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Saturday men: Titles taken, bubbles popped

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Saturday men: Titles taken, bubbles popped
Andre Thomas’s layup was released a split-second after the buzzer, but it didn’t matter, as Penn State-Harrisburg had already sealed the win, 72-71 at Cairn.
Penn State-Harrisburg athletics photo
 

TCNJ took down Montclair State again, Grinnell got back to the tournament, UW-La Crosse won the WIAC tournament for the first time and much more in Saturday’s Division III men’s basketball conference tournaments.

Down 79-72 with 3:02 on the clock and TCNJ leading scorer Nick Koch on the bench having fouled out, the Lions turned to David Alexandre. First came a 3-pointer to make it 79-75. Next was a lay-in from Lucas Dipasupil to trim the deficit to two. Khalid Bakare forced a Red Hawks turnover on the ensuing possession and it was Alexandre beating the shot clock for a second time in three attempts to level things at 79. A jumper by Montclair State’s Kabrien Goss threatened to halt TCNJ’s momentum, but Alexandre would not be denied, working his way into the paint and hitting another layup for his sixth and seventh points in the span of 1:40 to knot things once again at 81 and force a Red Hawks timeout.

Gosse got a good look from deep out of the break but missed, and it was Dipasupil forcing the rebound off a Montclair player to give the Lions back the ball with 34 seconds left. The ball found its way to Alexandre out of a TCNJ timeout and he delivered once again.

With time winding down on the shot clock, Alexandre drove right and spun into the paint, but lost his balance. The junior kept his composure to find a cutting Matthew Solomon, and in storybook fashion it was the senior slamming the ball home to give TCNJ its first lead since the 4:58 mark of the first half. The Red Hawks missed a layup on the other end but got an offensive rebound, but there to end things was Solomon, who got his fingers on what would have been the game-winning triple to secure the 83-81 victory and a second NJAC championship in three seasons. Alexandre finished with 24 points, 18 of them in the final 10 minutes of the game.

 

In the Ohio Athletic Conference, No. 5 seed Heidelberg upset No. 2 seed Otterbein, 82-75. That means the OAC may well steal an at-large bid, as Otterbein is right above the cut line, currently projected as the last at-large team in of 21. Mount Union was already assured of an at-large bid. Heidelberg took an early lead, going on a 15-2 run with five 3-pointers in a three minute span. From there, the Student Princes nursed that lead into a 10-point advantage at halftime. In the second half, The Berg withstood every Otterbein charge — never once allowing the Cardinals to have possession in a one-score game. Down the stretch, HU sank enough foul shots from the line to be in control until the final horn. Jarveil Gainey had a game-high 21 points and nine rebounds, while Marcos Vazquez had 18 points.

Trailing by six points with 38 seconds remaining, Roanoke rallied to defeat the No. 1 team in the nation, Randolph-Macon, 59-58 in the ODAC men’s championship game. It’s Roanoke’s 11th title in program history, but the first since 2000. The Yellow Jackets led 58-52 with 38 seconds left and Marcus Morgan made the first of two free throws and missed the second. Gavin O’Malley grabbed the rebound and fed a cutting Ryan Truitt for a layup and make it a one-possession game. R-MC missed the front end of a 1-and-1 but Caleb Franze did not miss either of his two attempts from the charity stripe to cut it to 58-57 with 22 seconds on the clock. After the Yellow Jackets missed again on the first end of a 1-and-1, Jackson Bell banked in a running jumper in traffic with 8.1 seconds left. The Maroon defense forced a tough shot on the defensive end and Morgan grabbed the rebound to clinch the title.

The new-look Grinnell Pioneers still win with depth. They still win with their press. And these days, they can win even when the three-pointers aren’t falling. Grinnell rolled out to a 17-point halftime lead even while starting 4-for-20 from three-point range, and extended it into a runaway in the second half as the Pioneers won the Midwest Conference tournament for the second consecutive year, defeating Monmouth 85-56 in front of a packed house at Darby Gymnasium. Grinnell won its 12th consecutive game to improve to 22-3. Zach Rosen led Grinnell’s balanced scoring attack with 14 points, while Tyler Copes and Nick Lundy had 10 apiece. Copes continued his dominance inside by blocking five shots.

Making its fourth-ever appearance in the WIAC tournament title game, UW-La Crosse got its first tournament title, as Sam Grieger scored a game-high 33 points in an 81-78 win at UW-Whitewater. The Warhawks led 73-67 with 3:57 left, but two free throws from Dustin Derousseau and four straight points from Grieger tied the game with 2:03 remaining. Jake Quast’s layup gave UW-Whitewater a 75-73 lead with 1:38 left. After JJ Paider converted one of two free throws for UWL with 1:18 remaining to make it a one point game, and after a Marino turnover, Jacob Butler’s layup with 0:59 left gave the Eagles a 76-75 lead. Madson missed a three-point attempt and Paider converted on a three-point play to extend UWL’s lead to 79-75 with :16 remaining. Isaac Verges’ three-point play with :08 left cut the deficit to one. Derousseau made one free throw for an 80-78 lead, but the rebound on the second attempt went out of-bounds off UW-Whitewater. Grieger made one of two free throws with four seconds remaining and Madson’s three-point attempt at the buzzer missed.

Loras shot 58% from the floor in the second half and limited its crosstown rival to 5-for-21 shooting from beyond the arc for the game as the Duhawks defeated the University of Dubuque 83-62. The city of Dubuque’s two Division III schools battled it out in front of a packed house at Loras for the American Rivers Conference trophy, and the victorious Duhawks were led by 24 points from Damyen Jackson and 23 from Jack Haynes, as the pair combined to go 17-for-25 from the floor. It’s the second NCAA Tournament trip in three years for Loras, which improved to 20-7.

Rhodes has Trinity’s number this season, as the Lynx took a third game from the Tigers, defeating Trinity (Texas) 79-76. With the win, the Lynx improve to 23-4 overall and earn the SAA’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Jackson Huxtable led the Lynx with a game-high 25 points on an efficient 7-of-11 shooting performance, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and a perfect 8-of-8 at the free throw line. He added four rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Phil Dotson, who was named Tournament MVP, finished with 18 points while shooting 4-of-6 from three-point range and adding four assists and three steals. Both Dotson and Huxtable were selected to the SAA All-Tournament Team. Trinity will still make the NCAA Tournament, meaning the SAA is also a bid thief conference.

Bethany Lutheran punched its ticket to the dance for the fourth consecutive season as the Vikings hit the buzzer beater on the road to get past Minnesota-Morris 76-75 in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference title game. The lead swapped three times in four minutes as Morris hit a three with 1:52 on the clock to go up 71-69. With 45 seconds left, the Cougars hit a fadeaway jumper off the glass to go up five, putting all the pressure on the Vikings. Brady Ingersoll was fouled on the other end and made the first free throw, but the second missed and Jack Brockmann came down with a clutch offensive rebound. He then made one of two from the charity stripe to make it a three-point game. Morris missed a free throw on the other end and the Vikings had an opportunity to tie the game, but missed three shots from beyond the arc. Bethany was able to recover three offensive rebounds to keep the game alive and on the third, Hudsen Jenniges hit a putback, making it a one-point game with seven seconds. The Cougars were immediately fouled and sent to the line, but missed the one-and-one shot. Jenniges came down with the rebound and Ingersoll did the rest, sinking the floating jumper in the lane as time expired. Ingersoll was named tournament MVP for his efforts, finishing the game with 15 points, three rebounds, and a steal. Brockmann led the offense with 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting, including 11 rebounds, six assists and four steals.

Washington & Jefferson outscored Westminster (Pa.) 11-3 over the final 3:40 to rally for a 68-61 victory Saturday night in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference title game, played in front of nearly 1,200 fans at W&J’s packed Salvitti Family Gymnasium. The victory clinched the 11th PAC crown for the Presidents in program history and the first since 2022. Leading the Presidents (22-6) in scoring was senior guard Matt Seidl, who finished with 16 points and team-highs with three assists and three steals, while junior guard Matthew Carte matched him with 16 points. Both were also named all-tournament team.

For the first time in Keuka men’s basketball history, the program won the Empire 8 conference championship, defeating SUNY Brockport 83-80. Tournament MVP Lamar Lovelace led the Wolves (15-13), who were the No. 7 seed, with 24 points. He was one of four Wolves in double figures. The Golden Eagles went up by one, but Lamar Lovelace drove to the basket to give the Wolves the lead back. Popoola hit a corner three for the Wolves. Brockport stepped into a three with 1:15 remaining to make it 81-79. It would be a one-point game in the final seconds. The Wolves had the ball and Malik Junious-Fuller was fouled with nine seconds left. The freshman went 2-for-2 from the line to make the lead three. Brockport had a late three to tie miss and the ball rolled to the floor as the buzzer sounded and the Wolves held on for the win.

Hood needed double overtime, but eventually outlasted York (Pa.) to win the MAC Commonwealth conference championship game, 103-98. Jevon Yarbrough scored a career high 44 points while dishing eight assists and eight rebounds to earn the tournament’s MVP trophy. Yarbrough broke the program’s single-season scoring and assists records in the contest. Yarbrough, a junior, has scored 690 points on the season and 1,132 for his career. In the first overtime the Blazers had a three-point lead, but a late foul on a three pointer sending Haberern of the Spartans would tie the game on three swishes. The remaining 1:41 would go scoreless. Hood (24-3) set the tone in the second overtime with Kullen Robinson dancing through traffic and laying in the 90-88 and then Yarbrough followed up with a corner three to capture the crowd. The foul game would begin and the Blazers sank eight free throws to finish it off. York fell to 20-7.

John Carroll moved from the Ohio Athletic Conference to the North Coast Athletic Conference this year and the result was a conference tournament title as the Blue Streaks (22-6) knocked off Denison 84-66 on Saturday. Luke Chicone had game-highs with 39 points and five assists as he broke the program’s record for assists, one which was 73 years old. Chicone’s sixth triple of the opening half sent the Blue Streaks into the locker room with a 12-point lead, and the halftime speech had every player and coach ready to run through a brick wall. Coach Pete Moran reminded the team that they had 20 minutes to cement themselves as champions, as legends, and they did, finishing the game with 53% shooting from the floor and 13-for-27 from three-point range.

Tommy Scholl, who was named the MAC Freedom Tournament Most Valuable Player, led the way with a team-high 19 points for Stevens, as the Ducks defeated Misericordia 68-59 in the MAC Freedom title game. The Ducks shot 50% (15-of-30) from the floor in the opening half while holding Misericordia to just 23.3% (7-of-30). Misericordia responded quickly to open the second half, embarking on a 6-0 run over the first 1:44. A Chhabra layup and a Scholl three-pointer pushed the lead back to 15. Loscalzo followed with a jumper to make it 53-37, but the Cougars countered with a 15-5 run to close within six at 58-52 with 3:23 remaining. After the teams traded baskets, Chhabra stretched the lead back to eight with a layup. A Misericordia free throw with 55 seconds left made it 63-57, but Stevens sealed the victory with four straight points from the charity stripe — two each from Loscalzo and Chhabra.

Pfeiffer opened up an 11-2 lead three minutes into the USA South title game but N.C. Wesleyan came right back to tie the game at 14-14 with just under 12 minutes remaining in the opening stanza. The Battling Bishops took their first lead of the contest with just over two minutes left in the half before the Falcons went on a 5-0 run to head to the break up by three points. After battling back to tie the game twice in the first part of the second half, N.C. Wesleyan went on a 13-5 run to take a lead it would not relinquish. Pfeiffer would get to within one point with just over eight minutes to go but that would be as close as they would get as the Battling Bishops held on for the championship. N.C. Wesleyan was led by Rashod Smith who scored a team-high 24 points with a game-high six assists. Justin Burden also contributed 17 points, five rebounds, and one steal in the win while also being named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

Maine-Farmington won a conference title for the first time since 2010 as the Beavers pulled away from Maine-Presque Isle, winning the North Atlantic Conference title game 84-58. Brayden St. Pierre changed the game in the second half on both ends of the floor. Following a three-pointer by UMPI’s Doug McCalla, St. Pierre hit a pair of threes and added a layup in transition to spark a 10-0 run, pushing the Beavers’ lead to 17 and effectively putting the game out of reach. St. Pierre scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half while McLaughlin scored a game-high 19 to lead the Beavers (22-5).

 

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