| University of Chicago athletics file photo |
No. 4 University of Chicago got UAA play off in a big way, No. 1 Trinity (Conn.) got a big win in NESCAC action, No. 10 Montclair State needed a late flurry to win and the WIAC made its usual headlines in Saturday’s Division III men’s basketball action.
The University of Chicago went on a 19-0 run in the first half to blow the game open and the No. 4 Maroons went on to roll past No. 8 Washington University-St. Louis 85-62 as the teams got their University Athletic Association schedule off with a bang. Shane Regan, the Maroons’ transfer from Wesleyan, led Chicago (11-1, 1-0) with 20 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, while Nick Roper, the Maroons’ transfer from Illinois Wesleyan, added 13 points and Eamonn Kenah scored 19 points in the win. Chicago won its ninth consecutive game, the team’s longest streak since 2002-03.
Jarrel Okorougo scored a game-high 18 points, while Henry Vetter added 13 and Samuel Norris 12 as No. 1 Trinity (Conn.) improved to 14-0 and 2-0 in NESCAC play with a 73-57 win vs. Williams. The Bantams shot 62.5 percent from the floor in the first half and went 5-for-9 from three-point range in the first half and cruised to the win. EJ Sommers led Williams with 17 points, but the remainder of the Ephs combined to shoot 13-for-40 from the floor, or 32.5%.
No. 10 Montclair State needed two three-pointers in the final five seconds, and got them, as the Red Hawks remained undefeated by getting past Stockton 94-92. Down by six, Ahmad Robertson converted a layup with 1:14 on the clock, and a dunk from Myles Primas coming out of a timeout made it a 90-88 game with just under a minute remaining. After Stockton hit a pair of free throws with 15 seconds left, the Red Hawks called a timeout and climbed to within one on a shot from beyond the arc from Morales. On the ensuing possession, Montclair forced a turnover on the in-bounds pass leading to a three-pointer from Goss in front of the home bench to vault Montclair ahead by the final margin.
UW-Platteville continued its recent surge, winning its fifth consecutive game as the Pioneers took down No. 6 UW-La Crosse 89-78. Platteville has beaten two ranked conference opponents this week, both at home, part of a streak which has helped the Pioneers shake off a 6-3 start. Miles Hettinger scored a team-high 23 points off the bench, while Bristol Lewis added 22 among five players who scored in double figures. Platteville was 9-for-18 from three-point range. Sam Grieger, who set La Crosse’s single-game scoring record earlier in the week with 46 points at Oshkosh, led all scorers with 27 points.
No. 17 UW-Eau Claire snapped its two-game winning streak, as Andre Renta hit a stepback jumper with 10 seconds left and UW-Stout’s answer was offline as the Blugolds won the War on 94 rivalry game, 68-66. Renta had also hit a layup with 43 seconds left to put Eau Claire up 66-63. The game featured 13 lead changes and nine ties. It’s Eau Claire’s first win in WIAC play this season as the Blugolds improved to 12-2, 1-2 in conference. Stout fell to 5-9, 1-2. The game was moved to Stout because of leaky roof issues at Eau Claire.
A Bryce Breeden layup with 18 seconds left plus a final defensive stand against three shot attempts pushed Washington and Lee to a 58-57 win over No. 15 Roanoke. The Generals (11-2, 3-1 ODAC) trailed by four points with three minutes to play before senior Colin Ryan hit shots on back-to-back possessions to tie the game, 54-54, at the 2:15 mark. The teams then traded one layup each to make it a 56-56 game with 1:26 remaining. After one stop apiece on the ensuing possessions, the Maroons (9-4, 2-2) went to the line with 34 seconds, but Caleb Franze made just 1-of-2 attempts. On the other end, Ryan drove into the lane and found Breeden on the baseline for the go-ahead reverse layup. Connor Amorosi finished with a game-high 18 points for W&L.
Wyatt Eglinton Manner drained a turn-around jumper with 1.5 seconds left to lift 24th-ranked Johns Hopkins to a 58-56 win over Gettysburg in the Centennial Conference opener. The Blue Jays improve to 10-3 overall while the Bullets fall to 5-8. Caleb Gillus tied the game at 56 with 11 seconds to play on a layup off an Aidan Mess helper. That set up Eglinton Manner’s go-ahead bucket from the elbow as the clocked ticked under two seconds. The Bullets had one last chance, but their in-bounds pass sailed out of bounds. Eglinton Manner led all scorers with 21 points, going 9-of-13 from the floor.
Aedan Using turned in the first triple-double for Brandeis since at least 2002 with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the hosts past visiting New York University, 88-85. Brandeis’s advantage bulged as high as 17 points after junior Ali Kaan Bek dialed long distance with 4:28 left to make it 78-61. NYU’s full-court pressure over the final stretch was effective, as the Violets (9-3, 0-1 UAA) were able to claw within single digits with 2:05 to go. Brandeis’s 11-point lead with 34 second left withstood NYU’s Carnegie Johnson, who scored the Violets’ final seven points as they clawed within the final three-point margin before time expired. Brandeis improved to 8-4, 1-0 in UAA play.
New Jersey City improved to 10-4 overall and 6-1 in the NJAC with a decisive 75-58 road victory at William Paterson. The Gothic Knights (10-4, 6-1 NJAC) shot 47.8% from the field and dominated in the paint, outscoring the Pioneers 50-24. NJCU forced 26 turnovers, converting them into 30 points. Bakhi Rogers-Robinson paced NJCU with 19 points on an efficient 9-of-14 shooting, adding nine rebounds, three assists, and three steals in 32 minutes. William Paterson (6-8, 1-6) was led by Jack Gobel, who scored a game-high 23 points on 8-of-17 shooting, including six three-pointers.
Behind a game-high 30 points from Jack Plesser, Union outscored Ithaca by a 26-3 margin over an eight-minute stretch of the second half to pull away from the Bombers in an 81-73 victory. Plesser recorded his second 30-point game of the season and third of his career to pace Union (10-2, 5-0 Liberty League), hitting 10-of-15 shots from the field and 10-of-13 from the line to go with seven rebounds and four blocks. Saturday’s game was decided in the second half, when the Garnet Chargers shot 57.7 percent (15 of 26) from the field and 84.2 percent (16 of 19) from the line to outscore Ithaca (3-9, 2-3) by 15 points and get off to the best start to a conference slate in program history.
Westfield State coach Rich Sutter earned his 400th career win as the Owls head men’s basketball coach as his team topped Worcester State 85-64 in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference contest. Westfield was led by 22 points and four assists from Jason James, and got 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists from Kenney Rogers as the Owls improved to 10-3, 2-0 in MASCAC play. Sutter took over a five-win team and was 6-19 in his first season, which was back in 1998-99, but has had the Owls on a run over the past 10 years, winning 20 or more games four times and getting the MASCAC title in three of the last five years with three NCAA tournament appearances in that span and four overall. Sutter is 400-300 overall.