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| Shane Regan had another big night in front of a packed house, going for 23 points, including two free throws to help secure the game with 3.3 seconds remaining. Kenyon athletics file photo by Sejin Kim |
The Division III regular season extends just a little bit into March this year, but that doesn't make February less frenetic, and on the first day of the month Kenyon pulled off a huge upset, while Trinity (Conn.) won in a big way and top-ranked Wesleyan showed no signs of a hangover from its big Friday night win in Division III men's basketball on Saturday.
For the second time in as many games, Kenyon found itself in a tightly contested overtime matchup with an NCAC contender, and the Owls were successful at it for the second time in a row as they won 82-77 in double overitme at No. 15 Denison.
Freshman Jackson Burke hit the three biggest shots of his young career in the overtime periods, allowing Kenyon to deal the Big Red just their second loss of the season and their first in NCAC play. Burke drained his first big shot of extra time with 32 seconds remaining in the first OT, splashing a three to put Kenyon (5-15, 3-8 NCAC) up by one. However, Tyler Miller quickly responded for Denison with a three of his own to regain the advantage with 0:19 left. On the Owls' final possession of the first overtime, Nick Nelson drove to the basket and found Burke under the hoop, who fought through contact to hit the layup to tie the game at 66 with five seconds left.
The Big Red (17-2, 9-1) led 73-71 with 2:41 left in the second overtime before Jackson Maloney knotted the game at 73 after two free throws, while Marius Mazeika capped off a solo 4-0 run with a crafty floater to restore a 77-75 advantage. Darren Rubin tied the game at 77 with 45 seconds left, the 18th tie of the game, but Burke answered the bell yet again, hitting his fourth three of the night to put his team up 80-77 with 21 seconds to play. Denison's final possession ended in a turnover when Kellon Smith stepped on the boundary line in front of the Big Red bench.
No. 9 Tufts lost by three to the No. 1 team in the country on Friday night, but Saturday is a new day, and it was not a kind one for the Jumbos, who picked up their second NESCAC loss in less than 20 hours, falling 91-45 at No. 16 Trinity (Conn.). The Bantams (18-3, 5-2) limited James Morakis to two points on the afternoon as he shot 0-for-3 from three-point range and turned the ball over three times in just 12 minutes. Meanwhile, Henry Vetter scored a game-high 22 points in just 23 minutes of action, while Drew Lazarre added 19 in 22 minutes and two more Bantams scored in double figures despite nobody in a Trinity uniform playing more than 25 minutes. Tufts fell to 17-4, 5-2.
It was a great Senior Day for No. 1 Wesleyan, as seniors Philip Park, Jared Langs and Jacob Pofsky hit season-highs of 9, 6 and 3 points in a 74-54 win against Connecticut College. Park, in particular, showed off his shoiting touch from beyond the arc, going 3-for-4 from three-point range in the win. Sam Pohlman led all scorers with 18 points, while Shane Regan scored just eight points but had nine assists in the win. The Cardinals are the last unbeaten Division III men's basketball team and improved to 21-0, 7-0 in the NESCAC.
Aidan Callahan knocked down a mid-range jumper for the go-ahead bucket in the waning seconds of overtime to lift No. 18 WPI to a 75-74 nail-biting NEWMAC victory at Coast Guard. The Engineers (18-2, 10-1 NEWMAC) have won 10 games in a row. Luke Farrell hit a hook shot for Coast Guard (7-12, 3-7) with 4.3 seconds left to tie the game at 66 and send it into overtime. With CGA up 72-71, a double foul sent the Bears' Elijah Parent and the Engineers' Tim Reidy to the line, with both players making both foul shots, keeping Coast Guard ahead 74-73 with 15 seconds left. WPI got the final possession, and Callahan came in clutch with a jumper with just seven seconds remaining. The Bears had a final chance to score, but Brett Marelli buckled down for the Engineers, and Justin Molen tipped the ball away, securing a 75-74 victory for WPI.
Nearly 4,000 fans turned out for the Rivalry in men's basketball today, as Calvin defeated Hope 68-60. The Knights, who won their 12th consecutive game and beat the Flying Dutchmen for the second time in 10 days, have swept the regular season series from Hope for the first time since 2019-2020. Hope leads the all-time series, 111-104, but the teams are just two points apart in their 215 meetings, with Hope leading 14,577-14,575. Uchenna Egekeze scored 16 points for Calvin, grabbing six rebounds and dishing out five assists. Junior Trevin Winkle had 10 points.
Coe got Van Gorped, as Central defeated the Kohawks 75-73 behind 55 points from senior center Joshua Van Gorp. Van Gorp, a D3hoops.com All-America selection, broke his own school record, which was 48, set against Coe just over one year ago. On Saturday, he went 26-of-36 from the field, and he also collected 15 rebounds to total his 13th double-double of the season. "Coe wanted to limit out hot outside shooting, so they guarded Van Gorp with one guy, so we kept feeding him the ball and he got a lot of really good shots," Central coach Joe Steinkamp said. "It was one of the most unbelievable performances in school history. His ability to score all night long is a tribute to his conditioning and his work ethic." Among the few points Van Gorp didn't score was the game-winning bucket, which Bradley Curran hit on a layup with 1.4 seconds left in the game.
Clark could not be stopped, as the Cougars were on fire from beyond the arc, going 15-for-20 from three-point range in a 91-70 win on the road at Babson. Jordan Richard led the way with a 7-for-9 performance from three point range, scoring 23 points on the afternoon. After a first half in which the Cougars (13-7, 9-2 NEWMAC) shot a strong 6-for-10 from three-point land, they poured it on in the second, outscoring the Beavers (12-8, 6-5) 53-35 while shooting 9-for-10 from beyond the arc.
Gustavus Adolphus continued its unbeaten run in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference standings, improving to 11-0 and tying the program mark for the best unbeaten start to the season by winning 88-68 at Augsburg. The Auggies (9-11, 5-6) got within single digits early in the second half, but a three-pointer by Brady Kienitz at the 16:26 mark put the Gusties in front by 12 points and the lead stayed at double digits the rest of the way. The Gusties distributed the ball well throughout the game with 24 assists and a feed from Myles Barnette to Wyatt Olson for a two-handed slam at the 4:37 mark gave the visitors their largest lead of the game at 80-55. The 17-3 record after 20 games is the best since the 1997-98 season when the Gusties finished 26-4 overall and made it to the Division III Elite 8 under coach Mark Hanson.
York (Pa.) scored 14 of the first 16 points of the game and shot 52 percent from the floor in the first half on the way to a 79-69 win against Eastern (8-11, 1-7 MAC Commonwealth). The win allowed York to remain in a first-place tie in the MAC Commonwealth with Hood, who win at Messiah (3-16, 2-6) 93-83 on Saturday. York improved to 14-5, 7-1, with its seventh win in the past eight games. Kai Cipalla led all scorers with 22 points on the day.
Pitt-Bradford won its 10th in a row and improved to 17-1 in the process as the Panthers defeated La Roche 101-81. Freshman Braylen Salters came off the bench for the second game in a row and scored a game-high 22 points in 22 minutes, one of five Pitt-Bradford players in double figures. UPB shot 13-for-21 from 3-point range, including Salters with a perfect 4-for-4. Jeremy Rodriguez had 18 points off the bench as well. The Panthers improved to 10-0 in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference play.
St. Mary's (Minn.) snapped a five-game losing streak, as Jabari Sawyer went off for 30 points on 12-for-15 shooting to lead the Cardinals (6-14, 2-8) to a 76-60 win against Bethel, knocking the Royals back to .500 in the MIAC at 11-8, 5-5. Sawyer's total is a career-high. The Cardinals at one point trailed 22-6 before rallying to tie at 26, then lead 38-29 at the half.