UWW, Mount Union join four for Fort Wayne

Mar 11, 2023
This is a first for Mount Union: Holding the trophy at the end of the Elite 8.
Mount Union athletics photo by Ed Hall, Jr.
 

The automatic qualifier from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference would hardly seem to qualify as a Cinderella or an upstart, but the unranked Warhawks are dancing all the way to the Final Four. UW-Whitewater joins three Top 10 teams making the trip to Fort Wayne, Indiana, while Mount Union is getting to the Final Four for the first time.

Nichols nearly made it two unranked teams coming to the Final Four, but Swarthmore had a little bit of last-minute heroics at home. The Garnet knocked the ball away on Nichols' penultimate possession, causing the shot clock to expire without the Bison getting a shot off. On the other end, Michael Caprise put in a bucket in the paint with 5.9 seconds left, and even with all that time, Nichols could not get a shot off at the end and the Bison's thundering run through the bracket came to a close in a 78-77 loss.

Quincy Ferbee scored 21 points in the first half, but just six in the second. Swarthmore was 6-for-11 from 3-point range after halftime, as George Visconti scored 23 opints and Vinny DeAngelo added 15. 

Christopher Newport roared out to a 27-8 lead against Wheaton and led the Thunder 40-25 at the half, but Wheaton worked its way back into the game in the second half. That included late in the half, where Nate Sock hit a layup with 2:34 left to cut the lead to 62-59. Later, Tyson Cruickshank hit a 3 with 18 seconds left to cut the lead all the way down to two at 72-70. But Collin Hines fed Matthew Brodie for a dunk, and Hines threw one down at the buzzer for the final margin of 76-70. Christopher Newport is making its third trip to the national semifinals, and returning for the second time in three Final Fours, along with Swarthmore.

"Honestly, I think the difference was our experience in that situation," Jahn Hines said. "The games we lost at Virginia Wesleyan and Randolph-Macon this year and even Marietta last year, we took something from all of those games and got better because of them. Tonight, being at home certainly helped, and it's great to be going to the Final Four."

Mount Union got 26 points from Christian Parker and 14 points and six assists from Jeffery Mansfield as the Purple Raiders booked their first ticket to the Division III men's basketball Final Four, defeating UW-Oshkosh 78-67. 

"It's kind of been a long time coming. I feel like we've had some great teams over the years, and this is another great one," said Purple Raiders coach Mike Fuline, whose team was still in the tournament in 2020 when the NCAA Tournament was canceled. 

Stop us if you've heard this before, but Mount Union will play UW-Whitewater, echoing the matchup of so many Division III football championship games. The Warhawks edged out No. 6 Oswego State to get to Fort Wayne for the first time and to the Final Four for the first time since 2014. Miles Barnstable scored 23 points, while Carter Capstran had a double-double of 21 points and 15 rebounds and Delvin Barnstable added 12 and 10 in the win. Oswego State trailed by as many as 10 when Miles found Delvin for a 3-pointer with 8:34 remaining, and trailed again by 10 with 4:24 left, before scoring the next six points to get back into it. The Lakers got as close as two with 14 seconds left, and UW-Whitewater missed both free throws, but Jeremiah Sparks' shot slashing down the lane did not fall with 1.4 seconds left and Whitewater got one foul shot to secure the 77-74 win. Sparks led all scorers with 35 points and 12 rebounds.