| It was a memorable night at TCNJ, as the fans stormed the court following the Lions’ win against No. 1 Montclair State. TCNJ athletics photo by @pictorialbydesign |
Once again, there will be no unbeaten teams when Division III men’s basketball enters the NCAA Tournament as TCNJ handed top-ranked Montclair State its first loss, Ohio Northern knocked off No. 17 Otterbein, and more in action on Wednesday, Feb. 18.
The last unbeaten team in Division III men’s basketball this season was Montclair State, and their quest to run the table came to an end as the NJAC-leading Red Hawks fell at the conference’s second place team, 94-85 on Wednesday night. In doing so, TCNJ kept Montclair from becoming the first NJAC team to run the table in the regular season, and preserved the conference record for longest winning streak for itself. TCNJ, when it was called Trenton State and was led by Greg Grant, made a run to the 1999 national title game and won 25 consecutive games in the process. Nick Koch shook off a slow first half to finish with a team-high 26 points (21 after intermission), Matthew Solomon came within a whisker of a triple-double, and Jonathan Okocha picked the perfect moment for his best game in months as TCNJ (19-6, 14-4) ended the regular season with a signature victory.
It was 69-67 after a Kabrien Goss 3 for the Red Hawks, but the Lions had their answer at the ready as Koch buried a 3-pointer of his own and set up David Alexandre’s fast-break bucket to push the spread back out to seven, 74-67. MSU got a dunk on the other end to get as close as five, only for the Lions to rattle off seven straight points over a span of four-plus minutes. The win was TCNJ’s first vs. Montclair State since a double-OT thriller at home on Dec. 4, 2021.
Ohio Northern won for the eighth time in nine games and did so in dramatic fashion as Conye Gaston scored with 7.6 seconds left on an up-and-under putback and Aiden Harris drew a charge with 1.6 seconds left as Ohio Northern got back to its winning ways, defeating No. 17 Otterbein 54-53 in Ada, Ohio on Wednesday night. The Cardinals (20-4, 12-3 OAC) led 52-46 with four minutes left in the game before ONU scored eight of the final nine points. It was also the eighth win in the past nine games for the Polar Bears (16-8, 11-4).
“That was a good old fashioned OAC grinder,” Polar Bears coach Jon Tropf said after the game. “We got down and our guys just did not quit. I remember thinking, we were down six with four minutes to play, and I said, ‘this is exactly where we want to be.’ We’ve been here a lot, and I’m just super proud of our guys.”
Gaston’s game-winner gave him the team-high in the scoring column, as he contributed 12 points off the bench and a team-best 12 rebounds as well.
Wilkes took down rival Scranton for the second time this season and knocked the Royals out of the running for the No. 1 seed in the Landmark Conference tournament as the Colonels won at Scranton, 77-74. Wilkes has defeated Scranton seven consecutive times in Landmark Conference play. The Royals shook off an early 16-4 deficit to tie the game at 25, then later took a 49-47 lead on a Brendan Carr three-pointer in the second half. Scranton battled back and re-took the lead once again with 1:03 left in the game, making it a 74-73 contest in the dying moments. At the 55-second mark, Lucas Lesko made a layup, putting the Colonels back in front yet again. Lesko hit another layup with just 11 seconds left to make it a three-point game and Wilkes got a stop on the final possession. Leso and Jack Argenton finished with 23 apiece as Wilkes improved to 15-9, 10-7 in Landmark Conference play. Scranton fell to 19-5, 12-5 in conference headed into the regular season finale at Catholic (18-6, 14-3).
Gettysburg won its 11th consecutive game and locked up the top seed in the Centennial Conference tournament as the Bullets defeated McDaniel 64-53. Over the course of this streak, Gettysburg has gone from 5-8 to 16-8 and the Bullets are now two games ahead of Franklin and Marshall, Johns Hopkins and Ursinus, each of whom are tied for second at 9-3 in the conference. Ray Zamloot scored a team-high 17 points, reaching double figures for the 14th consecutive game, while Aidan Mess added 10 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots.
The teams are beginning to stack up behind No. 1 seed Gustavus Adolphus in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament chase. Gustavus had the night off after its game against St. Scholastica was postponed for a day when Duluth, Minnesota, was socked with around a foot of snow. It was a different story elsewhere, where Concordia-Moorhead, in a different corner of the state, welcomed St. Olaf and sent the Oles home with a 74-59 defeat. That leaves St. Olaf at 11-4 in conference play, and Concordia, Carleton and St. John’s each at 10-5, followed by Augsburg at 16-8, 9-6. Those are the six teams who will make the MIAC tournament, although the order behind the No. 1 seed is anyone’s guess.
Conference tournaments got underway as the No. 10 seed advanced in the United East Conference tournament, with Keystone winning at St. Mary’s (Md.). Jden Golding scored a game-high 29 points, 18 of them in the second half, while Ahmodrion Jones added 22 points to help the Giants improve to 8-18. Opening-round play in the North Atlantic Conference is on tap for Thursday evening, with more tournamnts underway on Saturday.