| Toa Hollenbeck didn’t miss on much for CNU on Wednesday night. Christopher Newport athletics file photo |
No. 12 Christopher Newport picked up its 10th consecutive win, defeating No. 2 Mary Washington, Washington and Lee took down No. 17 Roanoke, Ursinus topped No. 19 Franklin & Marshall, and more in Wednesday night’s Division III men’s basketball action.
Toa Hollenbeck didn’t start for CNU on Wednesday night, but he sure did finish, as he scored a game-high 43 points off the bench in 37 minutes of action to help lead the Captains to an 86-77 win against C2C rival and No. 2 ranked Mary Washington. The Eagles’ big star, Kye Robinson, was limited by three first-half fouls and scored a mere 25 points and added seven rebounds in his 26 minutes of action.
Jevon Yarbrough was two rebounds short of a triple-double as he poured in 41 points and added 10 assists to lead No. 15 Hood to a 106-79 win against Stevenson. Yarbrough picked up 17 points in the first half as the Blazers led 48-31 at the break. “Jevon is playing at an unbelievable level right now,” said coach Chad Dickman, “and we have so many guys that can be a threat every night — it’s gotta be extremely tough for teams to help out too much on Jevon when we have so many other weapons.” Jude Huesby added 22 for Hood, which improved to 18-2, 9-0 in the MAC Commonwealth.
Washington and Lee snapped a three-game losing streak and downed No. 17 Roanoke 64-56 at home on Wednesday night. The Generals (15-5, 7-4 ODAC) limited the Maroons to 27.7 percent shooting from the floor and just 3-for-28 from three-point range, or 10.7 percent. Daniel Buttemere hit a three which helped the Generals close the half on an 18-7 run for a 38-30 lead at the break, before Connor Amorosi and John Loughlin scored the first five points of the second half to make it a 13-point W&L lead. Roanoke got as close as six, but was just 1-for-9 from the floor in the final six and a half minutes.
Mohamed Toure led Ursinus with a team-high 22 points, including three key three-pointers, as the Bears took down No. 19 Franklin & Marshall 72-69 on Wednesday night, handing the Diplomats their second conference loss and third loss overall. F&M is 17-3 overall, but just 6-3 in true road games. Ursinus trailed by three at the half before scoring the first seven points of the second half to take the lead for the first time. The teams traded baskets until Matthrew Field knocked down a pair of free throws and Toure hit a 3-pointer to give Ursinus a 59-54 edge with 5:04 remaining. Franklin & Marshall cut the deficit to two just under a minute later behind three straight free throws, but Field answered with four straight points to extend the Bears’ lead to 65-59 with 3:42 remaining. The Diplomats connected on a 3-pointer to pull within 69-66 with 1:07 remaining, but Ursinus closed out the contest at the free-throw line.
After falling on a basket with 1.5 seconds left in Baltimore in early January, Gettysburg exacted revenge on Johns Hopkins and got the series split on the season with its own game-winner with 1.8 seconds left for a 61-59 victory. Josh Herr capped his career-high 14-point night with the game-winning basket for the Bullets – rattling home a corner 3-pointer as Gettysburg improved to 12-8, and took the Centennial Conference lead at 7-1 in conference play. Baskets from three Johns Hopkins players on three consecutive possessions capped an 11-2 burst that put the visitors back in front 50-49 with 4:39 on the clock. A Ray Zamloot triple on the next Gettysburg possession made it a 52-50 lead and the teams went back and forth until the end. Zamloot pulled up in the lane and hit a floater with 41.6 seconds left for a 58-57 edge. Felti responded at the other, getting to the rim and laying one home with 29.7 seconds to put the Blue Jays (15-5, 6-2) back in front by one. Inbounding in the frontcourt with 24.4 seconds on the clock, the Bullets wound the clock down and Caleb Gillus kicked to Herr in the right corner and the sophomore rattled home the triple for a two-point lead with 1.8 seconds showing and the defense held for the two-point victory.
Casen Lawrence hit on eight of 12 from three-point range and Noah Cleveland was one assist short of a triple-double as No. 16 Illinois Wesleyan defeated Wheaton 82-71. Cleveland finished with 12 points and 17 rebounds while going 6-for-11 from the floor (and 0-for-5 from the line). The Titans (17-4, 9-3) were red-hot from beyond the arc, knocking down 17 of 32 attempts from three-point range. Lawrence’s eight makes are tied for second-most in program history, while IWU’s 17 three-point makes are the most since Nov. 17, 2017 when the Titans converted 20 against Alma.
Grinnell knotted up the Midwest Conference race as the Pioneers defeated Monmouth 100-85 on Wednesday night, catching the Scots at 11-1 in league play. The Pioneers have won 14 of their last 15 games, with the only loss in that span coming at Monmouth on Jan. 13. Grinnell’s last defeat before that was back on Nov. 19. Grinnell also halted Monmouth’s eight-game winning streak with the victory. Gabe Garcia had another big offensive game for Grinnell with 18 points, while Zach Rosen also hit double digits with 11. Seven Pioneers scored between six and nine points.
It was a Tigers’ tale in Springfield, Ohio, as DePauw won its third consecutive road game, defeating Wittenberg 61-56. The DePauw Tigers improved to 14-7 overall, 7-5 in the NCAC, while the Wittenberg Tigers fell to 14-6, 7-4, snapping a three-game win streak of their own. Wittenberg held a 34-29 advantage with 13:05 left before Caleb Washington hit a jumper and Eli Ellis knocked in a three to even the score. Nine lead changes followed before DePauw took the lead for good at 46-45 on Brady Kunka’s bucket with 6:06 left which started a 10-1 stretch. Witt closed to within three with 13 seconds left before Washington hit a pair of free throws to seal the victory. Washington and Kunka each scored 16 in the win. Wittenberg and DePauw are in a cluster of teams chasing Denison (14-6, 9-2), in a conference chase where five teams are within two and a half games of each other. Denison defeated Wabash (13-7, 7-4) to remain two games ahead of John Carroll (16-5, 8-4) in the loss column.
Over a nine-minute span, Concordia-Moorhead unleashed a 25-6 counterpunch on Carleton that put the Cobbers up 68-61 with 3:38 remaining in the game. The Knights (12-9, 8-4 MIAC) dragged the game back, and Tobias Averill nailed a clutch triple with eight seconds remaining to square the game at 73-73. Each team then turned the ball over, giving Concordia possession with two seconds remaining. The Cobbers (15-6, 7-5) captured the game with a banked 3-pointer from Peyton Belka as the clock expired. Belka drew a foul on his attempt and hit his free throw to set the final score at 77-73.
Rowan continued its January bounceback into the month of February, as the Profs defeated Kean 92-76 to pick up their fourth win in a row. Taz Cantey and Brycen Williams scored 20 points apiece to pace the Profs. After taking a 10-point halftime lead, Rowan expanded on it by outscoring Kean, 13-4, in the first nine minutes of the second half, to go up, 62-48. Rowan started of the season 0-8 and 2-11 but have rallied to improve to 8-13 overall and 8-6, crucially, in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. The Profs are tied for fourth place with New Jersey City.
Northwestern (Minn.) had a similarly dismal start to the season, losing 12 of its first 14 games, but things have looked up for the Eagles of late as they have won four of their last six, including a 99-77 win against UW-Superior on Wednesday night in which Japheth Nyamari flooded the basket with points, going 10-for-13 from three-point range and 15-for-25 from the floor on his way to 40 points. It’s his fifth game of 30 or more points on the season, and during Northwestern’s last six games, he has averaged 24.5 points per contest.