| Randolph-Macon athletics photo |
No. 6 Randolph-Macon got a big non-conference win, No. 16 Illinois Wesleyan shot the lights out, No. 23 UW-La Crosse won its fifth consecutive game, Catholic celebrated the 25th anniversary of its national championship and more in Division III men’s basketball action on Saturday, Feb. 7.
No. 6 Randolph-Macon posted a big non-conference win on Saturday as the Yellow Jackets got 24 points from Liam Joyce on the way to topping No. 2 Mary Washington 85-74. Kye Robinson struggled for the second consecutive game against Top 25 competition, after dealing with foul trouble vs. Christopher Newport. Robinson was held to six points, all from the foul line. Macon scored 12 of the first 18 points to extend a halftime lead to 53-37, and Mary Washington (18-3) did not get any closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Noah Cleveland, Mason Funk and senior Karlo Colak combined for 76 points as Illinois Wesleyan defeated Elmhurst 91-69. Cleveland scored 32 and was practically unstoppable, as he shot 14-for-17 from the floor. Funk scored 23, had game-highs with eight rebounds and seven assists, and Colak finished with 21 points and seven boards. The Titans shot a scorching 66.7 percent from the floor (34-for-51) and hit on 7-of-15 from three-point range.
UW-La Crosse extended its winning streak to five with a 92-67 victory over UW-Platteville Saturday night in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles, ranked 23rd in this week’s D3hoops.com Top 25, improve to 16-5 overall and 6-4 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference while the Pioneers, receiving votes in the poll, drops to 14-7, 6-4. The Eagles, who never trailed, snapped a six-game losing streak to the Pioneers with Saturday’s win. Sam Grieger led all scorers with 31 points for the Eagles while adding seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Catholic recognized the 25th anniversary of its 2001 Division III men’s basketball national championship team and the Cardinals moved two games ahead of the field in the Landmark Conference as they defeated Moravian 97-69 and Scranton fell to Elizabethtown, 79-72. Catholic is now 12-2 in the Landmark (16-5 overall) while Drew (16-5, 10-4) and Scranton (17-4, 10-4) are each two games behind. Drew holds the head-to-head advantage thanks to a sweep of Scranton. It was Catholic’s first full game without Brian Herbert, who was injured in the Wednesday game vs. Juniata, but Peter Gellene did his best Pat Maloney impression, scoring 24 points on 10-for-14 shooting, going 4-for-6 from beyond the arc.
Jeb Williams scored a career-high 22 points to lead Johns Hopkins to an 84-78 win at Ursinus in Centennial Conference action. The Blue Jays improve to 16-5 overall and 7-2 in the conference, while the Bears fall to 13-8 and 6-3. Matthew Field and Jamie Murphy made back-to-back layups to pull the Bears within one with 1:13 to play. Williams answered with a layup but a pair of Field free throws cut the lead back to one with 28 ticks on the clock. The Blue Jays went 6-1 from the charity stripe in the final 22 seconds to hold on for the win.
Union overcame a slow start to outscore Hobart by 10 points in the second half and earn its first season sweep of the Statesmen since 2017-18 with a hard-fought 75-68 victory on Senior Day. The victory improves Union to 17-4 overall and 12-2 in Liberty League play, tying three previous teams (2012-13, 2017-18 and 2019-20) for the most conference wins in a season in program history. With four conference games remaining, Union remains tied atop the Liberty League with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, one game clear of Vassar College in third place. With all five seniors starting, junior Tanner Tedesco came off the bench for just the second time in his career but still led the team with 21 points.
Babson was able to keep pace with WPI and remain one game back in the NEWMAC standings, as the Beavers got 21 points from Thomas Ferdinando and 14 off the bench from Timmy Mulvey in a 71-56 win against Springfield. The Beavers (15-6, 9-3 NEWMAC) held the Pride without a three-pointer all game, as Springfield shot 0-for-10 from beyond the arc. WPI has already swept Babson in the NEWMAC schedule. At the top of the conference, Justin Molen scored 13 of his team-high 19 points after halftime as WPI sprinted out to a sizable lead, weathered a strong second-half surge from Salve Regina, and then pulled away late to edge the Seahawks 70-58.
Washington & Jefferson knocked off the top team in the PAC North Division and moved into a three-way tie for first in the PAC South as the Presidents downed Westminster (Pa.) 105-84. Alex Acosta got the business of entering the W&J 1,000-point club out of the way early, then went on to finish with a team-high 19 points, shooting 7-for-9 from the field in the process. The Presidents (16-5, 9-3 PAC) came out hot and opened the game with a 14-2 lead. Quinton Burlenski connected on two three-pointers, one of which he was fouled on, and converted the free-throw to complete the four-point play. Westminster (13-8, 8-4) was able to chip away at the lead, cutting it down to six, but that was as close as they would get.