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November 21, 2008
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Hope floats one, Caz crushed
Travis Spaman hit an 18-footer with 0.8 seconds remaining in the game to lead Hope to a 54-53 upset of St. Norbert. The Green Knights, the No. 6 seed in the West, had taken a 53-52 lead on No. 10 Hope on a layup with 10 seconds left before Hope's Chad Carlson drove the lane and kicked it out to the freshman (left) for the game-winner. Hope advances to face Carthage on Saturday. It was one of only three first-round games decided by fewer than seven points, as the 2002 first round was the least competitive of the three held under the current selection format. Williams rolled No. 48-seeded Cazenovia out of the tournament by blowing the Wildcats away 121-49, in the largest blowout in Division III tournament history. Great Lakes No. 9 seed Lycoming shut down No. 7 seed Gettysburg 78-59. Check out first-round scores with game stories. Atlantic No. 11 Cabrini turned the tables on No. 7 Kings Point as the Cavaliers pulled away to an 85-73 win. And the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference put two teams into the second round as Tillman Sims and Brad Merriweather each posted double-doubles to lead Alvernia past Ithaca 76-67. The seeded bracket. | |
| Permalink | Feb 28, 2002 | |
Women's tourney openers complete Thirty-six of the 50 women's tournament teams begin their journeys on the Road to Terre Haute tonight, including a thriller in our featured broadcast game, with sophomore All-American Allison Coleman hitting one of two free throws with 4.2 seconds remaining to give No. 7-ranked Eastern Connecticut State a 62-61 victory in first-round action over Salem State. Case Western got a half-court shot at the buzzer by Jasmine Rowan to advance past Mt. St. Mary 59-56. It was half of an Ohio-at-New York sweep, as Ohio Wesleyan knocked off Buffalo State 71-61. Emmanuel started on the upset road again, as the No. 11 Saints knocked off No. 6 Southern Maine 63-51. We've got the night's scores, with game stories. | |
| Permalink | Feb 27, 2002 | |
Bubble bursts for Capital, F&M, Hanover
After compiling 23 wins and a handful of narrow losses, Capital found itself on the outside looking in when the NCAA Tournament pairings were released Sunday night. The 23 wins by head coach Damon Goodwin's squad were the most among teams that did not get in the tournament, along with Christopher Newport. "One of the things that we wanted to make sure we looked at was their in-region record and we have to regardless of who they lost to, they still compiled those losses," said NCAA men's basketball committee chair Tom Hart in an exclusive live question-and-answer session on D3hoops.com. "There were a couple of criteria that gave pause to the committee. It made us look at Capital hard. We're not really looking at point differentials. It's not one of the criteria." Capital was 20-5 in the all-important regional record. Hanover, also left out of the tournament despite being the only team to defeat Washington U., having finished 13-5 in the region. Franklin & Marshall was left out despite being 4-2 against NCAA Tournament teams. "While we can talk about how they did against teams in the tournament, there are 10 other pieces of information that are going to be evaluated," said Hart. "We have 11 different pieces of information that we were evaluating and results against teams in the tournament was only one." F&M was 17-5 in its region. Meanwhile, the women's tournament selections went almost entirely as we expected, as 13 of the 14 at-large bids (Pool B and Pool C) went as projected. | |
| Permalink | Feb 24, 2002 | |
WIAC season comes down to last shot
OSHKOSH, Wis. – If any one game epitomizes the competitiveness of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, this would be it. The No. 1 and No. 3 seed, conference co-champions, battling to the last second for a championship. Junior forward Tim Dworak saved the day for the Titans, sinking a perfect 3-pointer from the low corner with two seconds left to give UW-Oshkosh a thrilling 70-69 victory over UW-Whitewater in the WIAC Tournament championship game in front of 1,578 boisterous fans at Kolf Sports Center Saturday night. Jake Wolter hit a pair of free throws with 33 seconds left to put the Warhawks up, 69-67 and the Titans brought the ball down the court. But it wasn't Dworak who was originally slated to wear the net around his shoulders; it was supposed to be junior Scott Sowinski. Not finding an open shot, Sowinski called for a timeout with 3.6 seconds left. Before the clock could start again, Whitewater called a timeout to double-check its defensive preparation. Once play resumed Sowinski took the inbounds and proceeded to the basket, but he stumbled, lobbing the ball to a wide-open Dworak in the corner. Dworak flicked the wrist, the buzzer sounded and the Titans — and their fans — mobbed the court. "We drew up a play for Scotty to dribble-penetrate his guy and he fell down, getting the ball to me for the open shot," Dworak said. "Just felt like a good shot coming off my hand." Head coach Ted Van Dellen wasn't worried when Sowinski fell, knowing they had an alternative. "When we called the time out," Van Dellen said. "The guys said let's go for the win. I said let's get them in overtime." "But we had an option when Scotty fell, and when you see Tim flick his wrist like that," Van Dellen said. "You know it's going in." The Titans had led most of the game, enjoying leads of seven and eight points in the first half before heading into halftime up by three, 38-35. UW-Whitewater made a run at the Titans in the second half bolstered by 12 points from Aubrey Lewis-Beyers. Wolter's 3-pointer at the 1:55 mark put the Warhawks up by two, at 65-63. It was the first time since 19:39 in the first half that UW-Whitewater had a lead. The Titans tied the game twice more in that stretch, each time on a pair of free throws by Sowinski, but Wolter's free throws looked to be the nail in the coffin for UW-Oshkosh. "That's just a great team," UW-Whitewater head coach Pat Miller said. "You have to give Oshkosh a lot of credit. They're a tough team, but I thought we would match up well with them." The victory puts the Titans in the NCAA Divison III Tournament for the first time in five seasons, and caps off one of the most successful campaigns in the program's 108-year history. Dwoark's 3-pointer capped off a 24-point night, while Sowinski finished with 19, in addition to six assists. Lewis-Beyers finished with 20 points for UW-Whitewater, London Donlow and Wolter added 16 and 14 points, respectively. The Titans swept two regular-season meetings with the Warhawks. UW-Oshkosh shared the regular-season title with the Warhawks, who now, despite 21 wins, will have to sit and wait for a call from the NCAA selection committee. | |
| Permalink | Feb 23, 2002 | |
Gettysburg knocks out F&M, 50-47
LANCASTER, Pa. – Curtis McNeil hit the go-ahead free throw with 2.7 seconds left to lift Gettysburg over top-seeded and 16th-ranked Franklin & Marshall 50-47 in the Centennial Conference championship game on Saturday. With the game tied at 47 in the closing seconds, McNeil (left) was fouled by Diplomat center Steve Juskin on a hard drive to the basket and hit the second of two foul shots to give the Bullets (20-6) their second consecutive Centennial championship and make Gettysburg the first back-to-back champions in conference history. Jim Natale's steal on the ensuing possession gave the ball back to the Bullets with 1.7 seconds left before McNeil drained both ends of a 1-and-1 situation to seal the victory. McNeil, who was held to a season-low five points in his regular-season visit to Lancaster, finished with a game-high 18 points this time around. Kevin Boyle scored nine of his 11 points in the decisive second half for Gettysburg, which won for only the second time in its last 19 trips to Mayser Center. In addition, the Bullets set a single-season program record with their 20th win while handing Franklin & Marshall (22-5) its first home loss of 2001-02. With the win, Gettysburg earned its second consecutive berth in the NCAA tournament. F&M forward Alex Kraft, who finished with 12 points and six rebounds, had one last chance to send the game into overtime, but his desperation 3-pointer went wide at the final horn. Duran Searles scored a team-best 14 points for the Diplomats while Cas Thomas chipped in with 13 and a game-high eight rebounds. In an atmosphere worthy of a conference championship game, the lead changed hands nine times in the second half before McNeil and the Bullet defense came through in the clutch. With Gettysburg trailing 27-23 early in the second half, Boyle scored seven points to fuel a 7-2 run that gave the Bullets a 32-27 lead. Following an F&M timeout, Searles answered with a 3-pointer and driving layup to put the Diplomats back on top 33-32 with 14:22 left. Gettysburg pulled out to a 44-40 lead by holding the Diplomats scoreless for 6 minutes, 32 seconds. David Glaser hit one of two free throws before Cody Bowers scored five quick points on a 3-pointer and cutting layup to make it 44-40 and force another F&M timeout. Asaf Ganot knocked down a 3 off the stoppage and Thomas hit a short turnaround to give the Diplomats their last lead of the game at 45-44 with 3:43 left. McNeil then drained the last of his three 3-pointers at the 2:46 mark to put the Bullets ahead 47-45. Following a number of empty possessions on both ends of the floor, McNeil missed the front end of a 1-and-1 situation with 39.6 seconds remaining and Searles struck again from the baseline with 16.7 ticks left to knot the game at 47. As the final seconds ticked away, McNeil backed his dribble to the top of the offensive zone, then drove hard to the basket, drawing contact from Juskin and the opportunity to put his team ahead. The senior captain, who entered the game as the CC's top free-throw shooter, rimmed out his first attempt, but converted the second for the championship-winning point. Gettysburg senior Terence Callahan was held to just four points – 10 under his season average – but helped the cause with three assists, three steals and a season-high eight rebounds. | |
| Permalink | Feb 23, 2002 | |
Hope breaks Calvin slump, wins MIAA On Friday, the Hope men's basketball team picked up its first-ever MIAA Tournament victory at the Calvin Fieldhouse. On Saturday night, the Flying Dutchmen picked up their second win at the Fieldhouse and with it, the 2002 MIAA Tournament title. Using a 22-4 scoring run over the final 8:50 of regulation, Hope recorded a stunning 70--63 come-from-behind victory over rival Calvin in front of nearly 4,400 fans at the Calvin Fieldhouse Saturday night. The Hope victory snapped a six-game losing streak against Calvin and also allowed the Flying Dutchmen to capture the MIAA's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The MIAA Tournament title is Hope's first since 1998 and its fourth in school history. Calvin was bidding for its third consecutive MIAA Tournament title and its sixth overall Saturday night but was denied by a Hope team that improved its record against Calvin in MIAA Tournament Championship tilts to 3-0. Calvin ends its season at 20-7, having reached the 20-win plateau for the 13th time in school history while Hope improved to 20-6, reaching the 20-win plateau for the 12th time in school history. Throughout much of the first half, Calvin threatened to run away with the game as the Knights jumped out to a 24-10 lead on the strength of a 15-2 scoring run. Calvin would then build its lead to 17 points at 38-21 on a jumper by junior Tony Westhouse with 1:52 remaining in the half. Hope would score the final six points of the half however, using a bucket by freshman Travis Spaman and back-to-back layups by junior Don Overbeek to close to within 38-27 at the break. Hope then used the momentum to creep to within six points at 38-32 on another bucket by Overbeek and then drew to within four at 41-37 on an Overbeek basket at 16:00 mark. Calvin responded with an 11-3 run capped off by a 3-pointer from the right wing by sophomore Chris Prins to take a 52-40 lead with 12:03 remaining. After Hope clawed to within six points at 52-46, Calvin used a pair of Prins free throws and a three-pointer from junior Rob Dytkstra to go up 57-46. A tip-in by junior Jeremy Veenstra moments later kept Calvin up by 11 at 59-48 with 9:19 left but the Flying Dutchmen would take the momentum from that point on. A 3-pointer by senior Todd Bloemers allowed Hope to creep to within 59-56 with 6:01 to go and a basket by Overbeek with 3:27 left brought Hope to within 61-59. Calvin then missed a pair of free throw attempts and the Flying Dutchmen took advantage as junior Mike VanHekken drilled a 3-point shot from the left wing to give Hope just its second lead of the game at 62-61 with 2:58 remaining. Calvin would never regain the lead as the Knights missed on a 3-point attempt on its next possesion and Spaman followed with a layup to put Hope up 64-61. A pair of free throws by Veenstra pulled Calvin to within a point at 64-63 with 2:07 left on the clock. After a defensive stop, the Knights had a chance to regain the lead but a trio of Calvin shot attempts by the Knights inside were off the mark with Overbeek swatting away two of the shots. Calvin still had possession of the ball when Immink scooted into the corner and collected a steal that led to Veenstra's fifth foul of the game and a pair of VanHekken free throws that put Hope up 66-63. Calvin had a chance to tie but missed on another three-point attempt with 55 seconds left. Hope then sealed the game with an acrobatic layup by Immink and a pair of free throws by Overbeek in the closing seconds. All told, Calvin connected on just one of its final 13 field goal attempts while also hitting just 2-of-6 attempts at the free throw line in the final five minutes of play including two missed attempts on the front end of a pair of bonus situations. Calvin was led in defeat by sophomore Kevin Broene who picked up 17 points while Veenstra had 11 points and nine rebounds and Dykstra 10 points and 12 rebounds. Veenstra extended his double-figure scoring streak to 45 games with his effort Saturday night. Hope was led by Overbeek who dropped in 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds with 19 of his points coming in the second half. Spaman was next with 14 points while junior Chad Carlson had 11. Calvin finished with just a 33.9% field goal shooting clip including just 25.7 percent in the second half. Hope shot 46.4% overall including 50% (14-for-28) in the second half. Hope finished with 15 turnovers but committed just five in the second half. Saturday night's game marked the 149th meeting between the two storied rivals. Calvin continues to lead the series 77-72. Hope's victory Saturday night also marked its first win at the Calvin Fieldhouse since an 87-85 overtime win in January of 1998. | |
| Permalink | Feb 23, 2002 | |
Ohio Wesleyan rallies from 18 down SPINGFIELD, Ohio – It was a tale of two halves – and then came overtime. When the dust had settled, Ohio Wesleyan had rallied from an 18-point deficit to defeat the No. 1 seed and host Wittenberg 81-75 in overtime to capture the NCAC's automatic NCAA Division III women's tournament berth. In the first half, Wittenberg raced out to a double-digit lead and by halftime the Tigers had stretched their advantage to 45-29. The Tigers were dominating on the glass, outrebounding the taller, more experienced Bishops 25-18, including 11 offensive boards. But then came a furious second half rally by OWU, the defending champion and second seed in this year's competition. OWU took the lead for the first time since early in the game at 62-61 on a short jumper by Kelly Heil at the 4:02 mark of the second half. With the momentum on the other side, the Tigers finally fought back but still trailed by three points with six seconds left in the game. That's when Tiger guard Stephanie Campbell drove the length of the court and buried a game-tying 3-pointer just before the buzzer to send the game into overtime. In the extra session, Ohio Wesleyan continued to pound the ball inside as it had done throughout the second half and took control. Wittenberg took an early 3-point lead on a long jumper by freshman Emilie Schmid, but OWU's post play was just too much. Tournament Most Outstanding Player Tiffany Barbee had five points in the overtime, while Mindy Hammond hit for six huge points in the extra session. Barbee finished the game with 22 points and 13 rebounds in 35 minutes off the bench, and she was joined in double figures scoring by Michelle Wolfe with 17 points, Katy Sturtz with 12 and Hammond and Heil with 10 each. Wittenberg was paced by junior guard Kate Rolf, who finished with 21 points. Also reaching double figures were junior guard Stephanie Campbell with 13 points and junior forward Tiffany Keller with 11. | |
| Permalink | Feb 23, 2002 | |
Paterson wins third NJAC title in a row POMONA, N.J. – William Paterson won for the 12th time in 13 games, defeating Richard Stockton 55-49 to win its third consecutive NJAC championship. It was their sixth consecutive win overall and snapped Stockton's eight-game winning streak. Khalid Coursey led William Paterson with 15 points while Rashaan Barner added 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds. James Spell scored 16 points for Stockton followed by Conrad Burnside with 12 markers and Dave Graham with 10 points. Stockton shot just 7-for-24 (29.2%) from the free-throw line in the six-point loss. The first half proved to be a defensive struggle with William Paterson equaling its biggest lead with a 19-15 margin at the break. The Pioneers took the lead at 23-22 with 16:43 left in the second half and Stockton would not lead again. The Ospreys rallied to knot the game 34-34 with 7:28 on the clock, however William Paterson responded with five straight points for a 39-34 lead. The Pioneers went 8-for-9 from the line in the final minute to seal the win. | |
| Permalink | Feb 23, 2002 | |
Hall hits at the buzzer to lift Anderson ANDERSON, Ind. – Anderson sophomore Angel Hall connected on a 17-foot jumper as time expired Saturday to give the Ravens a 62-60 win over Defiance and the HCAC Championship. With the win, the Ravens (21-6) also guaranteed themselves a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Defiance's Michelle Bauer drove the lane and converted a layup with just seven seconds remaining to tie the score at 60. Without calling timeout, Hall took the inbounds pass and drove the length of the floor before hitting the game-winner from the left elbow. Anderson trailed by six points at halftime due to a poor shooting performance (34%) in the first half. Defiance capitalized and won the battle of the boards 36-27, but was unable to put the Ravens away. Hall finished with a game-high 22 points on 8 of 18 shooting. She knocked down four of 11 3-point attempts and collected five rebounds and four assists. Senior Rachel Miller battled foul trouble all afternoon and had to play the final ten minutes with four fouls. However, she was able to avoid her fifth foul and helped keep the Ravens close as they trailed for nearly the entire ballgame. Miller finished with 18 points and seven rebounds. Defiance (21-6) was led by the strong play of Mandy Eberle and Veronica Sharp. Eberle finished with a team-high 17 points and seven rebounds. Sharp added 12 points and five assists. | |
| Permalink | Feb 23, 2002 | |
Carleton finishes MIAC tournament run
ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Karissa Kramer scored 16 points, 14 in the second half, and Beth Freeman added a career-high 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting as No. 25 Carleton beat No. 12 St. Benedict 79-63 for its second consecutive MIAC tournament title and automatic bid. The Knights (23-5) shot 53% (32 of 61) for the game and 64% (18 of 28) in the second half, outscoring the Blazers (23-4) 45-28 in the final 20 minutes. Carleton set a school record for wins in a season. Bethany Koehler added 15 points, including a trio of 3-point baskets. Michelle Barlau paced the Blazers with 16 points. Danni Hannon added 14 points while Kim Johnson tallied 10 points and nine rebounds. Carleton closed the first half with a 9-2 run, capped by Kramer's buzzer-beating layup (pictured). Carleton opened the second 20 minutes with a 10-2 spurt as the Blazers went without a field goal for the final three minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half. "I think it was really big," Carleton head coach Tammy Metalf-Filzen said about the final three minutes of the first half. "We just went in [to the locker room] with confidence. We didn't feel like we played all that well in the first half. Offensively, we stood around and defensively we didn't get out on the shooter the way we wanted. Having that run made a big difference for us." Trailing by seven, the Blazers got jumpers from Barlau and Ashley Brown to crawl within three. Koehler drilled a 3-pointer from the corner, Karen Fricke powered in a layup and Koehler drained another three from the top of the key and Carleton led 56-45. The Knights maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way in cruising to their fourth straight win and 14th in their last 16 games. Metcalf-Filzen pointed to a few half-time adjustments her team made as key to the victory. "One, we had to get out on their shooters and make them put it on the floor," she said. "Two, we had to attack inside and take advantage of being mobile inside. We really put the pressure on them and they tried to score from three and get the big buckets, but we stepped out on them and wouldn't let them do it." Metcalf-Filzen and the Knights also felt that this year's title validated last year's, and hope that their NCAA Tournament experience will extend beyond one game this time. "It's easy for people to say that last year was a great run and a storybook season," Metcalf-Filzen said. "We weren't satisfied – we wanted to be back for a second season. We don't have the tradition that St. Thomas and St. Ben's has, but we're on our way." | |
| Permalink | Feb 23, 2002 | |
Lake Forest upends Carroll for MWC crown WAUKESHA, Wis. – Lake Forest's Katie McCants scored a game-high 14 points and pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds to lead Lake Forest to a 72-56 victory over Carroll in the championship game of the Midwest Conference Championship Tournament at Carroll. The conference title is the third consecutive crown for Lake Forest, its fifth overall. The Foresters have defeated Carroll in each of the last three championship games. Junior Corey Grosskopf led the Lady Pioneers with 10 points, while senior Michelle Fink chipped in with 8 points. Senior Sarah Letourneaux added seven points for Carroll and pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds. “This was just a heartbreaking game,” said head coach Kris Jacobsen. “Things just didn't go our way, but it wasn't due to lack of effort. Lake Forest is an excellent team with an excellent coaching staff and they played very well today.” Neither team shot the ball well, with both teams finishing the game under 36% shooting from the field. Lake Forest outscored Carroll 29-16 from the free-throw line and won the rebounding war 52-34. Jacobsen was obviously disappointed with the result of today's game, but was quick to point out how proud she was of her 20-5 team. “I am so incredibly proud of this team,” she said. “This loss takes nothing away from what this team accomplished.” Jacobsen also commented on her four seniors; Fink, Letourneaux, Carlyn Wilhelmi, and Jessica Koelbl. “They gave everything they had all four years. We are going to miss this classy group of leaders.” | |
| Permalink | Feb 23, 2002 | |
Ripon ends St. Norbert's win streak DE PERE, Wis. – Using a sticky zone defense, Ripon College held No. 15 St. Norbert to 30% field goal shooting to upset the Green Knights 54-45 in the championship game of the Midwest Conference Tournament at Schuldes Sports Center. Ripon (19-6) clinches the MWC's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament with the win, while St. Norbert (21-4) must wait to see if it will earn one of eight at-large bids to the 48-team field. St. Norbert was forced to shoot early and often from the perimeter, and made just seven of 36 3-point attempts, despite open looks, for a frigid 19.4%. Matt Roherty and Phil Leiterman, who led St. Norbert in scoring at 13 and 11 points respectively, combined to make six of 25 3-pointers. The zone also prevented St. Norbert from getting to the free-throw line, as the Green Knights made just two of three attempts from the stripe. Ripon led 21-13 in the second half but St. Norbert held the Red Hawks scoreless over the last 6 minutes, 43 seconds of the half to take a 22-21 lead on a Drew Demerath basket at the buzzer. The Green Knights would get their biggest lead of the second half at 27-25 at the 15:32 mark on a 3-pointer by Leiterman. From there, Ripon went on a 13-4 run to take a seven-point lead at 38-31 with 7:23 remaning. St. Norbert went on a 6-0 mini-run to get to within one, but Ripon applied the knockout when Scott Landisch converted a conventional three-point play off an offensive rebound with 5:09 left. The Green Knights would not get closer than four points the rest of the way as the Red Hawks beat St. Norbert for the first time in three tries this season. Ripon was led in scoring by Landisch, who had 13 points, while Josh Glocke added 12 points. The Red Hawks, which shot 37.7% from the floor, also held a 41-39 rebounding advantage thanks to Nick Johnson's 10 rebounds. Despite the poor shooting from both teams, it was a well-played game as each squad committed 12 turnovers. St. Norbert had its school-record 16-game winning streak snapped, and currently sits with the same record as the 1984 team as the best in school history. | |
| Permalink | Feb 23, 2002 | |
N.C. Wesleyan makes 3-for-3 over CNU By Ted Newman Rocky Mount Telegram FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – The third-time jinx didn't affect North Carolina Wesleyan. The Bishops met Christopher Newport for the third time this season Saturday in the championship of the Dixie Conference tournament. With a pair of close wins against CNU already under its belt, Wesleyan was facing the dreaded "hard to beat a good team three times" sports maxim. And after 35 minutes of play, it looked like the No. 3-seeded Bishops wouldn't. But Bradley Blue scored eight of his game-high 28 points to lead a 12-1 run to close the game as the Bishops rallied from a nine-point deficit to win 77-75 and capture their first conference tournament title since 1987. "Everybody came out focused and wanted to win," said Blue, who was named the tournament's MVP. "We played with a lot of heart today." The win gives Wesleyan the Dixie Conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Division III tournament, its first appearance there since 1987 as well. After building a 39-33 lead in the first half on the strength of 53% shooting, the Bishops could do little more than watch, it seemed, as CNU's Jermaine Woods erupted in the second half. The junior guard drilled four 3-pointers in a four-minute span to key a 19-6 run that catapulted the Captains from a 49-43 hole to a 64-57 lead with 9:04 to go in the game. "He just got hot," said NCWC coach John Thompson. "I don't think we could have defended him any better, he was making some difficult shots." Woods, who finished with 21 points, picked up his third foul during the run and went to the bench with his fourth at the 7:06 mark and CNU holding a 65-59 lead. Wesleyan stayed within six until Blake Brookman hit a 3-pointer with 5:10 on the clock that gave the Captains a 74-65 lead. Then Blue took over. He hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead back to six. That was followed by a Bobby Jenkins trey that cut the lead to three with 2:51 to go. Blue converted a pair off free throws to get the Bishops within one at the 2:30 mark, then knocked down his fourth three of the night with 1:43 on the clock for a 76-74 Wesleyan lead. Jenkins, who hit five 3-pointers and finished with 18 points, added a free throw with 4.3 seconds left and CNU could not get a shot off in time. Christopher Newport missed five shots in the last five minutes, and the Bishops (20-7) collected 11 rebounds – five of them offensive rebounds. "This team continues to show the heart and character they have showed for a long time," Thompson said. "They just don't give up. CNU got hot and got on a roll, a lot of teams might have thought it was going to slip away. We just hung in there, made some big shots, made some big stops. Everybody on our team was involved." Jenkins joined Blue on the all-tournament team, along with Shenandoah's Ronald Merriwether, Methodist's Demarkus Byrd, and CNU's Woods and Carlos Heard, who had 24 points to lead the Captains. | |
| Permalink | Feb 23, 2002 | |
Wheaton stuns Clark in NEWMAC semis
WORCESTER, Mass. – The Wheaton (Mass.) men knew it wasn't going to be easy to get to the NEWMAC title game, as the Lyons had to go through the top seed and No. 22-ranked Clark. However, the squad nevertheless captured a stunning 100-92 victory in Friday's semifinal round at Kneller Athletic Center. Fifth-seed Wheaton will face second-seed Babson, a 72-56 winner over Springfield, for the right to represent the NEWMAC in the NCAA Tournament. With the win, the Lyons denied Clark the opportunity for its fourth title game appearance in a row. The Cougars, regular season champions for three years and tournament winners the last two seasons, fall to 20-5 overall. Wheaton used a season-best 65.5% (19-for-29) from the floor in the opening half and shot 5-of-8 (.625) from behind the arc en route to a 46-39 lead at the intermission. The first seven minutes of the stanza featured four lead changes and four ties, but the Lyons took the lead for good at 20-18 off a Richard Henninger layup with 12:22 to play. That basket spearheaded a 14-5 run, which was capped by a Josean Vega 3-pointer at the 6:53 minute mark. Clark refused to go away, as the Cougars knotted the game on three occasions before taking a 64-63 edge midway through the half, thanks to a 3 from sophomore Trevor Walker. Both teams then battled through three lead changes and three ties, with the latter coming at 71 points apiece with 6:55 to play. On Wheaton's next possession, senior Luke Gordon drained a 3-pointer at the 6:41 mark to give the Lyons the lead for good. Wheaton extended its lead to 85-75, its largest advantage of the contest, with 1:59 remaining. The Cougars opted to foul the rest of the way, as the Lyons used clutch free throw shooting down the stretch to hold off any Clark surge. Senior forward Sam Ackah began a lengthy two-minute free throw marathon, knocking down a pair of freebies while leading Wheaton to an impressive 17-for-22 (77.3%) mark in that stretch alone. The Cougars would get no closer than four points the rest of the way, as the Lyons posted their second-highest point total of the season. Wheaton posted a season-high with six players in double-digit scoring, led by Gordon's career-best 31 and outrebounded Clark 50-38. Sophomore forward Frankie Whall tallied 13 points, grabbed a team-high tying 10 boards and blocked three shots. Ackah scored 11 points and posted 10 rebounds in the contest, while freshman forward Mike Stanton added 15 points and seven boards. Lewis and Vega rounded out the double-figure scoring with 13 and 11 points, respectively. For Clark, junior Sean Fleming led the way with 24 points (8-for-15 FG). Senior Amos Anderson had 18 points (7-for-14 FG) and six rebounds, while sophomore Brent Kenneway added 10 points in the losing effort. | |
| Permalink | Feb 22, 2002 | |
Jostens finalists announced
SALEM – Ten Division III men's and women's basketball players were named finalists for the Jostens Trophy, honoring the outstanding basketball player who exemplifies the Division III ideal of the well-rounded athlete through athletic and academic excellence as well as community service. The women's finalists: Kendra Anderson, Hardin-Simmons; Kristen Channing, UW-Eau Claire; Jill Dewane, Lakeland; Heather Francoeur, Oglethorpe; Kari Groshek, UW-Stevens Point; Heather Kile, Swarthmore; Kate Lyren, Wellesley; Missy Pederson, St. Thomas; Haley Smith, Maryville (Tenn.); and Renee Willette, Carleton. The men's finalists: Joe Corbett, Hobart; Jesse DuPerow, Marietta; Aaron Galletta, Union; Jesse Harris, Simpson; Ryan Hepp, Willamette; Adam Jones, Buena Vista; Mark Lesko, Muhlenberg; Colin Tabb, Trinity (Conn.); Rashad Williams, Brandeis; Kyle Williford, Bridgewater. The honorees will be presented with their awards on March 14 in Salem. | |
| Permalink | Feb 22, 2002 | |
Oberlin forfeits all nine wins
CLEVELAND – The North Coast Athletic Conference announced Wednesday that the Oberlin men's basketball team would forfeit all nine of its wins for the 2001-2002 season, including a 56-49 win over Ohio Wesleyan last night in the NCAC tournament quarterfinals, for using an ineligible player. The Yeomen will be replaced by Ohio Wesleyan, which will advance to the conference semifinals Friday night at Wittenberg. Oberlin athletic director Mike Muska would not identify the player, but said he had transferred in from another school. "The former institution initially certified that he would be eligible at the next institution he would go to," Muska told the Associated Press. "They have subsequently said this morning that that was not the case. It would have been nice if that had been communicated three or four months ago." | |
| Permalink | Feb 22, 2002 | |
Kean ends New Jersey's run, wins NJAC EWING, N.J. – Kean junior center Jaquana Abdullah and sophomore guard Kellie Rice each poured in 20-plus points for the second time this week to lead their team to the 2002 NJAC Championship. Kean posted a 66-57 victory over defending NJAC champion New Jersey at Packer Hall on Friday night. With the win, the Cougars earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Kean, the No. 2 seed, improves to 19-8 on the year and snapped TCNJ's 11-game win streak. The loss ends the top-seeded Lions' season at 19-8. In a very tight first half, the game witnessed eight lead changes and five ties. The largest lead of the half was seven (23-16) and held by the Cougars at 5:59. In the last 5:59, TCNJ put together an 8-1 run to tie up the game at halftime, 24-24. The Lions were plagued by turnovers, making 13 to Kean's seven. TCNJ's sophomore center Adrienne Warner led the team with seven points, while sophomore forwards Laura Mala and Liz Martin each notched six points and four rebounds. The Cougars' Rice paced all scorers with 11, while Abdullah chipped in six and sophomore forward Shervon James led on the boards with six rebounds. "Kellie stepped up unbelievably,'' said Cougars coach Michele Sharp. "I knew she had it in her. We were waiting all year for Abdullah to break out (and she did). This team just has tremendous talent." Turnovers continued to hurt the Lions in the second half as they picked up 11 more and finished the game with 24. Kean capitalized on TCNJ's mistakes, netting 23 points off turnovers. After shooting 37.0% from the floor in the first half, the Lions made 13-of-26 in the second, but could not stop Kean's inside game as the Cougars tallied 26 points in the paint. Martin collected her fourth double double of the season on 16 points and 10 rebounds to pace TCNJ, while junior guard Kristen McCandless and Warner each pitched in 13. Mala was scoreless in the first half and ended with six. Rice had 22 points to lead Kean after notching 21 against Rutgers-Camden in the semifinals. Abdullah added 20 and grabbed 10 boards after having 20 and 15 versus Rutgers-Camden. James pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds to pace Kean. | |
| Permalink | Feb 22, 2002 | |
Hood's rally lifts team to AWCC final
FREDERICK, Md. – Trailing by 16 points in the second half, Hood went on a punishing 45-13 run to rally past, then bury Chestnut Hill 64-48 to advance to the Atlantic Women's Colleges Conference championship game. Hood, the third seed in the tournament, hosts top seeded Notre Dame (Md.) on Saturday evening for the right to go to the NCAA Tournament. Notre Dame advanced earlier in the evening by beating No. 5 seed Trinity (D.C.) 85-71. Leading 24-15 at the half, Chestnut Hill (17-9) got three 3-pointers, two from sophomore guard Jackie Kirk, and extended its lead to 35-19 with 16:19 left. But the Griffins shot just 5-for-21 from the floor the rest of the way and sophomore guard Mandy Fischer (pictured) hit four consecutive 3-pointers down the stretch to give the Blazers their 20th win against six losses. Fischer led all scorers with 20 points on 5-for-13 shooting from 3-point range. Melissa Kolb added 12, Mandy South 11 points and Roxanne Koppenhaver 11 points and 10 rebounds as Hood's starters averaged 37 minutes apiece. Danielle Allen had a game-high 13 rebounds. Jackie Kirk led Chestnut Hill with 18 points while Jennifer Banks had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. | |
| Permalink | Feb 22, 2002 | |
Cabrini finishes PAC run, makes NCAA ASTON, Pa. – Gary Goldman hit a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left to lift fourth-seeded Cabrini past homestanding Neumann in the PAC men's championship game 71-67 before a standing room-only crowd on Thursday night. The Cavaliers have now won eight of the first 10 PAC men's basketball titles and the last two in a row. Cabrini (17-11) advances to the NCAA Division III Tournament. Tournament MVP Brian Wood had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Cavaliers, while Tim Gordon added 13 points and Tim Maddox had 11 points. Third-seeded Neumann (21-7) was led by Rahim Washington's game-high 22 points. Randy Maultsby and Solomon Harris had 11 points, while Omar Warthen had a game-high 12 rebounds for the Knights. | |
| Permalink | Feb 21, 2002 | |
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps clinches bid Claremont-Mudd-Scripps defeated Whittier 84-52 and Pomona-Pitzer upset SCIAC co-leader Cal Lutheran 62-61 to give the Stags the outright conference title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. CMS and CLU had been tied for first entering the evening and would have required a tiebreaker playoff game Saturday night if both teams had won. Claremont (21-4), which placed five scorers in double figures including 15 points from Christian Dundas, became the first team in SCIAC history to win 13 conference games. Their only conference loss was at Cal Lutheran 59-58 on Jan. 9. | |
| Permalink | Feb 21, 2002 | |
Paterson men return to NJAC title game UPPER MONTCLAIR, N.J. – Senior guard Khalid Coursey scored a game-high 28 points, including 16 in the first half as fourth-seeded and two-time defending champion William Paterson upset top-seeded Montclair State 66-42 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference men's semifinals at Panzer Gymnasium on Thursday. William Paterson will face second-seeded Richard Stockton in the championship game in Pomona, N.J., on Saturday at 7 p.m. Richard Stockton defeated third-seeded Ramapo 74-68 this evening. Rashaan Barner added 10 points for the Pioneers (18-9), who will advance to their third consecutive NJAC title game. No team has won three NJAC championships in a row since the Pioneers from 1983-85. Omar Boothe finished with 11 points for the Red Hawks (18-8), who suffered their worst loss of the season. Montclair State was hosting its first NJAC Tournament game since 1984. Coursey got the Pioneers off to a flying start as he scored 13 of William Paterson's first 15 points, including three 3-pointers giving WPU a 15-6 lead with 12:31 to play. Montclair State would not get as close as 15 the rest of the way. Montclair State shot just 33% (9-for-27) from the field in the first half and committed 10 turnovers. In the second half, Montclair trailed 44-20 with 16:44 before cutting the lead to 15 as Boothe hit a 3-pointer while Harold Williams, Michael Gluck and Joseph Thomas each scored baskets to make the score 44-29 with 11:51 to play. However, the Pioneers quickly pushed the lead back to 25 as Coursey scored seven points in a 14-4 run over the next five minutes. | |
| Permalink | Feb 21, 2002 | |
6-seed advances to MASCAC title game SALEM, Mass. – The Framingham State men went on a 22-8 run over the final 11 minutes en route to a 61-59 upset victory over Fitchburg State on Thursday evening at Salem State's Twohig Gymnasium. The No. 6 seed Rams, who held the No. 2 seed Falcons scoreless over the final 4:30, adavnce to the MASCAC postseason championship game for the first time in the 13-year history of the tournament. They face host and top seed Salem State, which defeated Bridgewater State 76-52. Salem advances to the conference championship game for the 13th time in 13 years. Fitchburg (16-10) jumped out to a 51-39 with 10:55 in the contest. The Falcons were led by junior guard Issac Lane's 13 points and junior forward Joe Howell's 11 points and 15 rebounds. However, Framingham's Ralph Sully scored all eight of his points over the game's final 11 minutes, including a putback with 2:10 to play to cut Fitchburg's lead to 59-56. After the Rams forced a stop on the ensuing possession, senior guard Tim O'Malley converted a three-point play to tie the contest at 59-59 with 1:15 remaining. The Rams' defense forced another missed shot with 58 seconds left. Then junior guard Jason Robbins found an open Porter Debow who scored the final two of his game-high 14 points with 36 seconds to go. The Falcons would have two chances to tie or win in the final seconds, but Howell's attempted leaner and a Lane turnover with 1.8 seconds left sealed the victory for the underdog Rams. Framingham, who trailed 35-30 at the half, received 10-point efforts from O'Malley, MASCAC Rookie of the Year Chris Feeney and forward Eric Taylor. The Rams were victorious despite being outrebounded 47-33. The Falcons received 11 points from Chris DaCosta and nine points and 14 rebounds from Tahir Core. Core totalled 36 rebounds in two MASCAC tournament games. | |
| Permalink | Feb 21, 2002 | |
Hope finally solves Albion HOLLAND, Mich. – The third time proved to be the charm for the sixth-ranked Hope women, which advanced to the championship game of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament after defeating Albion 55-46 Thursday before a capacity Dow Center crowd. Hope lost two games the entire regular season but both were to Albion, most recently last Saturday 58-46. The Flying Dutch (25-2) were not to be denied this time around. Hope raced to a 33-17 halftime lead and then withstood an Albion run that brought the Britons to within seven points, 51-44, with a minute left in the game. Senior guard Becky Sutton played an all-around outstanding game scoring 13 points, dishing off five assists and gaining six steals. Junior center Amanda Kerkstra, starting in her first game since suffering an early in January, made six of seven shots enroute to a 13-point performance. She also blocked four shots, had three steals and did not commit a turnover in 30 minutes of play. Senior Laura Poppema grabbed 10 rebounds including nine off the defensive board. The Flying Dutch committed only nine turnovers and finished with 12 steals off 19 Albion turnovers. | |
| Permalink | Feb 21, 2002 | |
Marymount advances without Crawley YORK, Pa. – York failed to take advantage of a one-game suspension of Marymount's Dallas Crawley and fell in the Capital Athletic Conference men's semifinals 103-100. With Crawley on the sidelines for throwing a punch in the conference quarterfinals against Salisbury, the Saints (19-8) jumped out to a seven-point lead just four minutes into the game. York was down 14-5 with 15:45 left in the first half before they put together a run to climb back into the contest. Tim Hawken started an 11-2 spurt to bring the green and white even with the Saints. Hawken hit for six points in the run and Seth McLane went in for a layup and then sunk the foul shot after he was fouled by the Saints. Steve Schmehl scored with 13:23 left to even the score at 16-16. The teams exchanged leads for the next seven minutes before Marymount took control of the game. Alex Bernstein scored six points in the final two minutes, but the Spartans were unable to overcome Devin Archie's 11 points in the last 5:45 to help the Saints take a 51-48 lead into the locker room. The second half saw Marymount extend their lead as they came out shooting well. Bernstein hit a 3-pointer less than a minute into the half to even the score at 53-53, but again, the Saints seized control of the momentum. Terry Hoffman hit a layup followed by a trey from Carlton Phelps to give the Saints a five-point advantage. With 14:53 remaining, the Spartans faced a nine point deficit on the heels of another Hoffman basket. York's comeback started with three consecutive 3-pointers. John Ely hit two in a row followed by an Andy O'Brien trey to narrow the deficit margin to two points with 13:21 left to play. Jason Hunt hit a jumper to tie the game at 71-71. Schmehl went in for a lay-up and Ely hit a clutch trey to give York a 79-78 advantage, their first lead since 9:53 of the first half. Archie, the nemesis of the Spartans the entire game, hit six points to give the Saints an 87-83 lead with 6:53 left. The Spartans, however, refused to go away. Hawken hit a three sandwiched between two Bernstein trey's to give York a five point advantage. O'Brien hit two baskets to give York a 96-92 lead with 2:33 remaining. Marymount refused to go away, and McCoy scored followed by Hoffman's two free-throws and a shot from behind the arc to take a three point lead with 0:39 left in the game. Bernstein scored with 16 seconds left to cut the Marymount lead to 99-98. Phelps scored a back-breaking basket with 0:12 left as he beat the Sapratns with a long inbounds pass. Ely was called for an intentional foul, and on the ensuing foul shots, Phelps hit both to essentially end the game and York's season. Bernstein led the Spartan scorers with 21 points. He was 8-for-13 from the floor and grabbed three rebounds while hitting three of six shots from 3-point range. Ely scored 19 points, hitting five of nine from behind the arc. Schmehl had a great game, hitting eight of 15 from the field for 18 points. He also had a team high eight rebounds. O'Brien added 14 points, grabbing five rebounds, dishing out six assists, and blocking two shots. Hawken rounded out the scorers in double figures, scoring 13 points and grabbing four rebounds. As a team, York shot 51.9% from the floor, 35.3% from 3-point range, and 72.7% from the free-throw line. Archie led all scorers with 32 points, shooting 11-for-23 from the floor. Phelps and Hoffman scored 20 points apiece and Kip McCoy added 16. As a team, the Saints shot 52.1% from the field, 26.1% from behind the arc, and 95.5% from the free throw line after shooting 61% from the charity stripe the rest of the season. The Spartans, with six seniors, end the season with a 21-6 record, the best in school history. Marymount advances to the CAC championship game, at Catholic at 4 p.m. Saturday. | |
| Permalink | Feb 21, 2002 | |
Carleton knocks off Tommies
ST. PAUL – Senior forward Renee Willette had 15 points, seven rebounds and four steals and third-seeded Carleton built a 19-point first-half lead and held on for a 71-62 victory at second-seeded St. Thomas in an MIAC women's semifinal game Wednesday night in Schoenecker Arena. The Knights (22-5) advance to Saturday's championship game vs. St. Ben's (23-3), a 60-58 overtime winner over Gustavus. Missy Pederson scored a career-high 36 points and had four steals for the Tommies (21-5), including five 3-point baskets. Alissa Case had 10 points and five rebounds for UST. Carleton avenged a 77-64 loss to St. Thomas on the same floor seven days earlier. Willette had seven points during a 15-1 run that built a 36-17 lead, and they led 40-24 at halftime. The Tommies pulled within 62-55 with 4:16 to play but never got closer. Carleton shot 60% from the field in the first half and finished 51% on the night (29-of-57). They outrebounded the Tommies 40-31. For the Knights, Bethany Koehler had 15 points and four assists; Karissa Kramer added 10 points; Karen Fricke had 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting; and Linnea Engel had nine points and four assists. Tommie freshmen Kristi Huegel and Vel Williams combined for 36 points in last week's win over Carleton but were held to a combined nine points. The Tommies' streak of consecutive NCAA playoff appearances, now at 15, is now in jeopardy. The NCAA Division III field will be announced Sunday night, and will be posted here as soon as available, shortly after 9:30 EST (men shortly after 9:00). Full men's and women's conference tournament results. | |
| Permalink | Feb 20, 2002 | |
Western Maryland's roll continues ALLENTOWN, Pa. – In a hard fought defensive battle visiting Western Maryland held on to upset No. 17 Muhlenberg 53-52 in the Centennial Conference semifinals. Neither team could find any offensive rhythm and had to work for every point as WMC connected on only 39.7% from the field and the Mules hit on only 27% of their attempts. A foul shot by Kelly Cramp made the game 53-50 with 1:40 remaining. The teams would trade empty possessions until 16 seconds remained. Susan Marchiano knocked down a jumper to cut the Terror lead to one. The Mules (21-4) applied a press and came away with a steal with seven seconds left. Out of timeouts, howveer, they were unable to get the ball up court and time expired giving WMC the victory. Jen Piccolomini spearheaded the Terror attack scoring 15 points Cramp followed suit dropping in 14 points. Sophomore point guard Toby McIntire continued her spirited play scoring eight points and ripping down a game-high nine rebounds. The Green Terror (21-6), after reaching the conference tournament via a play-in game, will host the conference championship game Saturday against Swarthmore, which knocked off West Division top seed Franklin & Marshall. | |
| Permalink | Feb 20, 2002 | |
Elizabethtown survives upset bid ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – Until the final minute, one could have said that Elizabethtown point guard Rocky Parise was having an off night in the Blue Jays' MAC Commonwealth semifinal game against Susquehanna. Parise, who is fifth in the nation with 6.7 assists per game, had just four assists, two points and no steals until, with 59 seconds to go, he stole the ball from Susquehanna's Chris Zimmerman. Susquehanna, which was leading 77-76 at the time in its improbable upset bid, pressured the rest of Etown's offense while leaving Parise, who was 0-for-7 from three-point range at that point, wide open. Parise responded by sinking a 3-pointer with 39 seconds to go that proved to be the anvil that broke the camel's back for Susquehanna. Etown went on to win the game 80-77, with the final point scored on a foul shot by none other than Parise with nine seconds left. With the win, top-seeded Elizabethtown advances to host the MAC Commonwealth championship game on Saturday against second-seeded and defending conference champion Widener, which defeated Lebanon Valley in the night's other playoff game 77-61. The Blue Jays improve to 24-2 overall with the win, while fourth-seeded Susquehanna sees its season end with a 14-12 overall mark. Susquehanna carried a surprising 39-37 lead into halftime, and the Blue Jays did not regain the lead until Bob Porambo who led Elizabethtown with 24 points and nine rebounds, hit a layup with 13:09 remaining in the second half to take a 52-50 lead. Etown fell behind again at 10: 39 when a Zigmas Kaknevicius umper gave the Crusaders a 56-54 lead. Etown again found itself on top with 6:42 to go when a Brian Loftus 3-pointer made the score 63-62. A Zimmerman jumper at 4:25 gave Susquehanna the lead again at 71-70. A Porambo jumper at 2:05 caused the lead to change hands again, 76-75 in favor of the Blue Jays. Kaknevicius' layup at 1:17 gave Susquehanna its final lead of the game, 77-76, heading into the final minute when Parise took center stage. Besides Porambo, other Etown players with big offensive nights included Loftus, who totaled 19 points and hit five out of seven 3-point attempts, and Brian Marquette, who came off the bench to score 13 points in 18 minutes on 5-for-8 shooting. Nick Griffiths led Susquehanna with 24 points and six rebounds, and Zimmerman had 19 points and seven assists. | |
| Permalink | Feb 20, 2002 | |
Westminster upsets Case Western NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – The Westminster women closed the 2001-02 regular season on a strong note Feb. 20 at Buzz Ridl Gymnasium, as the Lady Titans improved to 14-11 with a 66-53 upset of No. 20 Case Western Reserve (18-6) in a non-conference game. The two teams played a nip-and-tuck first half, with 10 lead changes and six ties. The Lady Spartans led by as many as six points (19-13 with 13:58 left) before a late Westminster push narrowed the CWRU lead to one point (30-29) at the half. Tied 36-36 with 16:01 to play, the Lady Titans took the lead for good on a layup by freshman forward Erica Tallo, which keyed an 11-0 run giving Westminster an 11-point lead (47-36) with 12:43 to play. The Lady Spartans never seriously threatened the rest of the way, as the Lady Titans held a double-digit lead until the final buzzer. Two Lady Titans posted double-doubles in points and rebounds in the upset victory. Junior forward Samor Himes posted a game-high 17 points and hauled in 10 rebounds, while Tallo added 10 points and 10 boards. Senior guard Robin Thayer, playing in her final regular season game, scored 15 points in the win, while sophomore forward Alicia Anderson came off the bench to tie for team rebound honors with 10 caroms. Junior guard Ashley Kenney dished out a team-high four assists for WC. Jasmine Rowan led Case Western Reserve with 14 points. The Lady Titan cagers have applied for a bid to the ECAC Division II playoffs. Westminster is not eligible to compete in the Presidents' Athletic Conference playoffs due to its continuing reclassification from NCAA Division II to Division III. | |
| Permalink | Feb 20, 2002 | |
Mac avoids upset with late 3
ST. PAUL – Ryan Gerry nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1.4 seconds left to lift Macalester (16-10) to an 83-82 MIAC tournament win Tuesday St. Paul over St. John's. St. John's (15-11) closed out the first half with 11 unanswered points and started the second half on a 16-6 run to go up by 17 points at 57-40 with 13:59 to play. The Scots battled back, largely with 3-point shooting, and came to within a point at 79-78 on a Gerry 3-pointer with 1:10 to go. SJU's Shawn McGuire nailed a baseline jumper as the shot clock was winding down on the next Johnnie possession to put the visitors back up 81-78. McGuire missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 15 ticks left and two Erik Jackson free throws with 8.8 seconds to go brought Mac to within a point at 81-79. Ryan Keating made one of two free throws less than a second later before Jackson dribbled quickly into the front court and dished it to Gerry (above) for the winning 3-pointer. Gerry scored a season-high 20 points, going 6-for-11 on 3-pointers to pace Macalester. Ben Van Thorre added 19 points and three others reached double figures as well. Jackson had 14, Patrick Russell 12 and Adam Denny 10. Luke Witt was 5-for-6 on 3-pointers and led St. John's with 26 points. Mike Nester added 18 and Shawn McGuire had 16 points and 11 rebounds. Dusty Lamker scored 11 and Keating dished out 12 assists. | |
| Permalink | Feb 19, 2002 | |
Staten Island putback puts out Baruch
NEW YORK – Top seed Staten Island battled tooth and nail against fifth seed Baruch in a CUNY Athletic Conference men's semifinal and emerged victorious 66-64 when Champ Albano followed a missed CSI shot and hit a 10-foot jumper for the game winner at the Hunter College Sportsplex. Staten Island will battle No. 2 seed Medgar Evers in the CUNY finals Friday night at 7:45. Midway through the first half, the Dolphins assembled a 13-0 run that turned a 15-10 deficit into a 23-15 lead. After John Alesi hit a layup to cut the deficit to 27-26 with three seconds left in the half, he made the mistake of fouling CSI senior guard Champ Albano on a halfcourt heave as the buzzer sounded. He calmly sank all three free throws to give the Dolphins a 30-26 halftime lead. It was a close battle the rest of the way as neither team managed to pull away. With the score tied at 62, Paul grabbed an offensive rebound and put one in off the glass to push CSI ahead 64-62 with 29 seconds remaining. Alesi came through once more with a short baseline jumper to knot the game at 64 with 15 ticks left. "We just made some big shots," said 13th-year Dolphin head coach Tony Petosa, who saw his CSI career scoring mark of 1,635 fall to senior David Paul, who entered the game with identical scoring marks. Paul scored 19 for Staten Island on the night to push his career numbers to 1,654. "It's nice that he got it in a win, in a perfect world it would have happened in the finals." Albano then rushed his jumper in traffic, missed, and put back his own rebound at 2.6 seconds to go for the game winner and a berth in CSI's second consecutive CUNY finale. "It was just there today, I had to shoot and score," said Albano who had a game-high 24. "Our first two options (Paul & Nesbitt) were keyed on the whole day so they kicked it out to me. I never hit a game-winning shot before from CYO until now, it's a dream come true." Alesi, who tallied 18 points for Baruch (18-9), missed a running three at the buzzer. Daniel Guilford and Shaun Applebaum added 12 points apiece. | |
| Permalink | Feb 19, 2002 | |
William Paterson advances to NJAC semifinals JERSEY CITY, N.J. – William Paterson held the New Jersey City men under 50 points in a game for the first time in two seasons as the Pioneers knocked off the Gothic Knights 60-44 in a New Jersey Athletic Conference play-in tiebreaker game at the Athletic and Fitness Center. The win breaks a tie between the two rivals that met for last year's NJAC title, and lifts WPU (17-9) into the fourth seed in the NJAC tournament. NJCU (16-10), which at the beginning of the month held a piece of first place in the league, is eliminated from NJAC contention and must wait to see if they receive a bid to the ECAC Tournament beginning Feb. 27. The Knights also fall to 9-3 at home. The last time NJCU scored less than 50 in a game was a 62-42 home loss to Rutgers-Newark on Jan. 26, 2000. In that game, NJCU was without six players suspended from an altercation against Rowan the previous game. The opponent scoring low is a defensive best for the Pioneers this year. After starting the conference schedule at 0-4, WPU has won 10 of 11 to squeeze its way into the postseason. NJCU has lost six of their last nine. The two teams traded six leads or ties in the first half. A 3-pointer by senior shooting guard Irv Jenkins gave the Knights what proved to be their final lead of the game at 22-20 with 2:04 remaining in the first period. The Pioneers ran off the final eight points of the half and owned a 28-22 advantage at the midway point. In the second half, s enior guard Rashaan Barner sparked WPU to a run that gave them control for good. With the score 32-25 and 17:55 left, Barner hit a jumper and finished a three-point play for a 33-25. A layup by Barner at 17:10, followed by a jumper at 16:01, gave the visitors a 37-25 edge. Leading 39-29 with 13:13 left, the Pioneers unleashed a 13-2 blitz to gain a 52-31 advantage. That 21-point margin matched their largest lead of the game. Barner led all scorers with 21 points (10-for-15), including 12 in the first half. He grabbed seven rebounds. Senior center Dag Christensen had the second highest game total with 11 (4-for-7) and a game-best eight boards. Senior point guard Khalid Coursey had nine points (4-for-15), six rebounds, and game-highs with four assists and three steals. The Pioneers finished shooting 25-of-53 overall, and owned a commanding 38-25 disparity in rebounding, including 14 offensive grabs. They translated that into a 17-2 differential in second-chance points. They also outscored NJCU in the paint, 34-14. Senior center Marcisco Morrison led the way in scoring for NJCU with nine (3-for-5) and also had a team-high five rebounds. Jenkins added eight before fouling out. | |
| Permalink | Feb 19, 2002 | |
HSC wins ODAC tournament
SALEM, Va. – Hampden-Sydney fired a warning shot across the bow of every team hoping for a Pool C bid as the third-seeded Tigers knocked off top seed Randolph-Macon 55-48 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship game Feb. 18 to win the conference title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Randolph-Macon, which had won the previous two meetings between the archrivals, is considered a near-lock for a Pool C bid at 23-5, 23-4 against Division III teams. Hampden-Sydney would have joined other teams on the bubble if they had lost. The Tigers (22-5) got 13 points off the bench from Jeff Monroe and 11 from Brandon Randall as they won their fifth ODAC title since 1997. "For the last couple weeks we've tried to emphasize as a team the little things – holding onto the ball, playing good defense; the things that make you successful in the game of basketball," head coach Tony Shaver said. I thought this weekend we did those things better." The Yellow Jackets struggled from the field all game, shooting just 19.2% in the first stanza. They finished the game shooting 30.5% from the field and just 17.9% (5-for-28) from 3-point range. "They are one of the best I've seen at running set plays. We wanted to disrupt them and take them out of the game and I feel that we did that tonight. I thought the zone was something that would disrupt them and we ended up playing it more than I anticipated," Shaver said. Randolph-Macon reached the final by beating fourth-seeded Roanoke 71-63 in the ODAC semifinals, while Hampden-Sydney rallied to beat No. 7 seed Emory & Henry 105-95. Jared Mills paced the Yellow Jackets with 18 points including a 6-for-11 performance from the field, including his 1000th career point. He also pulled down a game-high nine boards. Randolph-Macon, which struggled from the line two weeks ago in a loss at Virginia Wesleyan, shot 23-for-26 (88.5%) to keep the Maroons at bay. Check out conference tournament pairings for men and women as we continue the countdown to Selection Sunday. | |
| Permalink | Feb 18, 2002 | |
Western Maryland survives Centennial play-in WESTMINSTER, Md. – Johns Hopkins center Kathy Darling had her say all night, but it was her counterpart Kris Brust who delivered the final word giving Western Maryland a 70-68 victory in the Centennial Conference play-in game over Johns Hopkins. At first half's end, Blue Jays star Darling was held to just five points. Western Maryland held a 38-28 lead and was hitting on all cylinders. However, the second half was a different story. A concerted effort was made to get the ball inside to Darling where she proved to be unstoppable one on one. This forced help from the perimeter, which allowed Blue Jay sharpshooter Ashley Shelper to get open looks. Shelper would knock down three 3-pointers on her way to scoring 16. This would give the Blue Jays the spark to battle back and take their largest lead of three points with 5:39 left in regulation. The game would go back and forth until a timeout with 18 seconds set the stage for a heart-pounding finish. Toby McIntire took the ball strong to the basket but her shot bounced long. Kris Brust then ripped down the rebound and took the ball up hard and was hammered by Darling. With two seconds remaining Brust calmly steeped up to the free throw line and knocked down both shots sealing the victory. Freshman Kelly Cramp led the Green Terror on offense with a team-high 15 points. Sophomore point guard Toby McIntire demonstrated her leadership netting 13 points and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds. Jen Piccolomini was also a key factor netting 13 points and swiping four steals. The Blue Jays placed four members in double figures led by Darling and Shelper with 22 and 16 points respectively. Ashley Felix dropped in 12 and Maureen Myers chipped in with 10. The win improves the Green Terror to 20-6 and sends them to a Centennial Conference semifinal game at Muhlenberg. Johns Hopkins' season send at 19-7. | |
| Permalink | Feb 17, 2002 | |
Albion finishes Hope sweep HOLLAND, Mich. – Albion has accomplished what no other team could so far this regular season. The Britons defeated Hope. Twice. Albion (16-8, 7-7 MIAA) earned a regular season sweep over the No. 2-ranked Flying Dutch by posting a 58-46 victory before a crowd of 700 at the Dow Center on Saturday afternoon, after winning only four games last season. The Britons shot 38% from the field (9-for-24) in the first half and took a 26-23 lead to the locker room. The Britons seized control of the game with a 17-7 run to turn a 30-30 tie into a 47-37 Briton lead with 12:20 remaining. Junior guards Becky Campbell and Stacey Supanich scored the first nine points of the Briton rally. Campbell gave Albion the lead for good when she knocked down a jumper. Supanich followed with a basket, a three-point field goal, and a pair of free throws. Hope was able to cut its deficit to 47-43 with just under 10 minutes left in the game when Amy Brower scored a basket. The Flying Dutch, however, would score just three points the rest of the game. Campbell, Supanich, and freshman guard Sarah Caskey led Albion's offense with 13 points apiece. All three shot the ball well (Campbell was 5-for-10 from the field, Supanich was 4-for-8 from the field and 4-for-6 at the free throw line, and Caskey was 3-for-5 from the field and 6-for-7 at the line). Hope (23-2, 12-2) did not have a player score in double figures. Amy Baltmanis was the high scorer for the Flying Dutch with eight points. | |
| Permalink | Feb 16, 2002 | |
Eastern Conn. returns favor to Southern Maine WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The No. 6 Eastern Connecticut women shot better than 60% from the floor in the first half and rolled to a 75-56 Little East Conference win against No. 3 Southern Maine on Saturday at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium. Eastern (24-1, 13-1) and Southern Maine (23-2, 13-1) finish tied for the LEC regular-season championship for the second consecutive year. It is the fourth title for Eastern and the 14th for Southern Maine in the 16-year history of the conference. Southern Maine, which had a 20-game winning streak snapped, will host the tournament semifinals and final this Friday and Saturday at Gorham, Maine. As the top two seeds, ECSU and Southern Maine earn first-round tournament byes. Sophomore All-America forward Allison Coleman hit 10 of 14 field goals and finished with 21 first-half points for Eastern, which shot 60.6% from the floor en route to a 14-point, 45-31 halftime lead. The win is the 13th in a row for Eastern. The Warriors' only loss came by two points (61-59) at Southern Maine on Jan. 12. The 13 conference wins are also the most by an ECSU women's basketball team. Coleman finished with 23 points, senior forward Joanna Debicki adding 19 points – hitting half of her ten three-point tries. Senior post player Kristyn Grassi and sophomore guard Kathleen Burdelski had 12 each. Senior guard Darcy Mund handed out seven assists. Debicki had a game-high 10 rebounds to help the Warriors to a 47-34 advantage on the boards. Sophomore guard Megan Cressler led Southern Maine with 12 points and eight rebounds while senior guard Niki Dominiczak added eight points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals while playing all 40 minutes. | |
| Permalink | Feb 16, 2002 | |
Otterbein tops Capital, claims OAC top seed COLUMBUS, Ohio – With the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season championship, the No. 1 seed in the OAC tournament, Capital's 16-game win streak and crosstown bragging rights on the line, Otterbein marched into the Capital Center and came away with a 70-67 victory in front of a standing-room only crowd of over 2,600. No. 8-ranked Otterbein took its first lead of the game four minutes into the contest and never trailed again. No. 13 Capital, however, refused to go away. The Cardinals (22-3, 15-3 OAC) led 17-15 at the 8:21 mark when they started a 9-2 run that pushed the lead to nine, 26-17. The teams traded baskets over the final three minutes of the half before a pivotal sequence in the final minute. Otterbein's Kevin Shay hit a jumper to push the Cardinal lead to 10, then stole the inbounds pass from CU's Geron Tate and converted the layin to push the margin to 40-28. Capital's Tyler Schleich buried a 3-pointer just before the buzzer to provide the nine-point halftime difference, 40-31. A heart-stopping second half saw the Cardinals and Crusaders (21-4, 14-4) answer each other blow for blow. A quick 7-0 run gave Otterbein an 11-point edge, the largest lead of the afternoon, with 5:32 remaining. Capital fought back with an 8-0 run of their own, cutting the deficit to three, 63-60, with 2:29 left. The final minute provided the greatest drama of the contest. Otterbein's Jeff Gibbs was whistled for his fourth foul with 38 seconds remaining, and Tate converted both free throws to cut the lead to 66-64. On the other end, Otterbein's Tony Borghese missed the front end of a 1-and-1 opportunity. After calling a timeout, Tate drove the lane for an apparent tying layin, but Otterbein's Robert Mock came out of nowhere to reject the shot. Shay converted two free throws to stretch the OC lead to 68-64 with 16 seconds remaining, and the Otterbein fans began to celebrate. Capital, however, was not dead yet. Tate was fouled on a 3-point attempt with five seconds left, and hit all three free throws to cut the lead to a single point. Borghese returned to the line for the Cardinals, and this time made both shots to extend the lead to three. A desperation three by Tate was no good, and the Otterbein students stormed the court. Preseason All-American Gibbs paced the Cardinals with 27 points and 17 rebounds. He was 8-for-10 from the floor and 11-for-14 at the line. The performance was his 24th double-double in as many games. Also in double figures for Otterbein were Borghese with 15, Shay with 13 and Scott Hadley with 11. Capital placed three players in double figures: Tate with 19, Schleich with 16 and Chuck Bihn with 11. | |
| Permalink | Feb 16, 2002 | |
Leb Val women upset Messiah
GRANTHAM, Pa. – The playoff picture for the Lebanon Valley women became crystal clear Saturday as freshman Crystal Gibson drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to stun No. 8 Messiah 50-47. With the win, the Valley clinched the MAC Commonwealth regular season title and homecourt advantage throughout the league playoffs. The win was also the 16th in a row for the Dutch, a streak which includes a 59-47 win against then-No. 9 Messiah on Jan. 19. In the loud Falcon's den, Lebanon Valley (22-3, 13-1) battled point-for-point and found themselves up 43-42 when junior Stephanie Tighe nailed a 3-pointer with less than three minutes to play. She raised her fist coming down the floor and the pumped LVC defense stopped Messiah again as freshman Tamika Rogers blocked a shot by Christina Vouriotis to give the ball back to the Valley. Two trips later, freshman Jennifer Northcott hit a 17-foot jump shot to give LVC a 45-42 lead with under a minute to play. On the other end, Melissa Ehst scored underneath to pull the Falcons within one. Kristin Sassa then fouled Gibson on the ensuing trip up the floor. Gibson drained both free throws despite the crowd noise. The frenzy intensified when Melissa Ehst tied the game at 47 with 20 seconds showing. After a LVC timeout with 12.6 on the clock, Stephanie Tighe inbounded the ball to Gibson, who then found Northcott along the right side. Northcott, double-teamed, kicked the rock to Gibson for the buzzer-beater. Tighe finished with a game-high 17 points and 12 rebounds. Gibson walked away with a smile and 11 points, five rebounds and two assists. Northcott was key with 11 rebounds and seven points. Lebanon Valley led 25-21 at the break. LVC suffered 28 turnovers, but out-rebounded Messiah 42-28. Heidi Marks had 11 points for the Falcons, while Vouriotis and Ehst finished with seven points apiece. The MAC Commonwealth playoffs begin next Wednesday, Feb. 20. Top seed LVC will host No. 4 seed Juniata. In the other bracket on Wednesday, No. 2 seeded Messiah (21-3, 12-2) will host Moravian. | |
| Permalink | Feb 16, 2002 | |
York's big run upsets No. 25 Marymount
ARLINGTON, Va. – Junior guard Catherine Elliot made all three free throws with 2.0 seconds left in the game to cap a 16-2 run and give York (Pa.) a 57-56 upset of No. 25 Marymount at Marymount's Verizon Sports Arena. After sophomore forward Ashlee Courter hit a 3-pointer at the top of the key to give Marymount a 54-41 lead, York scored 13 unanswered points and tied the game on a Heather Kessler 3-pointer with 22.3 seconds left. Kristin McGrory hit a pair of foul shots with 17.7 seconds left to give the Saints a 56-54 lead, but junior forward Jodie Knotts was called for her fifth foul as Elliot launched one from the left wing, sending Elliot to the line for the game-winning shots. A 35-foot heave fell short for Marymount (19-5, 11-2 Capital Athletic Conference) at the buzzer. "If I'd want anyone on the line it's her because she's a gamer," said York head coach Betsy Witman. "She's very focused. I knew she'd make at least two and get us to overtime." York (17-8, 11-3) took advantage of Marymount miscues during the run, as the Saints traveled, missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and forced up a 3-pointer early in the shot clock that the Spartans corralled. The Saints were held to 6-for-30 shooting (20%) in the second half, 1-for-9 from 3-point range. "We went back to man-to-man defense," said Witman, and York started its run when it spread the floor by going to a four-guard offense. Two of those guards were Kessler and Elliot. "Kessler's a great player both offensively and defensively," said Witman. "She had (Marymount All-American guard) Candice Brown guarding her most of the game." Kessler scored seven of her game-high 11 points during York's game-ending run, while the Spartans held Marymount's top scorers, Brown and Knotts, to six points combined in the second half. Each finished with a game-high 13. | |
| Permalink | Feb 16, 2002 | |
Schubert surges to 2,000-point mark
BETHANY, W.Va. – Senior forward Keith Schubert (with ball) scored a season-high 43 points and in the process, surpassed the 2,000 point mark as Bethany rallied for a 96-91 overtime victory against visiting Grove City. The win ended the Bison's regular season record at 18-7, tying the school wins record, and 7-1 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference. Grove City fell to 16-9, 4-4. Andy Vlajkovich helped the Wolverines take as large as a nine-point lead at 69-60 with 5:14 to play. But Schubert scored 16 points in the final five minutes to help send the game to overtime. Schubert scored his 2,000th point on a layup with 1:09 left to bring the Bison within 80-77. After a Bison foul, Grove City hit only one of two at the foul line. A layup by senior center Derek Hoffman made it an 81-79 game with 43 seconds left. The Wolverines would go 4-for-4 from the foul line in the final half minute but Schubert drained one triple and was fouled taking another with eight second to play. Trailing by three, the 6-4 forward calmly stepped to the line and buried all three to tie the game at 85. In the extra session, Grove City scored the opening hoop but never led again. The Bison went on a 9-1 run to take control of the game. Grove City did get within three at 94-91 but Schubert iced the win with three free throws in the final 30 seconds for the win. | |
| Permalink | Feb 16, 2002 | |
Rowan sends NJCU men to NJAC play-in game GLASSBORO, N.J. – New Jersey City had a chance to clinch a berth in next week's New Jersey Athletic Conference tournament with a victory on Saturday. But sophomore guard Tylee Thomas hit a running jumper with seconds remaining in regulation as Rowan spoiled NJCU's guaranteed spot in the tournament with a 78-76 win at Esby Gym. The loss, coupled with William Paterson's 65-54 win against Rutgers-Newark, forces a play-in game Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. in Jersey City. NJCU won the coin toss conducted at the conference office to determine who would host. The intensely physical game included 43 fouls and four technical fouls. NJCU (16-9, 11-7) is 5-18 the last 20 years in Glassboro, including three playoff game losses. Senior shooting guard Irv Jenkins led all scorers with 18 points and despite shooting 6-for-24, and 3-for-16 from long range, almost proved to be the hero when his 3 from the left arc tied the game at 76-76 with just 37 seconds on the clock before Thomas won it for Rowan. NJCU grabbed a 13-10 first half lead on a Rafi Hargrove 3-pointer with 13:18 left, and after the Profs tied the game twice, Samar Battle hit a 3 with 6:38 remaining for a six-point, 31-25 edge. Rowan battled to tie it at 31-31. With 11 seconds left in the first half, George Thomas nailed a 3 for Rowan on a touch shot off an inbounds pass with one second on the shot clock, giving the Profs a 38-34 lead at the midway point. Rowan led early in the second half before the Knights took a 41-40 lead on a Hargrove layup, and extended that lead to 43-40 on a steal and fast-break layup by Jenkins, making it 43-40 with 17:34 left. The Profs regained the lead when Bob Weir hit a 3 to make it 45-43 at 15:53. Then the game got physical, and on a tie up, officials called a technical foul on Jenkins. Two Weir free throws gave Rowan a 49-43 lead at 15:24. With 11:07 left, and Rowan leading 54-47, the officials called a technical foul on Jose Martinez on a NJCU inbounds play, then called a subsequent technical on the Knight bench. Weir hit all four free throws to give the Profs a 58-47 lead. The 11-points was their largest advantage of the game. Hargrove was fouled on a three at 10:12 and hit all three free throws to cut it to a six-point, 58-52 score. On the inbounds, sophomore center Joe Wendel was picked off by Hargrove. Wendel committed a hard foul, and was called for Rowan's first technical. Hargrove made both free throws to cut the lead to 58-55. The Profs regained a 62-55 lead before two George Thomas buckets, followed by layups by Martinez and Battle shaved the margin to 64-63 with 6:35 remaining. Over the final six minutes, the two teams traded baskets with Rowan gaining a four-point edge on just two occasions, including a 72-68 score with 4:16 on the clock. Martinez, who scored four points and had seven rebounds, trimmed the lead to 72-71 on an offensive grab and layup with 3:15 to go. Chris Young made a lay-up for Rowan to regain a 74-71 advantage, before a Battle jumper with 2:06 remaining made it 74-73. A pair of Tylee Thomas free throws gave Rowan a 76-73 lead with 47 seconds left before Jenkins tied it. Jenkins added four steals for NJCU, as Rowan committed 21 turnovers, giving NJCU a 31-15 advantage in points off turnovers. Battle, a sophomore power forward, was banged around all day, yet finished with 15 points (6-for-19), and game high 11 rebounds (six defensive), and three blocks. George Thomas also had 15 points (6-for-12). Hargrove had 12 points (3-for-6, 5-for-5 on free throws), and five assists. Tylee Thomas had 13 for Rowan, despite going 3-for-11 from the floor. He did hit all six free throws he attempted. Junior guard Chris Arnold had 14 (6-for-11), while Weir added 11, including 6-of-6 from the line. Young had 10 points and 10 boards. Rowan shot 40.9% overall (27-for-66), and outrebounded the Knights 54-47. NJCU was 33.3% from the field (27-for-81). Each team scored 34 points in the paint. The Profs held the advantage in bench scoring, 38-12. | |
| Permalink | Feb 16, 2002 | |
George Fox's tailspin continues, falls to third seed NEWBERG, Ore. – Dana Bielec's backdoor layup with 2.7 seconds left gave Whitworth a hard-fought 69-67 win against George Fox, breaking a deadlock for second place and giving the Pirates the home-court advantage for the Northwest Conference women's basketball tournament semifinal at the Wheeler Sports Center. With the win, Whitworth finishes the regular season at 17-8 overall and 12-4 in league play, two games behind conference champion Pacific Lutheran. George Fox drops to 20-5 overall and 11-5 in the conference, into a tie for third with Puget Sound, a 60-58 winner over Willamette. However, the Bruins have the tiebreaker by virtue of splitting with UPS and PLU, while UPS lost twice to the Lutes. The loss is George Fox's third in four games. Whitworth jumped on top 4-0 to start the game on a basket by Chrissy Oneal and two free throws by Tiffany Speer, but with Darby Cave scoring 9 points on four buckets and a free throw, the Bruins went on a 15-6 run to take the largest lead of the half, 15-10, with 14:15 left. The rest of the period was a nip-and-tuck affair, with seven ties and five lead changes. Erica Ewart's jumper broke the last tie with 1:19 left and gave the Pirates a 36-34 halftime advantage. Speer and Sarah Shogren had 9 points each to lead the Pirates in the half, while Cave had 12 and Heather Doud 10 for the Bruins. The second half was just as close, the biggest lead either team holding being a six-point advantage for the Bruins, 59-53, with 7:03 left after a layup by Cave. But the Pirates refused to quit, and Oneal scored back-to-back layups at 1:39 and 0:41 to give Whitworth a 67-66 lead. Nicole Prazeau hit the first of two free throws with 0:27 left to tie it, but the Pirates rebounded the miss, brought the ball down, and called a time out with 0:14 left. The Pirates then worked the ball into the right corner where the Bruins swarmed in, but Bielec was left alone under the basket and made an easy layup for the winner. George Fox worked the ball down quickly and got it to Prazeau for a clear 15-foot jumper on the right baseline, but the potential tying shot went in and out as the horn sounded. Speer and Oneal scored 17 to lead the Pirates, Shogren added 12, and Ewart chipped in with 10. Speer, Oneal, and Shogren all grabbed 10 rebounds apiece as the Bruins were outrebounded by the widest margin all season, 49-37. Ewart handed out 8 assists. The Pirates also helped themselves at the line, hitting 17 of 21 (81.0%) while the Bruins cashed in only 14 of 24 (58.3%). Cave paced the Bruins with 17 points, Doud added 14, and Prazeau tallied 12. Cave had 8 rebounds to top the Bruins on the boards. | |
| Permalink | Feb 16, 2002 | |
Emory & Henry ends Guilford women's streak
EMORY, Va. – The Emory & Henry women picked up a record-setting 21st win on Saturday as they knocked off ODAC leader Guilford in a big way, beating the Quakers 77-53 on Senior Day. Wasp seniors Jenny Gibson and Kelly Smith (left) each recorded double-doubles on the day, as the two finished their King Center careers by scoring 11 and 26 points respectively, and by pulling down 12 rebounds each. The win, the team's 21st win this season and their 13th in a row, broke Guilford's 13 game winning streak and accounted for Emory & Henry's first 21-win basketball season. The Wasps (21-4) have won 19 of their last 20 games heading into the Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament, which begins Thursday in Salem, Va. | |
| Permalink | Feb 16, 2002 | |
Ithaca, Ithaca earn NCAA bids
The Ithaca men and women swept visiting Alfred on Friday night to clinch both Empire 8 titles and qualify for the NCAA playoffs. The women's team (19-3, 11-1 Empire 8), who beat Alfred 71-55, has won three consecutive conference titles and will be playing in the NCAA playoffs for the second year in a row. The women have won 13 of their last 14. Junior point guard Kerri Brown led Ithaca with 18 points and five assists. Freshman guard Stephanie Cleary collected 13 points and five steals off the bench and sophomore guard Jennie Swatling added 11 points and four steals. Junior center Heather Savignano added a career-high 10 rebounds off the bench. Ithaca forced 21 Saxon turnovers. The men's team held Alfred, who had been averaging a conference-leading 72.8 points per game, to 47 points and 31.2% from the floor. Junior guard Matt Riggins scored a game-high 13 points and added six rebounds. Junior forward Will Hill added 12 points and six rebounds and sophomore forward Tyler Schulz added 10 points and 10 rebounds. Schulz also held Alfred's E.J. Docteur, who had been averaging 17.3 points, to just four points, and none in the final 36 minutes. Ithaca will be making its first NCAA playoff appearance since 1993 and eighth overall. Ithaca's last conference title came in 1994. | |
| Permalink | Feb 15, 2002 | |
NJAC race tightens
There are just four playoff spots in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, and three of them are still up for grabs going into the final game for each team this weekend. Only Ramapo, at 12-5 in the league, has clinched a spot, with Richard Stockton, New Jersey City and Montclair State (11-6 apiece) and 2001 national runner-up William Paterson (10-7) jockeying for the final three. Ramapo got its spot Wednesday night by defeating last-place Rutgers-Newark 80-62. William Paterson staved off elimination by beating Kean 62-52, and Richard Stockton defeated Rutgers-Camden 63-60. New Jersey City beat Montclair State 83-81 in overtime on a Samar Battle dunk with 1.4 seconds left, sweeping the season series and picking up a key tiebreaker. Confused? Just wait. On Saturday, New Jersey City travels to Rowan, Ramapo visits Richard Stockton, Montclair hosts New Jersey, and Paterson is at Rutgers-Newark. If New Jersey City wins, they will clinch a playoff berth. If New Jersey City and Montclair State both lose and William Paterson wins, New Jersey City is the odd team out. If Monctlair wins, and New Jersey City and William Paterson both lose, the Pioneers are eliminated. In fact, if Richard Stockton beats Ramapo at home and New Jersey City and Montclair State win, there would be a four-way tie for the top seed among all four playoff teams. Hopefully coins won't be involved in seeding that tournament. | |
| Permalink | Feb 15, 2002 | |
Jones honored before final home game CLINTON, Miss. – Men's head coach Mike Jones fought back tears Thursday night as he was honored in a pregame ceremony before his final home game at Mississippi College. More than 2,000 people came out to see the ceremony to honor MC's greatest basketball coach. Mississippi College interim president Lloyd Roberts said a few words in honor of coach Jones and the M-Club awarded him with a plaque recognizing his tremendous accomplishments at Mississippi College. But as if that was not enough, his Choctaws (20-2) then went out and soundly beat Texas-Dallas in a game that was never in question and avenged an earlier loss this season to the Comets. The win capped off another 20-win season and puts the Choctaws in good position entering the ASC tournament next weekend ranked 2nd in the South Region. The Choctaws were led by a balanced attack tonight as three players scored in double figures. Seniors Stacey Keyes and Justin Taylor each tallied 14 points while Karlos Fairley added 12 points and five boards. The Choctaws came out of the gate quickly and led 24-12 with ten minutes to go in the first half. Fairley scored ten of his 12 points in the first half to lead the Chocs to a 40-25 halftime lead. MC shot 60% in the first half on 18-30 shooting. The second half would be more of the same as the Choctaws put the game out of reach early. Keyes made a quick thre pointer to oppen the half and followed that with a three-point play on the next possession. With ten minutes to play the score was 60-35 and the comets would get no closer than 16 points. For the game the Chocs shot 57% from the floor to continue their hot shooting in the past few weeks. The Chocs also outrebounded the Comets 28-21. The Comets were led in scoring by Eric Chatham with 15 points while Brian Thomas scored ten points. The loss drops UT-D to 13-11 on the season. The win for Coach Jones improves his coaching record at A.E. Wood Coliseum to 164-18. The Choctaws have won 78 of the last 82 ballgames in the Golden Dome. | |
| Permalink | Feb 14, 2002 | |
Calvin wins sixth straight in D-III's biggest rivalry GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Faced with the possibility of falling out of the MIAA title hunt, Calvin delivered one of its most passionate defensive performances and in the process, the Knights put themselves right back into the league championship picture. Fueled by a swarming defensive effort, Calvin (18-6 overall) came up with a 78-64 victory over rival Hope Wednesday night in front of a sellout crowd of 4,500 fans at the Calvin Fieldhouse. The victory was Calvin's sixth in a row over Hope and it allowed the Knights to move back into a tie for first place in the MIAA standings with the Flying Dutchmen at 8-3 in league play. Both teams will close out their MIAA regular season campaigns on the road Saturday afternoon as Calvin travels to Alma and Hope journeys to Albion. Calvin can clinch a share of the MIAA title with a win at Alma Saturday and along with it, the top seed for next week's MIAA Tournament. For Hope to gain the top seed of the MIAA Tournament, the Flying Dutchmen need a victory over Albion and a Calvin loss to Alma. Should Calvin and Hope both lose Saturday, a three-way tie for the MIAA regular season championship will be created between Calvin, Hope and Kalamazoo. Kalamazoo finished its MIAA regular season at 8-4 with an 86-67 win over Olivet. In the event of a three-way tie for the league crown, Calvin would still own the overall tie-breaker edge and would gain the top seed for the MIAA Tournament. Holding a 17-16 advantage with 10:58 remaining in the first half, Calvin broke loose on offense, reeling off an 18-4 scoring run to build a 35-20 lead with 6:07 left in the half. Sophomore Chris Prins sparked the Knight outburst with eight points and a steal in the scoring stretch. Hope (17-7 overall) fought back to within single digits as freshman Greg Immink connected on a 3-pointer at the 2:16 to close the score to 42-33. After a Calvin timeout at the 1:58 mark, Prins broke free in the corner and tossed in a 3-pointer to put the Knights up 45-33. Calvin junior Rob Dykstra then added a free throw and Immink converted on a layup to leave the score at 46-35 at intermission. Hope shot 48% in the first half including 62.5% (5-for-8) from 3-point range but the Flying Dutchmen were plagued by 10 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes that led to 15 Calvin points. In the second half, Calvin used a hanging jumper in the lane by sophomore Josh Berghuis to go up 52-39 with 14:10 left on the clock. Calvin would then go scoreless over the next three minutes but would hold Hope to just one field goal defensively to maintain a double-digit lead. Junior forward Jeremy Veenstra then broke the Calvin scoring drought with a steal and subsequent three-point play to give the Knights a 55-41 lead. Trailing 66-55 with 4:40 to go Hope went on a mini 6-2 scoring run with Immink converting a jumper and junior center Don Overbeek nailing a shot in the paint and adding two free throws a few moments later to allow the Flying Dutchmen to creep to within 68-61 with 3:41 remaining. Veenstra was able to help quell the Hope comeback however as his putback off a missed Calvin shot put the Knights up 70-61. After a Hope free throw Calvin senior Jon Potvin followed with a floating runner in the lane to put the Knights up 72-62. Calvin would then convert six of eight free throw attempts in the final 1:33 of play to close out the win. Calvin was led in scoring by Prins who collected 20 points and five rebounds, finishing just three points short of a career scoring high. Veenstra was next with 16 points and 11 rebounds to notch his 22nd career double-double and extend his double-figure scoring streak to 42 games. Dykstra was also superb, scoring 11 points and snaring nine rebounds while also picking up three assists and a steal. Hope was led in scoring by junior guard Chad Carlso who chalked up 16 points but just two in the second half. Junior Mike VanHekken was next for Hope with 14 points while Overbeek recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds while Immink picked up 11 points, four steals and three assists off the bench. Calvin finished the game with a 41.7% field goal clip and went 21-for-29 (72.4%) at the charity stripe. Hope shot 41.1% overall but just 34.5% in the second half. Hope did outrebound Calvin 38-37 but the Flying Dutchmen committed 20 turnovers while the Knights turned the ball over just 11 times. | |
| Permalink | Feb 14, 2002 | |
Platteville women finally pull an upset PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The UW-Platteville Pioneers have come so tantalizing close to the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's "Big Four," but have come up just short in their seven previous games against UW-Stout, UW-Stevens Point, UW-Oshkosh and UW-Eau Claire. Until Wednesday. The Pioneers defeated visiting 21st-ranked UW-Eau Claire 74-70 to clinch their first .500 season in a decade, improving to 13-11 overall and 8-7 in the WIAC. The Blugolds fell to 18-5, 10-5. It was Senior Night for the Pioneers, and all three seniors contributed greatly to the breakthrough win. Crystal Stietz, the conference's leading scorer, poured in 31 points and set a school record by making 14 of 14 from the line. Stietz made a baseline jump shot and two free throws with 42 seconds remaining for a 71-68 lead. After the Blugolds' Becca Spaeth knocked down a pair of free shots to make it a one-point game, senior Katie Oliver hit two free throws with 14 seconds left for a 73-70 advantage. After a UWEC missed 3-point attempt, Tiff Flesch made one of two free throws with 1.2 ticks left for the final margin. Senior Grace Foster added 16 points, with 12 coming via the 3-point shot, and Flesch finished with 11 points. Kristi Channing led Eau Claire with 15 points, while Emilee Planert scored 14. | |
| Permalink | Feb 13, 2002 | |
Va. Wesleyan's run continues with sweep of HSC VIRGINIA BEACH – When Bill Gobble connected on a 3-pointer with 1:50 remaining to be played against long-time rival Hampden-Sydney, a partisan record crowd of 1,102 at Virginia Wesleyan' Jane P. Batten Student Center let him know they liked what he did. A deafening roar erupted on Gobble's third triple of the game, as it squelched a Hampden-Sydney run that had cut Virginia Wesleyan's 68-60 lead to only two points. The visiting Tigers pulled within three points after that triple, but were out of runs as the host Marlins used clutch free throw shooting down the stretch to post a 78-70 victory over the nation's 12th-ranked team. It was a significant victory as it extended a current winning streak to seven in a row, improved the Marlins' Old Dominion Athletic Conference record to a best-ever 14-4, gave VWC (16-9 overall) the second seed in the upcoming ODAC tournament, and marked only the second regular-season sweep of the Tigers in VWC history. The Marlins tripped the then seventh-ranked Tigers 60-57, at Hampden-Sydney, on Jan. 16. "Bill's three late in the game was huge," says VWC head coach Dave Macedo. "He really gave us a spark off the bench, as did Ryan Kahle. They were both important contributors to the win. We set the tone early, but Hampden-Sydney (19-5, 13-5) made some great runs. You have to give our guys a lot of credit though for holding them off and making some big plays at the end of the game." Off the bench, Gobble and Kahle, a pair of juniors, combined for 30 points, hitting 10 of 15 field goals, including 5-for-9 from 3-point range, and 5-for-5 from the line. Gobble was perfect across the board, hitting all four field goals, all three triples, and both free throws that he attempted. While their contributions were crucial, so was the floor leadership of point guard James Wallace. The stalwart senior repeatedly found ways to get shots up and in over a harassing Hampden-Sydney defense, scoring a game-high 24 points, his second best total of the season. Wallace connected on six of 12 field goal attempts, including 5-for-11 from three-point range. "James Wallace is on the top of his game now," says Macedo "He was the difference in the game, in my opinion. He wanted the ball, he made several clutch shots, he was 7-for-7 from the foul line, and he handled their constant pressure pretty well overall." Pressure was constant from both squads throughout an intense contest that saw five ties and nine lead changes, six of the latter in the second half. Momentum ping-ponged, with each team producing scoring runs to keep the tally tight. VWC used a 7-0 run to open up a 14-6 lead early, only to see the Tigers respond later with four consecutive triples, three by junior Matt McKeag, in a 14-2 surge to take a 28-27 advantage with 3:56 in the half. Wallace responded with a triple to stop the run and return the lead to the Marlins, who closed out the half with an11-0 surge to open up a 41-30 lead. Before the clock could hit 0:00 though, Hampden-Sydney sophomore Jeff Monroe stripped the cords with a 3-pointer from just inside the midcourt stripe. The Tigers rode that momentum shift into the locker room and back out onto the court for the second half, opening with a 9-0 run that gave the Tigers a 42-41 lead at 16:26. The teams traded the lead four times in the next 94 seconds, before Gobble emerged with a 3-pointer that gave the Marlins a lead they would not surrender. His triple at the 14:01 mark sparked a 9-0 spurt that pushed the Marlins into a 56-48 lead and left Hampden-Sydney on the chase. Key scores by senior Josh Fisher, junior Louis Park and first-year Marlin Kyle Sharp helped VWC to maintain the upper hand, before Hampden-Sydney produced one more rush at the lead. Junior Lane Brooks started it with a dunk and in the next 80 seconds the Tigers cut a 68-60 deficit to 68-66 on a jumper by David Willson. That's when Gobble stepped up to knock the wind out of the Tigers for the last time, drilling home the triple that enabled the Marlins to keep a step ahead to the final buzzer. Three-pointers electrified the crowd throughout the game, as the teams combined to hit 20 of 39 from the long ranges. VWC hit on 12 of 26, the Marlins' second-highest single-game production of the season. Five different Marlins hit for at least one triple. Hampden-Sydney did post a 30-28 edge in rebounds, but game-high honors belonged to Kahle, who pulled in a season-high nine. McKeag paced Hampden-Sydney scoring with 18 points. Brooks finished with 16 and Monroe with 11. "Our guys are playing with a lot of confidence," says Macedo. "They're believing in one another and that's helping our program to move in the right direction. Anytime you can beat a top-notch program like Hampden-Sydney, it puts you on the map. To beat them twice and have the opportunity for another rematch with them is something our guys feel pretty good about." | |
| Permalink | Feb 12, 2002 | |
Lewis & Clark ruins Willamette's first day in Top 25 PORTLAND, Ore. – Lewis & Clark's Scott Davis led the Pioneers to a 78-67 win over No. 25 Willamette in a battle between the Northwest Conference's top two teams. Willamette (18-6, 12-3 NWC) had just entered the Top 25 for the first time. Davis poured in 26 points, including 15 straight points for the Pioneers (18-5, 11-3) after Willamette had taken a 47-46 lead at the 13:55 mark in the second half. Davis' tear ended at 4:40 when the Colin Oriard made a layup to give the Pios a 63-58 lead. Willamette's big push came early in the second half. Trailing by 11 points, Ryan Hepp and Marques Johnson led the Bearcats back. Johnson's rebound and putback gave the Bearcats the 47-46 lead, but it was too much Davis down the stretch. Oriard finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Jeff Auxier scored 10 of his 12 points in the first half, when the Pios built a 40-31 advantage. John Mietus notched a double-double with 10 points and 13 boards. Johnson led the way for Willamette with 21 points, followed by Brian Newton with 17. Hepp finished with 13 and six assists. B.J. Dobrkovsky had a game-high nine assists and a team-high nine rebounds. The win virtually clinches a berth in the Northwest Conference Tournament for the Pioneers. The Pioneers can attain the No. 1 seed with two wins this Friday at Pacific Lutheran and at home Saturday against Linfield. If the Pioneers lose twice this weekend, Whitworth splits its final two games, and Linfield wins its final two, the Lewis & Clark would finish in a three-way tie for second with the Pirates and Wildcats and would lose the tiebreaker. Willamette has clinched a berth in the three-team tournament. | |
| Permalink | Feb 12, 2002 | |
Experts determine Carthage has clinched bid KENOSHA, Wis. – Carthage beat North Park 74-59 on Monday night to clinch at least a tie for the CCIW title and, according to CCIW tiebreaker experts Gregory Sager and Bob Quillman, the CCIW's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Although Augustana can win out and tie the No. 1-ranked Redmen for the CCIW title at 10-4, Carthage would still win the automatic bid in the third tiebreaker. According to Sager: * If the Redmen were to lose their last three games, and Augustana won out, then both teams would finish 10-4 and tied for first. The first tiebreaker, head-to-head, would be a wash – because for this scenario to happen, Augie would have to beat Carthage up in Kenosha on Feb. 23. Carthage beat Augie 64-63 in Rock Island on Jan. 23. * The second tiebreaker, comparative records against other CCIW teams starting from the third-place team and working down the standings, would also be a wash. Both Carthage and Augie would've split with the same three other teams – Elmhurst, Millikin, and Wheaton. * The third tiebreaker is road record. Carthage's CCIW road record would be 6-1. The best Augie can do at this point on the road is finish 4-3. Therefore, Carthage wins the third tiebreaker, and thus the CCIW's Pool A bid. But if you're not convinced by this, they can put your doubts to rest on Wednesday, Feb. 13, at Millikin. | |
