Coach Charles Pattillo, head coach of the Howard Payne Yellow Jackets men’s basketball team, is retiring from coaching effective immediately. He informed the university of his decision today.
A 1965 graduate of the University, this was Pattillo’s 16th year as the Yellow Jackets head coach. He leaves with a career record of 173-186. During the mid 90s, his teams won three straight Conference Championships earning them appearances in the NAIA National Tournament every year. In the 2005-2006 season, the Jackets went 20-7, won the ASC West Division Championship and hosted an ASC Conference tournament for the first time in school history. Last year Howard Payne upset ASC East No. 1 seed Mississippi College in the first round of the ASC tournament.
HPU President Lanny Hall said, “Coach Pattillo has had a distinguished career in coaching and is leaving an indelible imprint on the men’s basketball program at Howard Payne. A graduate and former Howard Payne player, Coach Pattillo loves his alma mater and has given much back to the institution by providing excellent leadership and direction to the men’s basketball program for 16 years.”
Howard Payne is 0-4 pending tonight’s game at the University of Ozarks. The University expects to name an interim head coach soon.
&&f-boxr&&Scott Morton appears to have made Geneseo State a household name, after his three-pointer gave the Knights a lead, then his over-the-back-of-the-head tip-in finished Oswego State off for an 85-84 win.
Highlights and interview from ESPN's First Take.
Geneseo, which received votes in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25, improved to 4-1 with its only loss coming Nov. 22 at current No. 9 Gettysburg.
This past March we projected Kyle Knudsen and Cal Lutheran would make the tournament. They were our only Pool C pick to not make the field.
Cal Lutheran photo by Ashley Bentz
NCAA expands men's tourney to 60 teams
The Division III men's basketball NCAA Tournament is expanding from 59 to 60 teams this season, according to a memo the association sent Division III member schools this afternoon.
This means four teams will receive first-round byes, instead of the previous five. The number of teams in the tournament is a ratio of the number of Division III member schools that sponsor men's basketball and is set as one tournament spot for every 6.5 programs.
There are 39 automatic bids for the 2009 tournament, with the Northern Athletics Conference qualifying for an automatic bid for the first time after the NATHC's two-year waiting period. There are four bids set aside in Pool B for teams not in one of those 39 conferences, with the remaining 17 bids (Pool C) as true at-large berths.
Chris Switzer started the night with a milestone and ended it with a buzzer-beater.
Mount Union athletics file photo
Mount Union beats buzzer to improve to 5-0
Westminster (Pa.) rallied from a 14-point deficit to tie the game in the closing seconds, but Chris Switzer hit a 35-footer at the buzzer to lift Mount Union to a 75-72 win on the road on Monday night.
For Mount Union, it's win No. 5 against no defeats on the season, while for Switzer, it was a memorable night that started with his scoring his 1,000th point. The Purple Raiders were 9-17 last season. Full story.
Already with an exhibition win against a legit D-I squad under its belt, UW-Platteville added a notable Division III triumph to its ledger, as the No. 7 ranked Pioneers topped No. 21 Wooster, 76-67, in the Hanover Tournament. Guards Mike Shaw and Curt Hanson combined for 43 points, while all-American center Jeff Skemp had 18 points. They'll draw Indiana-Southeast Sunday, which beat Hanover in the tournament's other game.
Brian Centella's basket with four seconds left in double overtime gave Loras a 64-62 win over No. 21 Chicago. The Maroons, the defending UAA champs, amazingly are 0-5, with four heartbreaking losses by single digits. No. 24 Virginia Wesleyan fell to 3-3, losing to Eastern Mennonite.
In women's action, UW-Platteville's women didn't have the same good fortune as the men. No. 19 Simpson went 17-for-17 from the free throw line and won easily, 89-54, in the Buena Vista Classic. No. 1 UW-Whitewater did beat a team from Iowa, topping Loras, 86--74.
Elsewhere in men's action, Ithaca improved to 5-0, beating Baldwin-Wallace, 97-75 in Allegheny's tournament. Gustavus Adolphus couldn't do what St. Thomas did last year, losing to Division II champ Winona State, 75-59.
Sally Nnamani recorded a double-double in Lehman's win.
Lehman athletics file photo
Lehman hands DePauw another L
Lehman dealt the No. 3 DePauw women their second loss of the season and the No. 1 Wash U men survived Aurora in overtime as Division III basketball got back underway with a limited slate on Friday night after the Thanksgiving holiday.
Sally Nnamani had 18 points and 11 rebounds while Tonisha Kirby scored a game-high 22 points in the win. DePauw standout Cassie Pruzin was just 2-for-12 from the floor in the loss.
Zach Kelly had another career-high, scoring 25 points and adding 10 rebounds for the defending national champion Bears in a 97-89 win. Wash U survived a 1-for-7 drought to open the first half and a 1-for-11 drought to end the half. Friday's men's scores.
Roanoke's men improved to 4-1 with a 90-81 win against Christopher Newport, while Andy Meier scored 26 to lead Cal Lutheran (3-0) to a 76-70 win against George Fox.
Dog eat dog: Kate Harrison and the Greyhounds upset the No. 9 DeSales Bulldogs.
Moravian athletics photo
Feast or famine
The last busy night before Thanksgiving has some ranked teams rolling into the holiday and others hoping to fill their stomachs and clear their minds after a rough start.
At the other end of the Top 25 spectrum, Mass-Dartmouth beat No. 9 Brandeis 68-62 to drop the Judges to 0-3. Jesse Van Sickle scored a career-high 22 points to lead Gustavus Adolphus past No. 8 Buena Vista 62-58. Lake Forest handled No. 22 Chicago 73-54 leaving the Maroons at 0-4. Trinity (Texas), who narrowly missed an upset against No. 6 UW-Stevens Point on Saturday, landed one on Tuesday with an 81-71 victory over No. 10 Mary Hardin-Baylor (0-2). More men’s scores.
Aaron Thompson scored 26 points, including a three-pointer to give Wash U a four-point lead with just over a minute left in overtime.
Photo by Ryan Coleman, D3sports.com
Wash U survives 1-2 battle
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. -- Aaron Thompson scored 26 points on 10-for-18 shooting and Zach Kelly added a career-high 19 as No. 1 Washington-St. Louis outlasted No. 2 Augustana 87-82 in overtime Saturday night.
Sophomore Kevin Kennedy hit an 18-footer with 12 seconds left to lead No. 11 Gettysburg past Geneseo State 58-56. No. 6 UW-Stevens Point got the job done in overtime in Texas, beating Trinity 71-70.
In women's action, No. 10 Illinois Wesleyan beat No. 6 Washington U. 71-69. Cal Lutheran hit a three-pointer with one second left to beat Cal State-East Bay 104-103. Jill Anelauskas scored 18 points as Bowdoin won in coach Adrienne Shibles' debut, beating Western Connecticut 75-45. Saturday's women's scores.
Jordan Delp missed the final 22 games of last season for Augustana, but has hit two game-winning shots so far.
Augustana athletics photo
Got his shot back
Around the Nation
Sean Wallis isn't the only prominent player to be returning from an injury-shortened season. In fact, two of them will be facing off against each other in a key early-season matchup on D3hoopsNet when No. 2 Augustana hosts No. 1 Wash U.
For Augustana, the player making a comeback is Jordan Delp, and he's done so in a big way so far for the Vikings. More in this week's Around the Nation.
Meanwhile, it's been an extra-long offseason for Hope, about two weeks longer than they might have wanted.
The Flying Dutch women were knocked out of the NCAA Tournament a week before the finals and this year's opener was called off after a virus swept through the Holland, Mich., campus. But they're ready to go, finally. And who might turn out on top in a NESCAC that graduated an impressive senior class? Not Amherst, not Tufts, not Trinity, not Williams ...
Brad Caravoulias had 10 points as Lasell stunned Brandeis.
Lasell athletics
Set Lasers to stun
So much for easing into the new season. The first midweek games of the 2008-2009 campaign already included thrilling finishes and surprising upsets.
None were more surprising than Lasell shocking No. 9 Brandeis 68-66 in a rematch of last year’s second round men’s tournament game on Tuesday night. Junior Sandival scored 23 points on seven three-pointers for the Lasers who shot 61 percent in the second half. Preseason All-American Steve DeLuca scored 16 points in his first game back after missing all of last season with an injury. Lasell won the GNAC last season and was picked third in the preseason coaches’ poll behind Emmanuel and Emerson.
On Wednesday Jordan Delp hit a dramatic shot of his own in the closing seconds to edge No. 2 Augustana past No. 22 Chicago 58-57. The Vikings led for most of the game until Matt Corning put the Maroons in front 52-51 with three minutes left to play. Delp’s shot keeps Augustana undefeated for Saturday night’s showdown with No. 1 Washington U. while No. 22 Chicago drops to 0-3.
In women's action, Mount St. Mary bounced back from its opening loss to beat No. 18 New Jersey 59-55 on Tuesday night. Hillary Klimowicz tallied 17 points, 15 rebounds and four rebounds for the Lions in the loss. No. 2 Oglethorpe raced past Piedmont 91-67, easily winning a rematch of last year's tournament game. The Petrels outscored the Lions 22-0 in fast break points.
More men’s and women’s scores from Wednesday night.