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More news about: Marietta | Randolph-Macon | Wheaton (Ill.) | Widener
Nov 20, 2021
Buzz Anthony (5) and No. 1 Randolph-Macon overcame No. 3 Marietta in the marquis matchup of the Great Lakes Invitational
 IPhoto by Rebecca Wheeler, Marietta athletics

 
The Great Lakes Invitational lived up to its name as No. 1 Randolph-Macon earned a hard-fought win over No. 3 Marietta on Saturday night. Nyameye Adom was better than great for No. 6 Wheaton (Ill.) and Widener was good for an upset on Saturday afternoon.

Top-ranked Randolph-Macon left the weekend event with its perfect record in tact and a road win over the host Pioneers, 82-74.

The Yellowjackets took a double-digit lead very early in their game, but the Pioneers adjusted and methodically worked their way back with tough defense on All-American Buzz Anthony and sharp shooting by Lukas Isaly. Marietta led 24-23 at the half. Both teams made tactical changes at the break, but the intensity and execution remained high. Randolph-Macon's ability to make Marietta pay for every mistake helped them build and maintain a tenuous lead throughout the second half. 

Randolph-Macon's Miles Mallory hit all eight of his free throws down the stretch and Ian Robertson led the Yellowjackets (5-0) with 20 points off the bench.  Isaly finished with 36 points on 11 for 15 shooting, including 7 for 10 from downtown, for Marietta (2-2).

Two ranked teams left the Great Lakes Invitational without a win.  No. 22 Wittenberg lost a close one to Hendrix Friday and then dropped another to a young La Roche squad, 89-83. The Redhawks (1-3) pressed the pace at both ends of the floor and outrebounded Wittenberg, 46-21. Kadyn Hannah finished with 16 points and nine rebounds for La Roche which bounced back from Friday night's 93-61 loss to Wilmington.

No. 13 Emory followed Friday night's loss to Randolph-Macon with a 98-90 defeat at the hands of the Wabash. The Little Giants got 29 points from Jack Davidson and outscored the Eagles 36-9 from behind the arc. Emory's Matt Schner had 25 with 13 rebounds in the loss.

Nyameye Adom scored 41 and No. 6 Wheaton needed almost all of them to get past UW-Eau Claire, 77-85. Tyson Cruickshank added 22 with 10 rebounds for the Thunder (4-0) as they forced 15 Blugold turnovers and went 35 for 43 from the foul line. Eau-Claire was led by Spencer Page's 20 points.

No. 8 Swarthmore took its first non-conference loss since the 2019 National Championship game, falling at home to Widener, 66-77.  The Pride took the ball inside aggressively, shooting 50 percent from the floor and scoring 34 points in the paint to the Garnet's eight.   Swarthmore (3-1) committed 8 turnovers in the loss. Widener (3-1) was led by Kenny Lewis' 13 points and 10 rebounds, but five Pride players scored in double figures.

No. 4 Illinois Wesleyan got out to a big lead at Calvin, leading 17-4 before the Knights battled back within two at halftime.  All-American Matthew Leritz proved too much, though, scoring 23 of his 28 in the second half as IWU (5-0) pulled away to a 81-72 victory.  Calvin (2-1) got 28 of its own from Luke Morrison, but were outrebounded 38-23 by the Titans.
 
No. 7 Trine had a scare on the road at Muskingum, before pulling out a 57-52 win.  The shots were not falling for the Thunder, shooting just 11-23 from free throw line. Leading scorer Nick Bowman tallied 22 points on 8 for 22 shooting for Trine (4-0).
 
In a battle of ranked teams off to very different starts, No. 9 St. Joseph (Conn.) outlasted No. 11 Tufts, 75-62.  Both teams were missing starters due to injury, the Bluejays without Delshawn Jackson, Jr. and the Jumbos down All-American Luke Rogers and Tyler Aronson. The Unversity of St. Joseph (4-0) got 18 points and eight rebounds on 8 for 11 shooting from Jordan Powell. Jay Dieterle led Tufts (0-3) with 18 points.
 
Baldwin Wallace improved to 3-0 by beating Hamilton 94-87 in overtime. Anthony Mazzeo rolled up 44 points and five rebounds for the Yellow Jackets. DeSales closed its game against Scranton on a 20-5 run and beat the Royals, 72-66. Matt Kachelries scored 20 points for the Bulldogs (5-0) who are off to their best start since 2008-09.
 
Four Catholic starters reached double-figures and the Cardinals reached 6-0 with a 75-62 road win at Stevens. Jake Timby led CUA with 17 points. Kean has won seven games or less each season since 2013-14, but the Cougars picked up their fifth win of this season by beating Brooklyn, 61-58. Patrick Strzala paced the Cougars with 22 points and seven rebounds.