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| Katie Titus posted season highs for points (33) and rebounds (11) as No. 21 Rochester rolled past No. 17 Ithaca. File photo by University of Rochester athletics |
The Mount Union men and University of Rochester women rebounded from Saturday losses with wins over ranked foes in Wednesday night’s Division III basketball action.
After losing its conference opener on Saturday, No. 6 Mount Union used a 16-3 second half run to knock off No. 8 John Carroll, 75-72.
After a tight first half, the Blue Streaks took a 45-44 lead on Omar Abuhamdeh’s jumper seven minutes into the second half. Mount Union went on a 6-0 run capped by Darrell Newsom’s three-point play and then pushed the lead to 12 on Newsom’s layup with 7:44 left. John Carroll pulled within four a couple of times in the closing minutes but a Chris Painter, Jr. dunk and a series of free throws sealed the Purple Raiders’ win.
Painter finished with 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting and Mount Union (6-1, 1-1 OAC) converted 17 John Carroll turnovers into 17 points.
No. 18 RPI struggled in the first half but clawed past SUNYIT, 52-49, for its eighth win of the season. The Engineers scored just 17 points in the first half and trailed the Wildcats until Chuck Clemons hit a three that put RPI ahead 46-45 with three minutes remaining. Clemons scored 11 of RPI’s final 12 points and finished with a game-high 16.
The rest of the Top 25 won comfortably. No. 3 UW-La Crosse used 20 players in a 70-41 rout of Luther. No. 2 St. Joseph (Conn.) used 17 while rolling over Elms, 86-51. Middlebury outrebounded Plattsburgh State 49-15 and outscored the Cardinals, 78-59.
Outside of the Top 25, Allegheny picked off PAC leaders Washington and Jefferson, 90-84. Luke Barker hit seven 3-pointers on his way to 32 points for the Gators (5-5, 4-2 PAC).
St. John’s dominated Macalester, 75-50, and seized first place in the MIAC. Mitchell Plombon scored 27 points for the Johnnies (6-2, 4-1 MIAC) who shot 60 percent from the field (32 for 53) and held the Scots to 17 second half points.
Both undefeated NJAC teams stayed that way with double-digit road wins on Wednesday night. Kean upped his mark to 9-0, 4-0 in conference with a 78-62 win at TCNJ while Montclair State improved to 72-61 by beating William Paterson.
On the women’s side, Katie Titus and Alexis Sestric combined for 55 points, and No. 21 Rochester topped No. 17 Ithaca, 83-66.
Titus scored seven points in the final two minutes of the second period, and her free throws with no time remaining staked the Yellowjackets to a 48-38 halftime lead. Titus opened the second half with a layup, a shot block and a jumper that took Rochester’s lead to 14 and then Sestric joined the fun with five points on two possessions. Full recap
No. 7 Scranton shook off a slow start at home and defeated Misericordia, 64-46. The Lady Royals had four starters score double figures, led by Kaci Kranson with 14 points. Scranton (8-0) held the Cougars to 28 percent shooting (16 for 57).
Katelyn Pickunka’s double-double (19 points, 15 rebounds) put No. 11 Smith back on track with a 67-60 road win at Williams.
Ramapo continued its surprising run to the top of the NJAC standings with a 78-70 win at defending champions New Jersey City. Jackie Ventricelli paced the Roadrunners with 32 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Ramapo, which has not finished above .500 in the conference since 2012-13, is 8-0, 4-0 in the NJAC.