| Randolph-Macon athletics photo |
No. No. 6 Randolph-Macon earned a big non-conference win, No. 16 Illinois Wesleyan shot out the lights, No. 23 UW-La Crosse won its fifth straight game, Catholic celebrated the 25th anniversary of its national championship and more in Division III men’s basketball action on Saturday, Feb. 7.
No. 6 Randolph-Macon picked up a big non-conference victory on Saturday as the Yellow Jackets got 24 points from Liam Joyce en route to beating No. 2 Mary Washington 85-74. Kye Robinson struggled for the second consecutive match against Top 25 competition after dealing with foul trouble against Christopher Newport. Robinson was held to six points, all from the foul line. Macon scored 12 of the first 18 points to extend its halftime lead to 53-37, and Mary Washington (18-3) didn’t get closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Noah Cleveland, Mason Funk and senior Karlo Colak combined to score 76 points as Illinois Wesleyan defeated Elmhurst 91-69. Cleveland scored 32 and was virtually unstoppable, shooting 14-for-17 from the floor. Funk scored 23, had game-highs with eight rebounds and seven assists, and Colak finished with 21 points and seven boards. The Titans shot an impressive 66.7 percent from the floor (34-for-51) and went 7-for-15 from three-point range.
UW-La Crosse extended its winning streak to five with a 92-67 win over UW-Platteville Saturday night at Mitchell Hall. The Eagles, ranked 23rd in this week’s D3hoops.com Top 25, improve to 16-5 overall and 6-4 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, while the Pioneers, receiving votes in the poll, fall to 14-7, 6-4. The Eagles, who never trailed, snapped a six-game losing streak against the Pioneers with Saturday’s win. Sam Grieger led all scorers with 31 points for the Eagles while adding seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Catholic recognized the 25th anniversary of the 2001 Division III men’s basketball national championship team and the Cardinals moved two games ahead of the field in the Landmark Conference when they defeated Moravian, 97-69, and Scranton fell to Elizabethtown, 79-72. Catholic is now 12-2 in the Landmark (16-5 overall), while Drew (16-5, 10-4) and Scranton (17-4, 10-4) are each two games behind. Drew has the head-to-head advantage thanks to a sweep of Scranton. It was Catholic’s first full game without Brian Herbert, who was injured in Wednesday’s game against Juniata, but Peter Gellene did his best Pat Maloney impression, scoring 24 points on 10-for-14 shooting and going 4-for-6 from beyond the arc.
Jeb Williams scored a career-high 22 points to lead Johns Hopkins to an 84-78 win over Ursinus in Centennial Conference action. The Blue Jays improve to 16-5 overall and 7-2 in the conference, while the Bears fall to 13-8 and 6-3. Matthew Field and Jamie Murphy made back-to-back layups to pull the Bears within one with 1:13 to play. Williams answered with a layup, but a pair of field free throws cut the lead to one with 28 ticks on the clock. The Blue Jays went on a 6-1 run from the charity stripe in the final 22 seconds to hold on for the win.
Union overcame a slow start to outscore Hobart by 10 points in the second half and earn its first season win over the Statesmen since 2017-18 with a hard-fought 75-68 win on Senior Day. The win improves Union to 17-4 overall and 12-2 in Liberty League play, tying three previous teams (2012-13, 2017-18 and 2019-20) for the most conference wins in a season in program history. With four conference games remaining, Union remains tied in the Liberty League with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, one game ahead of third-place Vassar College. When all five seniors started, junior Tanner Tedesco came off the bench for the second time in his career but still led the team with 21 points.
Babson was able to keep pace with WPI and stay one game back in the NEWMAC standings as the Beavers got 21 points from Thomas Ferdinando and 14 off the bench from Timmy Mulvey in a 71-56 win against Springfield. The Beavers (15-6, 9-3 NEWMAC) held the Pride without a 3-pointer all game, while Springfield shot 0-for-10 from beyond the arc. WPI has already swept Babson in the NEWMAC schedule. At the top of the conference, Justin Molen scored 13 of his team-high 19 points after halftime as WPI sprinted to a sizable lead, weathered a strong surge from Salve Regina in the second half and then pulled away late to beat the Seahawks 70-58.
Washington & Jefferson defeated the top team in the PAC North Division and moved into a tie for first place in the PAC South as the Presidents defeated Westminster (Pa.) 105-84. Alex Acosta was tasked early into the W&J 1,000-point club, going on to finish with a team-high 19 points while shooting 7-for-9 from the field. The Presidents (16-5, 9-3 PAC) came out hot and opened the game with a 14-2 lead. Quinton Burlenski connected on two 3-pointers, one of which he fouled, and converted the free throw to complete the four-point play. Westminster (13-8, 8-4) was able to chip away at the lead and cut it to six, but that was as close as they could get.
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