Saturday men: Rogers goes for 52; Oxy, UMW win

Occidental held off No. 10 Redlands, No. 11 Mary Washington turned the tables on No. 8 Christopher Newport and Kenney Rogers scored 52 points as Westfield State solidified its place atop the MASCAC in Division III men’s basketball action on Saturday, Feb. 14.

Occidental jumped out to a 20-3 lead over No. 10 Redlands and was able to weather the storm by holding off the Bulldogs, 86-82. Redlands was able to bounce back and cut the lead to two before heading into the halftime locker room trailing 47–43, and rallied early in the second half when Derek Sangster hit a three-pointer to give his team a 54–51 lead. Redlands pushed that lead to nine at 60-51 before the Tigers (17-6, 10-4 SCIAC) pushed back in front, with Peter Noble hitting a three with 5:06 left to put Oxy back on top 69-68. Cam Brown hit a layup as Redlands (19-4, 11-3) temporarily regained the lead for 20 seconds before Occidental took the lead back with a jumper from Nasir Luna. That jumper would be the final change in lead as the Tigers led for the final 4:31. Luna sealed the game by going 6-for-6 from the foul line in the final 21 seconds. Alex McCleery Brown led all scorers with 28 points while adding game-highs of 17 rebounds and four steals. Oxy’s win and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps’ win over cross-street rival Pomona-Pitzer leave the CMS Stags a game-and-a-half ahead of Redlands, while Occidental is a game further back. Redlands has a match in hand with CMS and previously defeated the Stags head-to-head, and therefore can still earn the top seed in the upcoming SCIAC tournament.

Kye Robinson scored 25 points and led four players in double figures as No. 11 Mary Washington got revenge on Christopher Newport to defeat the No. 8 Captains 88-77 on Saturday afternoon. Robinson had just seven points in Mary Washington’s loss at Randolph-Macon a week ago, but posted a stat line nearly identical to his in the Eagles’ loss to CNU on Feb. 4: 9-for-20 from the floor, seven rebounds, 25 points. Among the difference makers for Mary Washington (19-3): Jay Randall (21 points on Saturday vs. nine on Feb. 4) and Kaden Bates (15 points vs. zero). After trailing by 13 at halftime, CNU (19-4) cut the deficit to eight at 45-37, but UMW was able to cut the deficit to 74-53 with just over six minutes to play.

Westfield State sophomore Kenney Rogers broke a 57-year-old school record and tied Zevi Samet’s mark for most points by a Division III men’s basketball player this season when he poured in 52 to help the Owls beat Bridgewater State, 106-88. Rogers started the day just 3-for-10, but finished the day 20-for-37 from the floor, 4-for-11 from three-point range and 8-for-14 from the foul line. He grabbed twelve rebounds and also handed out five assists. “I didn’t know Kenney had as many as he did back then because he had been so efficient at driving the ball hard to the basket,” Westfield State coach Rich Sutter said. “He was very dynamic, hit a couple from the outside and was a whirling dervish around the basket. When he got to the 40 with about four minutes to go, we called a timeout and told everyone what we were doing, and we weren’t going to get out of the game without Kenney getting a shot at the record.” Westfield is one game ahead of the rest of the MASCAC at 18-5, 10-2 in conference play, with two conference games remaining.

Junior Elijah Farrington came off the bench, but only because it was senior day at Mount Union, and he scored 32 points in 33 minutes to help the No. 9-ranked Purple Raiders survive at home against Wilmington, 90-87 in overtime. The Quakers (9-14, 5-9 OAC) held the lead for most of the second half, including a 68-60 lead with just over six minutes remaining on a Carson Miles layup. However, Farrington answered with a three-point play, eventually tying the game at 69 with 4:07 to play with a layup. It was Mount Union’s turn to take the lead as the Purple Raiders extended that run to 16-1, going up 76-69 with 1:52 left before Wilmington scored the final seven of the half to tie the game. Mount Union (22-2, 13-2) made nine straight free throws to take a three-point lead late in the extra session and held on as Wilmington had two looks from behind the arc in the final seconds but could make neither. Farrington finished with the 32 points and added 13 rebounds, while Kevin Hamilton scored 25 for UMU. Domenic Farley scored a team-high 20 for Wilmington.

Albright won its 10th straight game, snapping Hood’s 13-game winning streak, as the Lions earned a 104-98 road victory at the No. 15 Blazers. Hood led by 11 early in the first half before Albright cut the lead to 52-49 at the break. In the second half, however, the Lions held Hood to 1-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc as the Lions knocked down six 3-pointers. Qadir Mitchell scored a game-high 29 points, going 6-for-14 from three-point range, while Phanique Dupree matched his second-best with 25 points, pulling down 11 rebounds and recording four blocked shots. The win moved Albright within one game of Hood in the MAC Commonwealth standings.

No. No. 19 UW-La Crosse had won six straight games and defeated UW-Stevens Point 15 straight, but those runs didn’t end when the Eagles lost to the No. 18 ranked Pointers 97-75. UWSP jumped out to an 18-5 lead and led 62-40 early in the second half, leaving plenty of cushion against a possible rally by UWL (17-6, 7-5 WIAC). Sam Grieger led the Eagles with 35 points while adding five rebounds and four assists. He was 11 of 19 from the field, including 3 of 9 from three-point range and 10 of 12 at the line. Seth Miron led the Pointers (18-5, 8-4) with 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists, while Max Raimer totaled 20 points off the bench.

New Jersey City hosted an NJAC doubleheader for the last time ever and was swept by TCNJ, and the men’s game saw it end in dramatic fashion when Marc Brown Jr., the son of head coach Marc Brown, came off the bench and threw an inbounds pass over everyone, leaving big man Donovan Crawford all alone for the layup with one second left, lifting the Gothic Knights to a 70-69 win. The Lions (18-6, 13-4 NJAC) had taken a one-point lead with eight seconds left on a Nick Koch 3-pointer before NJCU got into the frontcourt, got the timeout and the play call and the result it wanted. Bakhi Rogers-Robinson started slowly, making just four of his first eleven shots, but finished 7-to-his-last-8 and finished with a game-high 29 points. NCJU is now 14-10 overall, 10-7 in the NJAC, and will absolutely have a chance to extend its final season of Division III men’s basketball in the NJAC tournament.

Aaron Coston scored a career-high 32 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as Cortland captured first place in the SUNYAC regular-season standings with a 65-58 win over second-place Oswego. Cortland (19-4, 15-1 SUNYAC) secured its first conference berth since 2013 and will host the semifinals and finals of the SUNYAC tournament Feb. 27-28. Cortland couldn’t finish worse than tied with Oswego or Oneonta, who are each 13-3 with two league games remaining, and Cortland would win any league tiebreaker against Oswego, Oneonta or the two combined. Coston, a day after scoring a career-high 29 points in a win at Canton, hit 13 of 15 shots from the field and all five of his free throws in his 32-point performance. His fourteen rebounds are a season high and one shy of his career high, also at Oswego in January 2024.

Grinnell remained tied for first in the Midwest Conference and improved his conference mark to a school record of 13-1 as the Pioneers edged Lake Forest on the road, 104-99. With an overall mark of 18-3, Grinnell is off to its best start to the season since the 1961-62 season. They have won 16 of their last 17 games, with just one defeat since mid-November. Zach Rosen gave his team the lead for good with a layup for a 99-98 Pioneer lead. Grinnell then forced a missed shot by the hosts and after a timeout, Gabe Garcia converted a layup with 17 seconds left for a 101-98 lead. Lake Forest missed again and was forced to foul as Grinnell secured the win from the line. Rosen scored 28 points in the win. Monmouth was inactive on Saturday.

Carleton ensured it would extend its season in the MIAC tournament as the Knights improved to 10-5 in league play, 14-10 overall with an 81-72 win against Bethel. Josh Engelberg scored a game-high 19 points, while Patrick Smith had 10 points, eight rebounds and six steals in the win. The loss eliminated Bethel (11-13, 7-8) from the playoffs. Jack Charbonneau gave the Knights the lead with a layup at 6:24, making the score 60-58. The biggest swing of the game was to follow. Smith assisted Drake with a 3-pointer, stole the ball and then passed to Engelberg for a corner triple on the ensuing possession for a 66-58 lead. Overall, the Knights outscored their foes 17-4 from 6:24 to 1:09, including huge momentum swings like a fast-break slam from Sam Koelling, and a layup from Omar Kaba after a foul. That outburst opened a 77-62 lead, effectively sealing the match.

Devin Benson had a career-high 20 points off the bench, shooting 6-for-10 from three-point range and Dylan Harris got the winning bucket with a second left in overtime as Gwynedd Mercy edged past Neumann 75-74. GMY (17-6, 10-2 Atlantic East) led by 14 midway through the second half before Neumann pulled away, including scoring 10 straight points to cut the lead to 60-57 with 4:17 remaining. A layup from Mazen Sayed and one of Benson’s three-pointers pushed the Griffins back to 65-57 before Neumann (14-9, 6-6) scored the final six points to end regulation, capped by a layup from Donte Dupriest. Izaiah Johnson Young-el came up with the steal on GMU’s final possession of the second half. The teams traded the lead in overtime, with Dupriest giving Neumann the lead with a pair of free throws with 52 seconds left, but the Griffins were able to get the bucket on their final possession as Harris’ third opportunity shot was the game winner.

And finally, don’t go anywhere without seeing this dunk from St. Vincent’s Jason Gales in the Bearcats’ 86-69 win against Hiram:

Saint Vincent @jadengales04_ is unnecessary! �������� Jaden Gales of the Bearcats with a mandatory candidate for Dunk of the Year. �� #d3hoops #d3dunks @d3datacast @d3hoops @d3hoopsville @SVCHoops @DP_Harris_ @ESPNAssignDesk @OACBBallShow @BQuillmanQcast @mandersss16… pic.twitter.com/GrSeyC1FhM

— PAC Sports Network (@PACSports) February 15, 2026