Notables

Macalester won for the first time since Jan. 30, 2008, defeating Crown 77-60 in its first game under new coach Tim Whittle. Crown, which also went winless last season, has lost 24 games in a row.

Twelve players scored for the Scots, as junior Colin Keeley posted a double-double, scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, while senior Jerry Kraus just missed a double-double of his own, finishing with 11 points and nine boards.

Steve Boger scored 12 points to pace Crown, while Mike Landers contributed 11 points and eight rebounds. Crown was held to a 2-for-11 three-point shooting night. More of Tuesday's men's scores.

Bridgewater State had five scorers in double figures to edge Western New England 86-83. MIT won its first game in the post-Jimmy Bartolotta era, defeating Emmanuel 68-54 led by Billy Johnson's 18 points. Andrew MacDonald banked home the game-winning three-pointer to lift New England College to an 86-85 overtime win over Castleton State.

Chapman won its first game of the season, beating Pomona-Pitzer 71-53. Justin Riley, who is one of our Insiders for the 2009-2010 season, notched 12 points and seven rebounds in the Cougars' victory. Rutgers-Camden won its season opener on its own court for the first time since 1981, topping PAC champion Gwynedd-Mercy in thrilling fashion, 62-60. The Scarlet Raptors hadn't played a season opener in Camden since 2000.

Crown's men fared better than its women's team, which lost to UW-River Falls 112-28. Defending champ George Fox beat Corban 74-41 in its season debut. No. 20 Marymount played without three starters but beat Gallaudet 68-59 in a season-opening conference game. No. 11 Kean lost to Division I Rutgers 85-49 ... but it was better than the 85-25 loss Farmingdale State took last year against Rutgers' freshmen.

The wait for the 2009-2010 Division III basketball season is over as men's and women's action is underway.

In fact, a handful of teams couldn’t wait for the fun to begin so they tipped off just after midnight at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Mennonite and Lancaster Bible gave midnight madness new meaning on the men's side (with Eastern Mennonite winning 96-53) and Chatham beat Wilson 66-26 at midnight on the women’s side.

Defending champion Washington U. began its quest for a third Walnut and Bronze by easily defeating MacMurray 88-53. No. 2 John Carroll also started the new season on the right foot, winning at Olivet 90-83. However, not all Top 10 teams were so fortunate.

Chris Beauchamp hit a three-pointer as time expired to lift Baruch over last year's runner-up and preseason No. 5 Richard Stockton, 68-67. Last season the Ospreys went 16-0 at The Sports Center. No. 9 Wooster met a similar fate at Albion where Chris Hutton nailed a three with 36 seconds to give the Britons a 57-55 victory. Hutton finished with 16 points. Austin rallied from an 11-point deficit to take out No. 12 Texas-Dallas in overtime, 79-77. Check out Sunday’s scoreboard.

In women's action, preseason No. 1 Washington U. also got underway by handling Augustana 71-36. No. 5 Scranton survived a trip to Montclair State, defeating the Red Hawks, who were 18-8 last season, 71-65. No. 21 TCNJ began life without the 2009 player of the year Hillary Klimowicz with a loss at Empire 8 champion Stevens, 48-46. Check on Sunday's women's openers.

Back on the men's side, No. 10 UW-Stevens Point denied St. John's coach Jim Smith his 700th victory as the Pointers defeated the Johnnies 71-57. (Photo gallery) Last year’s HCAC champion Transylvania fell 76-54 at Carthage and Brockport State edged St. Lawrence 75-72 in a meeting of two teams that made the 2009 NCAA tournament. Division III scored a pair of wins over Division II as Concordia (Wis.) knocked off Division II UW-Parkside 86-81 in overtime and Buena Vista nipped Wayne State, 62-61.

In what might be a preview of next week's football playoffs, North Carolina Wesleyan lost to Wesley 90-73. The two schools are also matched up in next week's Division III football postseason. Sage played men's basketball for the first time and found RPI too much to handle in an 82-62 loss. (Photo gallery)

If your teams aren't underway, get caught up on our preseason coverage with the Preseason men's and women's All-Americans and school provided team previews.

The start of the Division III basketball season is less than seven days away so this is prime time to talk about the schools expecting big things in 2009-2010. Franklin and Marshall might not have been on that list coming into last season, but it certainly is now.

"Last year expectations were low and easy to meet,” says Coach Glenn Robinson. “This year expectations are high and we now have a bulls' eye on our backs.” How do the Diplomats intend to meet those expectations that come with a No. 6 preseason ranking? Find out by checking out Franklin and Marshall’s preseason preview or any others that are posted.

Preseason info: Men's All-American team | Women's All-American team | Top 25 | Season previews

High expectations are nothing new in Scranton where the Lady Royals have more wins than any other Division III program. Head Coach Mike Strong begins his 30th season with a preseason All-American (find out who it is here) but has never been afraid to use his reserves. Who will contribute off the bench for the No. 5 preseason pick? Take a look at Scranton’s preseason preview and others.

While teams enter their last week of preseason practice, you can gear up for the season by joining Posting Up, our message board community, or browsing through the hundreds of schedules posted online. And check back later in the week for an introduction to this year’s Insiders, the men’s and women’s players who will give us an inside look at their season as it unfolds.

Senior forward Zoë Unruh scored a game-high 21 points and ignited a 19-5 run late in the second half as the No. 1 Washington U. women’s basketball team posted a 84-74 victory at Division I Southern Illinois-Carbondale in an exhibition game on Saturday night at SIU Arena in Carbondale, Ill.

Unruh, who was limited to five points in the first half, scored 16 points in the second half on 6-of-11 shooting from the field with four three-pointers. Junior guard Alex Hoover added 18 points and four assists on 11-of-12 shooting from the foul line, while her younger sister Dani Hoover added 12 second-half points.

• Preseason info: Men's All-American team | Women's All-American team | Top 25 | Season previews

The Bears shot 59.3 percent (16-for-27) from the field in the second half, while connecting on five of eight from three-point range. For the game, Washington U. shot 47.5 percent (28-for-59) from the field and hit 20 of 25 from the foul line. Full story.

Prognostication is an inexact science known to inhabit the preseason of many sports. And we apply that theoretical formula to teams in the form of the preseason Top 25, and to individuals in the form of preseason All-American teams.

Who are the best returning players? Who do we expect to step up? What players have transferred into key spots or are returning from injuries after dropping off the radar? You'll get a little of all of that here.

Announcing the D3hoops.com men's basketball preseason All-American team and women's basketball preseason All-American team.

Will Wash U be good? Alright, you don't need a preseason All-American team to answer that question. But other sleeper names are on the list.

Scroll down for more preseason coverage, and check out this year's season previews: 90 and counting.

Eric Pugh’s lay up as time expired sent Randolph-Macon to a 49-47 victory over defending Patriot League champion American in a men’s basketball exhibition action on Tuesday night in Washington, D.C.

The Yellow Jackets, who went 20-6 last season, are the No. 19 team in the preseason D3hoops.com Top 25. They were the second Division III team in as many nights to defeat a scholarship-level opponent, following an 82-77 win by UW-La Crosse against Division II power Winona State.

For more scores from the exhibition season, which is just getting underway, check out our Scoreboard page.

With the score tied at 47-all, American had the ball with the chance to pull ahead but Nick Hendra’s three-point shot fell short. Pugh came down with the rebound and was able to go coast-to-coast, laying the ball into the net as time expired.

American led 45-43 with a 1:22 to go in the game after Stephen Lumpkins three-point play. Danny Jones pulled R-MC back to a tie with a pair shots from the charity stripe with just over a minute to play.

Pugh led R-MC with 11 points, while David Carlson had seven points in the victory. Kevin Voekel led the Jackets with six rebounds.

The first half proved to be a low scoring one as both team struggled from the field, resulting in just an 18-12 for AU at the intermission.

An Pugh three pointer just under two minutes into the second half pulled R-MC within three at 18-15.

The game remained close through the first 10 minutes of the second stanza before and Adam Desgain pull up jumper tied the game at 30-30. Two Billy Campion free-throws with 9:22 to play gave R-MC a 32-30 advantage.

Four starters return, and a D3hoops.com All-American guard is among them. The three graduated seniors combined for 18 starts. Twelve of 15 letterwinners are back, and frankly, the rest of the conference lost a lot of talent.

That's a recipe that could spur Carthage back into the spotlight. And with Bosko Djurickovic at the helm and Steve Djurickovic at the point guard position, averaging 27.6 points and 6.4 assists per game, the Red Men could well get to the next level after going 15-10, 7-7 in the CCIW last season.

Check out the Carthage men's season preview, which is one of more than 60 season previews posted on D3hoops.com by schools in preparation for the Nov. 15 tipoff of the 2009-10 season.

Where does your team fall in its conference preseason poll? We've got a bunch of preseason polls in our Press Releases section. Also keep an eye out for our preseason All-American teams, and check out the preseason D3hoops.com Top 25. Plus, check out team pages by region for links to each Division III team's schedule, or plan your schedule using our day-by-day schedule of Division III basketball games.

For the past few years, it's been women's basketball putting the Stormy Petrels of Oglethorpe on the Division III basketball map. But that talented class of players has finally graduated, no doubt prompting sighs of relief in San Antonio, Greencastle, Ind., and elsewhere.

However, the Oglethorpe men have a chance to do damage this season in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. The Stormy Petrels return their top seven players from last season, the team's second-consecutive 16-win campaign.

And with five scorers last season averaging in double figures, Oglethorpe will look to put as much pressure on the opposing defense as its defenders put on the ball-handlers, who averaged 15 turnovers per game last season.

Oglethorpe is just one of many 2009-10 season previews on D3hoops.com. Check back frequently, as more previews are added by schools every day. Also keep an eye out for our preseason All-American teams, and check out the preseason D3hoops.com Top 25. Plus, scroll down to our news releases section to get the latest on preseason conference coaches polls.

D3sports.com has learned that there will be no third-place game in the Division III men's basketball Final Four this season and it will be replaced with an All-Star game featuring Division III seniors.

The game, which is sponsored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, will take place in the third-place game's normal time slot, three hours before tipoff of the championship game. This season, that will be 10 a.m. ET on Saturday, March 20.

The decision was finalized on the NABC's conference call late last week.

Although the details are still being worked out, plans are for two teams of 10 players apiece to be named. At least one spot on each team will be set aside for players from teams who lose in the national semifinals the previous evening, the teams who normally would play in the third-place game.

Coaches for the game have yet to be determined and could be drawn from the national semifinalists as well, or from the NABC's annual lifetime achievement awards, which are announced around the same time. Traditionally, there are at least a dozen Division III men's basketball head coaches already in Salem attending the Final Four, if not more. Players would arrive in Salem, Va., on Thursday, take part in a community service event on Friday, have a practice and play Saturday morning.

Four teams received No. 1 votes in the preseason D3hoops.com Top 25 women's basketball poll, with Washington University edging on top, nine points ahead of Amherst.

Wash U received seven No. 1 votes; Amherst picked up five. At No. 3, Hope was just 11 overall points behind the leader and had seven more No. 1 votes, while defending national champion George Fox picked up the remaining six nods for the top spot. The Bruins lost both a first-team All-American and the D3hoops.com Rookie of the Year from last year's unbeaten squad, as Sage Indendi, who was also the team's leading scorer, did not return to school this fall.

It's the fourth preseason No. 1 selection for the Bears, but their first since the fall of 2002, following the last of their four consecutive national championships. Fueled by two title game appearances in the past three seasons, the Bears have rebounded from three consecutive preseason finishes outside the Top Six.

Wash U's seven No. 1 votes ties for the fewest garnered by a preseason No. 1 team in the 11-year history of the D3hoops.com Top 25. Mary Washington got seven No. 1 votes in the 2007-08 preseason poll, while eventual national champion Howard Payne was No. 2 overall.

The full Top 25. Scroll down for coverage of the D3hoops.com men's basketball Top 25.