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| The Warriors of Wisconsin Lutheran had a nice weekend, to say the least. UW-Platteville athletics photo |
Double-digit seeds made a mess of the bracket all weekend, but it wasn't until the second-to-last game of Saturday, after 10 p.m. ET, that a top seed went down, and that happened when Wisconsin Lutheran hit two free throws in the closing seconds of regulation, then hung on in overtime as UW-Platteville game-tying attempt never got off as the Warriors won 75-73. In addition, Catholic knocked out No. 2 seed Randolph-Macon, and Mary Washington and Western New England continued their runs into the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, as they defeated hosts Ramapo and Montclair State, knocking the NJAC out of the NCAA Tournament.
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Hosts for the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 rounds of the Division III NCAA Tournament were announced late Saturday night, and those games will be played at Wesleyan, Trinity (Conn.), NYU and UW-La Crosse.
Jacob Stoltz scored a team-high 26 points for Wisconsin Lutheran, including two free throws to tie the game after he was fouled with 0.5 seconds left in regulation. He made the first two to tie the game, then had to wait through a UW-Platteville timeout before coming back to shoot a third one, which he missed. But it turned out not to matter, as AJ Vos hit a three later in the overtime to give WLC the lead, and Stoltz added another three a minute later to put his team up 73-69.
Wisconsin Lutheran trailed by as many as 13 early in the second half before going on a 15-0 run to take a 43-41 lead. From there, WLC led by as many as five before a three-point play from Logan Pearson, a three-pointer from Bristol Lewis, and a 1-for-2 trip to the line from Brady Olson put Platteville up 65-63 before Stoltz was fouled on the final field goal of regulation.
Freshman guard Kye Robinson scored 21 points to lead five Eagles in double figures, as Mary Washington won at Ramapo, 86-81. The win guaranteed that UMW would finish with a non-losing record, as the Eagles improved to 15-14, and put Mary Washington into the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2014, and the second time in program history. Mary Washington jumped out to a 17-6 lead and never trailed. Ramapo hung close, drawing to within two points on two occasions over the next few minutes, but a layup from Jay Randall and a three pointer from Zack Blue with 1:35 remaining upped the margin to seven, before free throws from Kaden Bates and Jadon Burgess put the lead back to double figures in the final minute. Despite several desperation threes from Ramapo, the Eagles held on for the 86-81 victory.
Redlands rallied from a 17-point deficit midway through the second half and came back to win at Tufts, 95-93 in overtime. The Bulldogs led for less than four minutes, but led at the end. Lucas Gordon led the way with 22 points and 14 rebounds, while Omari Ferguson scored 18 on 5-for-7 shooting and 8-for-9 from the foul line in the win.
"Our group has been resilient all year long," Redlands coach Eric Bridgeland said after the game. "We faced crazy deficits really from the first couple of games even of the whole season, down 18, down 20, and our guys are going to make a push, it's going to be a game. And that's exactly what happened today."
The Bulldogs add their 24th win this season, tying 1959-60 for the second most, three behind the 27 from 1960-61 when they made it to the NAIA second round.
Tim Restall scored a game-high 30 points as No. 10 seeded Western New England broke open a tied game late in the first half, going on a 12-0 run, then scoring the first eight points of the second half to down Montclair State 79-61 and advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time in the history of the program. Montclair shot 36% from the field in the game, shooting just 2-for-17 from three in the second half.
In the final game of the night, Hardin-Simmons joined the double-digit seeds in the Sweet 16 as the No. 12-seeded Cowboys got past No. 4 seed St. Thomas (Texas) 74-72 on the road. The Cowboys got out a 57-50 lead with eight minutes left in the game after a Jamar Ingram bucket in the paint. Ingram had a season-high in scoring for the Cowboys with 12 points against the Celts. St. Thomas put the pressure on late to pull within one point, down 73-72 with 21 seconds left. HSU added a free throw, and the Cowboy defense clamped down and didn't allow a shot for the Celts on the final possession to win and advance to the NCAA Sweet 16 round next weekend. The Cowboys had four in double figures on Saturday night. Austin Brewer led with 16 points.
Catholic booked itself a trip to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2002, as the Cardinals picked up right where they left off on Friday night, rolling out to a 17-point halftime lead and cruising to a 79-67 win, eliminating No. 2 seeded Randolph-Macon, the No. 6 team in the latest D3hoops.com men's basketball Top 25. Sean Neylon scored 19 points to pace Catholic while Brian Herbert scored 18 on just eight shots. The Cardinal defense gave Randolph-Macon fits, holding the Yellow Jackets to just 34.5 percent shooting and 26.1 percent from three-point range.
UW-La Crosse advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history and set a program record for wins in a season, as Dustin Derousseau scored 21 in the first half and the Eagles ended up on top of St. Norbert in a game of runs, 77-67. The final big run was from the Green Knights, who went on a 16-4 surge to cut the Eagles' lead to 55-48, but Sam Grieger answered with a three-pointer and St. Norbert got no closer than six points the rest of the game.
Adam Brazil scored a game-high 25 points, adding a game-high seven assists along with six rebounds, and junior forward and team captain Shane Fernald added 14 points and five rebounds, to lead No. 3 seed Hampden-Sydney to an 81-75 win against No. 11 seeded Pitt-Bradford, putting the Tigers into the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive season. The Panthers complete their season with a final record of 24-4 and were led by Braylen Salters with 23 points off the bench, including five three-point field goals. UPB had tied the game at 64 in the secodn half, but H-SC pushed the lead back out to six and the Panthers could not cut the lead below three the rest of the way.
Joshua McClary took an inbounds pass and dribbled up the floor, not stopping until he hit a pull-up shot from the right elbow with 4.4 seconds left, lifting Roanoke to a 77-75 win at Christopher Newport. Jahn Hines had tied the game a moment earlier with a basket, but missed on the and-one attempt. Hines also had a wild look at a last shot but was unable to convert. He finished with a game-high 32 points, leaving him at 2,086 points for his career.