Defending national champion Amherst fell for the first time as No. 3 Brandeis shot 6-for-12 from beyond the arc in beating the Lord Jeffs 72-62.
The Judges, who rebounded from Thursday night's loss to Mass-Dartmouth, had four players in double figures, led by 17 from Joe Coppens and 15 from Stephen Hill. Brandeis ran off an 18-6 run in the second half to open up a 59-43 lead. Amherst cut the lead to 59-54 but could not keep the momentum as Brandeis pulled away.
'Tis the season for giving and David Arseneault did plenty of it on Saturday afternoon. He shattered the all-division NCAA record for assists by dishing out 34 of them in Grinnell's 151-112 win over North Central (Minn.). The previous record was 26 held by Robert James of Kean.
In a significant break with System team tradition, Arseneault, son of coach David Arseneault, played for 38 minutes. He was averaging 21.3 minutes per game entering the contest.
&&g-boxr&&"I really had nothing to be nervous about, because I didn't have to make any shots," Arseneault joked after the game. "The pressure was on the other guys shooting the ball." John Grotberg poured in 49 points for the victorious Pioneers.
No. 10 Augustana survived two last-second three-pointers by St. Norbert in a 77-70 double overtime win. Elsewhere No. 11 Hope turned the tables on Aquinas for a 68-59 win. Aquinas, who is ranked No. 7 in NAIA Division II, beat the Flying Dutchmen 78-69 in overtime earlier this year. Tyler Wolf had 23 points for Hope. No. 9 Virginia Wesleyan was less fortunate against its non-Division III foe, falling to Newport News 76-75.
Ohio Wesleyan battled but came up short against No. 25 Wooster 80-77. Jesse Jean gave the Battling Bishops a 77-76 lead with under a minute left but Wooster's Bryan Wickliffe answered with a tip-in. Ohio Wesleyan is just 3-4 but has three loses to ranked teams.
No. 15 Capital registered a good conference win by dumping John Carroll 87-72 on the road. Ross Niekamp paced the Crusaders with 21 points. No. 16 Keene State dropped its second straight, this time losing to conference rival Rhode Island College 96-91 in overtime. Tirrell Hill was anchored to the free-throw line where he was 16 for 20 for the Anchormen.
In women's action William Paterson upset No. 5 Kean 82-79. Michelle Pellichero scored 26 points to push the Pioneers past the Cougars in a meeting of tournament teams from a year ago.
Dominican's Jessica Salinas came within one shot of tying a Division III record, going 14-for-14 from the floor in the team's 80-68 loss to Wisconsin Lutheran. (Shannon Rexrode set the mark for Frostburg State in 1999 with a 15-for-15 performance.)
No. 4 Messiah stayed undefeated with a 62-52 non-conference win against one-loss DeSales. Whitney Edgecombe's double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds) helped Wheaton (Ill.) get by No. 16 Chicago 55-47. No. 10 McMurry scored a decisive victory over crosstown rival Hardin-Simmons 72-45.