Wednesday: Opening statements

Conference play started across the country, with No. 2 Randolph-Macon blitzing No. 8 Hampden Sydney in the ODAC, Chapman tripping No. 5 Redlands in the SCIAC and No. 10 Illinois Wesleyan Carthage in the CCIW. Elsewhere, No. 1 Trinity survived the cross-town trip to St. Joseph’s, and the Ohio Wesleyan women topped John Carroll in their Top 25 showdown.

Randolph-Macon made Hampden-Sydney look completely out of sorts in the first meeting between the rivals this season, as the No. 2 Yellow Jackets rolled over the No. 8 Tigers 85-50. Randolph-Macon’s pressure reached the Hampden-Sydney backcourt early and often, as the Tigers (4-2, 0-1 ODAC) turned the ball over 27 times, and the resulting points accounted for almost the entire margin, with R-MC outscoring H-SC 38-5 in points after turnovers. Jabril Robinson led Macon (5-0, 1-0) with 24 points, while Ty Showalter had 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench in the win.

In other ODAC openers, No. 14 Roanoke went on the road and defeated Guilford, 98-79, after a career night for sophomore Tyler Barnes. He had 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists and the Maroons shot 54 percent from the field. No. No. 13 Virginia Wesleyan trailed Eastern Mennonite 70-65 on 15 points apiece from Malcolm Velmar and Khai Seargeant.

Chris Schlesinger grabbed the rebound of a missed free throw and made it coast-to-coast in five seconds, ending with a layup that hit high on the rim and bounced around before falling through to tie Carthage with No. 10 Illinois Wesleyan at the buzzer in regulation, 73-73. The Firebirds never led in the extra session, however, as Casen Lawrence hit two 3-pointers in overtime to keep Carthage (3-3, 0-1 CCIW) at bay in the teams’ CCIW opener. Mason Funk led IWU (6-1, 1-0) with 35 points as the Titans earned the 85-81 overtime victory.

Millikin also improved to 1-0 in the CCIW and 7-1 overall, defeating North Central (Ill.) 55-50. The Big Blue shot just 29 percent from the field, but made 16 of 19 free throws and converted 13 North Central turnovers into 16 points.

On opening night at the ARC, Loras won its fifth straight game and left crosstown rival Dubuque with its first loss of the season, as Loras pulled it off on the road, defeating the Spartans 84-69. Kyle Kober tied for a game-high, leading the Duhawks (5-2, 1-0 ARC) with 24 points on 9-for-14 shooting, while Jack Haynes added 12 points and 17 rebounds in the win. Dubuque (5-1, 0-1) got 25 points from Jacob Williams, but the rest of the Spartans combined to go 15-for-42 from the floor and 5-for-23 from three-point range in the loss.

SCIAC play started with an upset, as Chapman defeated No. 5 Redlands, 75-63, behind a flurry of three-pointers. The Panthers outscored the Bulldogs 36-9 from behind the arc, with four different Chapman players hitting multiple threes. Joe Keegan had 13 points, seven rebounds, five blocks and four assists for Chapman (3-2, 1-0 SCIAC), which was picked fourth in the conference preseason poll.

In non-conference action, top-ranked Trinity (Conn.) came within a key possession for the first time in 20 games by losing, but the Bantams held firm on defense, edging past St. Joseph (Conn.), 72-68, along the way. Jared Berry had missed two free throws with 14 seconds left, allowing Trinity (6-0) to hold a 70-68 lead. But the Bantams forced a turnover, Henry Vetter made a pair of free throws and the Bantams didn’t even let the Blue Jays (3-4) make a final shot. St. Joseph turned the ball over 22 times, easily overcoming a 42-27 rebound advantage. Jarrel Okorougo scored 19 points, while Drew Lazarre added 18 for Trinity.

Mary Washington, the No. 6 team in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, improved to 7-0 and secured the best start in program history as the Eagles defeated Gettysburg 65-52. The Bullets (3-5) came within one point midway through the second half, but UMW went on an 8-0 run to push the lead back to nine. Kye Robinson led Mary Wash with 19 points and shot 9-for-15 from the floor. Gettysburg’s 3-5 record includes four losses to teams in the current D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.

Stockton shut out No. 19 TCNJ 80-64 to pick up a big win in the NJAC. The Ospreys held TCNJ nearly 20 points below their scoring average, and the Lions made just 5 of their 31 three-point attempts. Tayvon Gaither efficiently scored 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting in 20 minutes off the bench for Stockton (2-3, 1-1 NJAC).

Austin Finarelli scored 33 points and Zuri Harris added 26 more, and Elizabethtown handed out No. 20. Threatened his first defeat of the season, 95-93 in extra time. Finarelli made a layup to tie the game at 81 with one second left in regulation, and then sank the game-winning free throws in the final seconds of overtime. Eli Yusavage and Andre De Los Reyes each scored 21 points for the Rangers (6-1, 2-1 Landmark).

On the women’s side, No. 24 Ohio Wesleyan opened its conference season with a 65-63 victory over previously undefeated No. 7 John Carroll.

After Ohio Wesleyan built a 10-point lead at halftime, John Carroll rallied and kept the game within two possessions the rest of the way. Carmen Heuker scored a three-point play to give JCU a five-minute lead with three minutes left, but the Battling Bishops scored the next eight points to lead 63-60 in the final minute. After Carly Perusek’s layup pulled John Carroll even with eight seconds left, Ohio Wesleyan called a timeout to set up their final play. The Battling Bishops got the ball to Kendall Dieringer and her jumper lifted OWU to the win.

Macy Miller and Alyssa Griner each had double-doubles for Ohio Wesleyan (5-1, 1-0 NCAC), while Perusek led John Carroll (5-1, 0-1 NCAC) with 12 points.

The top two teams in the NCAC preseason poll also faced off, and Denison remained perfect with a 59-52 road win at DePauw. The Big Red were outrebounded 47-34, but scored 16 points off 22 Tiger turnovers. Abby Cooch defeated Denison (8-0, 1-0 NCAC) by 19 points.

No. No. 13 Illinois Wesleyan overcame a halftime deficit to overtake Augustana 74-70 on the road in the team’s CCIW opener. The Vikings shot 77 percent in the first period (10 for 13) and led 35-31 at halftime, but the Titans’ defense and poise prevailed in the second half. Illinois Wesleyan (5-2, 1-0 CCIW) scored 27 points off 25 Augustana turnovers and had four players score in double figures, led by Ava Bardic (22 points).

Jaycie Christopher scored 21 points for Southern Maine, and the Huskies held Mass-Boston’s starting lineup to 16 points in USM’s 64-47 win. Christopher also defeated the Beacons from behind the arc, as they hit five 3-pointers to Mass-Boston’s four.

Clare Cronley’s layup in the final minute proved to be the game winner as Dickinson dropped McDaniel 59-57 in a back-and-forth Centennial Conference opener. Victoria Zerbe flirted with a triple-double for the Red Devils (4-3, 1-0 Centennial), good for 16 points, eight assists and eight rebounds. The Green Terror fell to 7-1, 0-1 in the conference.

Immaculata also knocked Widener off the list of undefeated teams as the Mighty Macs rolled over the Pride, 75-52. Carly Coleman led Immaculata (5-2) with 21 points and Olivia Ettore scored another 17, including buzzer beaters at the end of the first and second quarters.