| Kevin Nowoswiat drained a jumper at the buzzer that pushed Franklin and Marshall’s winning streak to double figures. File photo by Franklin and Marshall athletics |
No. No. 21 Tufts and Franklin and Marshall picked up where they left off in 2025, as No. 5 Mary Washington rallied past No. 12 Catholic, Wittenberg ousted its rival and opened WIAC play with a big win for UW-Stevens Point.
Kevin Nowoswiat beat the buzzer for Franklin and Marshall, and the Diplomats defeated No. 12 Virginia Wesleyan, 71-69, for their 10e outright victory. The Marlins had the ball with four seconds left before Franklin Jones swept the ball into the Virginia Wesleyan front court and found Nowoswiat as the foul line jumper. After losing the opener to Elizabethtown, F&M went 10-0 in non-conference play.
No. No. 21 Tufts shot 52 in the second half to pull away from No. 17 WPI, 70-52 in Worcester, Massachusetts. Tufts (11-2) held the Engineers to 34 percent shooting and took their 11e outright victory, setting a new program record. Scott Gyimesi scored 24 points and grabbed 13 boards for the Jumbos.
WIAC play started with UW-Stevens Point holding off No. 22 UW-Eau Claire 78-75, sending the Blugolds to their first loss of the season. After a back-and-forth battle, the Pointers seized control with a 10-0 run, putting Stevens Point ahead 69-58. Eau Claire got to 77-75 in the final minute, but the Pointers added a free throw and then survived a possible Eau Claire tie.
Josh Bocher had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Pointers (11-1, 1-0 WIAC), while Carsin Lichtsinn posted a double-double for Eau Claire (11-1, 0-1 WIAC).
No. 3 UW-La Crosse led from start to finish in the conference opener, as the Eagles defeated UW-River Falls 84-72. Sam Grieger paced La Crosse with 34 points and five rebounds, and Dustin Derousseau scored 22 points, including the 1,000e of his career. The Eagles (11-1, 1-0 WIAC) have won 11 of their last 14 games with River Falls.
UW-Platteville and UW-Oshkosh also started WIAC play 1-0 with wins over UW-Stout and UW-Whitewater, respectively.
No. No. 5 Mary Washington closed the game with a 7-0 run in a 76-70 win over No. 15 Catholic in Washington, DC. After Ryan Pegg gave the Cardinals a 70-69 lead, Kye Robinson tied the score at the foul line, and Jay Randall scored four in a row for the Eagles. Randall scored 28 points on 11-for-13 shooting and was perfect from the foul line for UMW (12-1), while Catholic (8-3) had four starters score in double figures.
Former York (Pa.) head coach Matt Hunter nearly scored an upset win with his new team over his former team, but the Spartans escaped with a 64-61 victory when York reserve guard Colin Treude drained a three with six seconds left. Jayden Rowe scored 20 points for York (10-1), which has conference games the rest of the way.
In a meeting between the top two offenses in the NCAC, John Carroll defeated DePauw 93-83, tying its conference record at 2-2. NCAC leading scorer Luke Chicone scored 26 points and Kasey Hunt added 24 for the Blue Streaks (10-3, 2-2 NCAC).
Wittenberg rolled past rival Wooster at home, 78-53, to remain undefeated in the conference. The Tigers (10-2, 3-0 NCAC) roared out to a 42-18 halftime lead as Wittenberg made as many 3-pointers in the first half as the Fighting Scots made field goals. Kyle Kenney led Wittenberg with 24 points, including four made 3-pointers.
North Park remained atop the CCIW standings with a 92-87 overtime victory over North Central in Naperville, Illinois. North Central’s Seth Cheney scored a layup with 28 seconds left to tie the game at 80, but North Park led the overtime period from start to finish. Mike Vuckovic filled the stat sheet with 28 points, seven assists and six rebounds for the Vikings (10-3, 3-1 CCIW), while Tyler Swierczek scored 21 points in just 17 minutes for the Cardinals (5-8, 1-3 CCIW).
Mary Hardin-Baylor defeated Redlands on the final day of the D3hoops.com Classic, but the momentum didn’t follow the Crusaders back to Texas. Concordia built an 18-point lead at Mary Hardin-Baylor, withstood the Crusaders’ rally and defeated UMHB 92-91. Concordia converted 27 Cru turnovers into 33 points and had a 41-12 bench lead. Hudson Johnson continued his most notable performance at the D3hoops.com Classic with 34 points in 36 minutes.
Occidental, which won the D3hoops.com Classic final, followed it up with a 71-70 win over Whittier on Nasir Luna’s fadeaway with 2.6 seconds left. Luna finished with 14 points and Alex McCleery Brown recorded a double-double for the Tigers (9-1, 2-0 SCIAC).
#Saturday #men