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| MJ Davis’s dunk came after the buzzer, but it still provided an exclamation point to a big night at Otterbein. Otterbein athletics photo by Hailey Owens |
No. 1 John Carroll was left standing without a date on Valentine’s Day, as Otterbein had a red-letter day in picking up the program’s biggest win since Jeff Gibbs was ruling the Rike Center and the Ohio Athletic Conference. This recap covers Division III men’s and women’s basketball for Wednesday, Feb. 14.
Jack Clement almost spent this season in a John Carroll uniform, announcing that he was using his graduate transfer year at JCU after a fine career at Ohio Wesleyan. But soon thereafter, he announced a new sweetheart, and on Wednesday night he contributed 19 points to the cause as he helped Otterbein pick up his biggest since 2002, a 78-74 decision at home against the No. 1 Blue Streaks.
None of Clement’s shots was bigger, it seemed, than a little stepback fallaway at the foul line with 48 seconds left that put Otterbein (17-7, 11-6 OAC) up by four at 77-73. From there, John Carroll missed one of two free throws, turned the ball over, and missed a tough 3 on the wing in the final seconds and it was all over. MJ Davis’s exclamation point dunk came after the buzzer but it didn’t matter, as the team celebrated its big win with fans on the floor.
Otterbein led by double digits late in the first half as JCU (22-2, 16-1) got off to a slow start without No. 3 scorer Chase Toppin. But the Blue Streaks got back into the game to tie it at 57, and twice more to make it dramatic down the stretch. Cam Evans led the Cardinals with 24, while the Lukes (Chicone and Frazier) scored 18 and 17 points, while shooting just 13-for-37 from the floor. Otterbein is tied with Mount Union for the No. 2 seed in the OAC headed into a head-to-head matchup on Saturday which will decide which team gets a bye in the conference tournament.
Marietta helped make that possible as well, defeating the No. 22 Purple Raiders 87-72 on Wednesday night behind 18 points from De’Ovion Price.
Octavio Brito had 26 points and 11 rebounds and Jeff Hunter added 22 points and 13 boards as No. 11 Keene State had little trouble with Mass-Dartmouth, rolling past the Corsairs 99-78. Keene (21-3, 14-1 Little East) roared out to a 20-point lead at just over 11 minutes into the game. Mass-Dartmouth (14-10, 11-4), which was led by Nic Boyd’s 26 points, got as close as seven at the beginning of the second half, but Keene went on another 18-4 run to put the game out of reach.
No. 14 Widener used a huge second half to earn an 84-62 win over York (Pa.) in MAC Commonwealth play on Wednesday night in Chester. The Spartans led by four at halftime but the Pride outscored York 50-24 in the second half to run away with the win, avenging York’s 20-point win at Wolf Gym in January. Kevin Schenk scored 27 to lead Widener, which improved to 21-3, 11-2 in the conference. York fell to 14-10, 7-6 in the MAC Commonwealth.
No. 21 Rowan clinched the NJAC regular season title, although the Profs lost to Montclair State 113-110 in double overtime. With Montclair State (17-8, 12-6 NJAC) leading, 92-86, with 58 seconds remaining in regulation, Marcellus Ross connected on back-to-back three-pointers, with his second tying the game at 92-92 and sending it into the first extra period. In the first overtime, Montclair State led 103-101 at :15 but Khalif Meares connected on a driving layup with seven seconds left to tie the game again and force the second overtime. The Red Hawks struck first in the second overtime as Mike Jackson hit a three-pointer. Rowan (19-6, 13-4) took a 108-106 lead on five straight points by Ross, before Jackson forced a tie, 108-108, with a layup as he finished with 33 points, after going scoreless in the first half . Rowan regained the lead, 110-109, but the Red Hawks scored the final four of the game to earn the win. The Profs had one last chance, but Meares’ three-point attempt was off the mark. Rowan clinched thanks to Stockton’s loss to Kean.
Mary Washington survived a thriller against longtime conference rival Salisbury, as the Eagles (16-8) scored the last 10 points — six of them from Zack Blue — to get past the Sea Gulls 65-64. Although the Coast-to-Coast conference does not play a regular schedule, conference teams do face each other in advance of the conference tournament, which will be seeded using the teams’ season-long results in the Massey Ratings. Salisbury (12-12) made the correct halftime adjustments as it scored 30 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half before the Eagles’ defense finally caught up — holding Salisbury to just 11 points in the final 10 minutes and scoreless in the final 2:19. The rally overshadowed an impressive night from Jordan Oates, who had 37 points and 16 rebounds in the loss for Salisbury.
John Adams continued his recent run of doubles with a game-high 24 points and 11 rebounds and Donovan Sevilla amassed 11 of his 14 points in the second half as host WPI claimed at least a share of the NEWMAC regular season championship with a 72-63 triumph against Springfield. WPI (20-4, 13-2 NEWMAC) won a share of the NEWMAC for the 12th time in the past 19 seasons and reached the 20-win mark for the 17th time in 20 seasons. WPI saw its advantage balloon to 12 points at 60-48 with 7:42 left only to see the Pride once again claw back within a bucket with 10 straight points over the next three minutes but a late 6-0 spurt keyed by a layup and a pair of free throws from Adams kept the visitors at bay the rest of the way.
On the women’s side, it was a Sweet 16 for the sixteen ranked teams that played on Wednesday night, all of whom won and mostly by large margins.
All-American Kacie Carollo returned to the starting lineup for No. 9 UW-Whitewater and scored 22 points with 13 rebounds in 38 minutes in the Warhawks’ 72-62 win over UW-Platteville. The Warhawks remain one game behind No. 15 UW-Oshkosh since the Titans topped UW-La Crosse, 64-55. Bridget Froehlke scored 22 points for UW-Oshkosh which can win the WIAC title outright with a win at UW-Stevens Point on Saturday.
No. 19 Carroll held off Elmhurst 85-81 on the road for its 20th win of the season. The Pioneers got 33 points and 18 rebounds from its front court of Natalie Gricius and Lauren Soyke, and they remained tied with No. 13 Illinois Wesleyan atop the CCIW. The Titans rolled over North Park, 85-46.
TCNJ coasted past Rutgers-Newark, 75-45, and will be the top seed in the NJAC tournament. The Lions have the same record (17-8, 14-4 NJAC) as New Jersey City but won the tie breaker and will host the NJAC title game if the two teams get that far. The Gothic Knights blasted Rutgers-Camden, 100-50, and will have a bye into the NJAC semifinals.