chances where you can be really disappointed and feel you let one get away, and then stay together and find a way to finish."

With two minutes left, Brandon Roughley passed from the elbow down to Hudson Hansen, who spun, rose up, and sank his short jumper off the glass. One minute passed, and the Bantams couldn't break through the Williams defense. Roughley was up next, scooping up an offensive board and laying it in to give the Ephs a two-possession lead. With time running down, Trinity fouled Hansen, who sank both of his free throws. On the other end, Drew Lazarre connected on a prayer of a three, bringing the score to 54-51, but it was too little, too late. Alex Lee dropped in both of his free throws to give the Ephs the comfortable 56-51 victory.

Of course, while some leagues are just getting conference play started in Division III basketball, some teams are meeting each other for the second time already. That was the case for No. 11 Wisconsin Lutheran and Illinois Tech -- after the Warriors had a baffling loss to IIT, just 3-6 at the time, just four weeks ago, WLC looked more like expected in thumping the Scarlet Hawks 96-48 and sending them to their fifth consecutive loss. Wisconsin Lutheran (13-1, 6-1 NACC) used a 16-0 run inthe first half to break things open, then added a 10-0 run early in the second half to go up 67-26.

James Bullock scored eight points in the final four-plus minutes of regulation to tie the game at 68 apiece with 80 seconds left, and Nick Roper poked the ball away on a key steal with a second left in the second half as No. 7 Illinois Wesleyan survived to get into overtime against North Central and won 99-91 in triple overtime at IWU's Shirk Center. Trailing 66-58 at the five minute mark, the Cardinals scored 10 of the final 12 points to extend the game. IWU shot just 36 pervent from the floor in the three overtime sessions, but was 14-for-16 from the line to finally prevail. Roper finished with a game-high 29 points and nine rebounds in his 48 minutes, while Hakim Williams scored 20 and Marko Anderson added 19 in the win. IWU improved to 13-2, 5-1 in the CCIW, while North Central slipped to 10-5, 3-3.

UW-La Crosse came away with a split in a tough week as well, as the No. 14 Eagles bounced back from a home loss to top-ranked Platteville on Wednesday with an 84-83 overtime win on the road at No. 16 UW-Stevens Point. La Crosse survived when a fallaway jumper by Cal Krohn from about 12 feet out missed just before the buzzer in overtime for the Pointers, who fell to 11-3. 1-2 in WIAC play. Josiah Butler had gotten a decent look at the basket from the top of the arc but missed a shot that could have won the game in regulation. Sam Grieger led UWL with 30 points, five of them in the overtime session, helping the Eagles improve to 11-3, 2-1 in the conference.

Randy Kelley sparked Wabash off the bench with 13 points and Josh Whack and Vinny Buccilla added 12 and 10, respectively, as Wabash knocked off No. 10-ranked Wooster 54-48. The Little Giants (8-6, 4-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference) held Wooster to just 19 points in the first half and kept the Scots (13-2, 5-1) to 29 percent shooting from beyond the arc. Wooster's starters were just 4-for-17 from three-point range. It was Wabash's third consecutive game against a team ranked in the D3hoops.com Top 25, but the first one in which the Little Giants pulled out the victory. Wabash defeated Wooster for the fifth consecutive meeting.

Ben Nyquist put back a missed shot as time expired in overtime to lift No. 17 Whitworth to a 76-75 win over visiting Lewis & Clark at the Whitworth Fieldhouse. Nyquist's basket allowed the Pirates to improve to 12-1 overall and 3-1 in the NWC. The Pioneers fell to 6-7, 2-2 after leading by three in overtime and by one with eight seconds left. Griffin Datcher IV made a pair of free throws for L&C with eight seconds to play in OT, giving the Pioneers a 75-74 lead after L&C trailed by 10 points with 2:59 to go in regulation. Whitworth point guard Garrett Long took the ball up court and drove to the basket for a potential winning shot. His attempt rimmed off and Nyquist was there to tip it in just before the clock expired sending an Alumni Night crowd into a frenzy.

"I've never had a buzzer beater in my life," Nyquist said after the game. "It was one of the best feelings I've ever felt. It was so loud and the love from my coaches and teammates was awesome."

Sam Trumley scored a game-high 28 points and Umar Rashid added a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds, as Case Western Reserved started University Athletic Association play with a win, defeating No. 24 Carnegie Mellon 89-67. The Spartans, who never trailed, put a three-game losing streak to bed with the win, improving to 5-7 overall. Carnegie Mellon suffered just its third loss of the season, dropping to 9-3 overall. Trunley led all scorers, shooting 11-of-21 overall and 4-of-9 from long range with seven rebounds, a team-high six assists, and three steals. In addition to the double-double, Rashid also collected a career-best five steals with four assists.

Emory defeated Rochester for the ninth time in 10 meetings and for the 17th consecutive game in Atlanta as the No. 2 Eagles rolled past the Yellowjackets 101-64. Jair Knight paced all scorers with 29 points as he went 11-for-15 from the floor. AJ Harris and Albert Fallas finished with matching 12-point efforts while junior Ben Pearce narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and nine assists. Jason Zimmerman now sits just one win shy of joining the 300-win club as he improves his overall coaching record to 299-134. In addition, Tristan How and Brock Susko scored 26 points apiece and Hampton Sanders added 25 as No. 4 NYU got off on the right foot with a 101-85 win against Brandeis, improving to 12-0 while Brandeis fell to 9-3.

Montclair State snapped an 11-game losing streak against Stockton as they went on the road and knocked off the No. 19 Ospreys 88-84. Montclair (9-5, 4-3 NJAC) held an 82-77 lead with 4:47 remaining in the game. The advantage vanished over the next three minutes when Stockton found the layups and free throws, they needed to tie the contest at 82 with 1:42 remaining left. Just when the Ospreys (11-3, 6-1) might have thought the momentum was going to shift in their favor, Jacob Morales hit a deep three that sucked the energy out of the Stockton Sports Center. The Ospreys were fouled and hit two free throws in the final 30 seconds of the game, but Kabrien Goss hit both of his after being sent to the line. Stockton traveled in a crucial possession with 11 seconds left and Jackson hit one of his two free throws to hold off the Ospreys.

Drew handed No. 21 Catholic its first Landmark Conference loss of the season, as Eli Yusavage scored a game-high 20 points off the bench to lift the Rangers to a 76-71 overtime win. Yusavage hit a three in the closing seconds of regulation off a feed from Malcolm Newman to force the extra session, and Catholic shot just 2-for-10 in the overtime. The Cardinals (10-3, 4-1 Landmark) had led by eight with one minute remaining before Josh Kline scored eight points and Pat Higgins hit a layup ahead of Yusavage's heroics. Drew improved to 10-3, 6-0 in conference play.

Five players scored in double figures, led by Brian Johansson's 16 as Johns Hopkins beat host Gettysburg, 75-67, in both teams' Centennial Conference opener. Johansson went 6-for-9 from the field, while Charlie Jackson added 15, Wyatt Eglinton Manner scored 14 and Jeb Williams and John Windley each scored 10 to help the Blue Jays improve to 6-6. Gettysburg fell to 9-4.

It was the second time around for Grinnell and Lawrence as well, and the Pioneers finished the season sweep of the Vikings for the first time in three years, defeating Lawrence 109-86. Gabe Garcia led the way for Grinnell (12-3, 5-1 Midwest Conference) with 20 points, while Sean Murphy had 18 and Tolu Johnson scored 11 and had 16 rebounds, the most by a Grinnell player since 1996. Grinnell is a half-game in front of Monmouth in the conference standings after Monmouth defeated Beloit 75-69.

John Baron picked up his 400th career victory as a head coach as Gwynedd Mercy remained unbeaten, topping Immaculata 84-53. Immaculata full to 5-11, 0-3 in the Atlantic East. Mike Marable headlined the win with 23 points and nine rebounds. However, he missed three of his last four free throws, giving Immaculata a chance to win at the buzzer with a 50-footer which was on target but long. It was win No. 400 for Chris Downs at St. Lawrence as well, as the Saints improved to 9-3, 3-3 in the Liberty League, with a 68-52 win against Bard. Adam Dudzinski had 14 points, Dan Anderson had 13, and 10 Saints scored at least three points in the victory. Downs reached the 400-win mark in his 694th game -- all with St. Lawrence. Downs started as head coach of the Saints the same year we started D3hoops.com: 1997-98.

Ramapo won its seventh in a row as Peter Gorman hit a pull-up jumper with six seconds left to lift the Roadrunners past Rowan 64-62. Ramapo improved to 11-3, 5-2 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. The Profs (7-7, 4-3) took a seven-point lead with less than 6:40 left to play as Khalif Mears hit a three-pointer to give Rowan a 53-46 lead. A pair of free throws from Shane Rooney started a 6-0 run for Ramapo to come within one as Gorman capped it off with back-to-back baskets, cutting the lead to 53-52. The two teams traded baskets before Brycen Williams hit a three-pointer for the Profs with 3:49 on the clock for a 58-54 lead. With under 3:30 to play Ramapo's Anthony Corbo scored on a putback before Rooney added a jumper to tie the game at 58 with 2:51 on the clock. With the game tied in the final 90 seconds, Ramapo's first shot missed while Rooney grabbed a crucial offensive rebound as Corbo was fouled. Corbo sank both at the line (1:18) to tie the game at 62. Ramapo missed two free throws with 23 seconds left, but Rooney grabbed his eighth rebound of the game to keep the ball in Ramapo's hands. Following a Ramapo timeout, Gorman hit his crucial jumper. He finished with 15 points.

New Jersey City got 22 points and nine rebounds from Jaheim Lewis and shot over 50 percent from the floor as the Gothic Knights won at home against William Paterson 91-87. NJCU (10-4, 5-2 NJAC) had an 18-8 spurt to take a 71-62 lead with 7:36 left and Paterson (5-9, 1-6) was able to chip into the lead but could not get any closer than 85-83.

Utica got into the win column in Empire 8 play as Hagen Foley scored a game-high 34 points in a 95-89 win at St. John Fisher. Five scorers finished in double-figures for the Pioneers, as they improved to 7-5, 1-2 in conference play. Connor Williams led St. John Fisher (4-8, 0-3) with 18 points and added seven boards and six assists.