If you are chasing an at-large bid, well, Ithaca just may well have taken it away from you. Corey McAdam scored 29 and had eight assists and his brother Ryan McAdam scored 23 points and had seven rebounds Saturday as Nazareth pulled off a stunning upset, beating Ithaca 82-76.
Whitworth pulled away from Puget Sound for a 90-80 overtime win in the Northwest Conference title game, taking away yet another at-large opportunity for someone. Between that and the events of Friday, nobody should be taking an at-large bid for granted. That's the story for men's basketball for Saturday. Saturday's men's scores. For women's coverage, scroll down.
&&f-boxr&&Here's who's in. By the end of the day, everyone but the ASC, Centennial, Empire 8, NEAC, NESCAC, NEWMAC, ODAC and SCAC will join that list.
RPI makes life on the bubble even more uncomfortable, as the three seed in the Liberty League tournament pulled off an upset for the second consecutive day, winning 72-65 at top seed St. Lawrence. The Red Hawks knocked off Hamilton on Friday. Springfield made WPI look ordinary in a 61-46 win in the NEWMAC semifinals. The Pride meet MIT, which used an 18-2 game ending run to beat Babson, 50-39. WPI was the No. 1 seed in the Northeast when the day started.
DeSales finally got itself off the playoff bubble with a 72-58 win against Manhattanville for the MAC Freedom championship. Husson will make its first trip to the NCAA Tournament as well, beating Thomas 73-60 in the NAC final. Wesley made sure 2,000-point scorer Rashawn Johnson will end his career in March, beating Marymount 64-51 for the CAC title despite Johnson being held to five points. Lawrence continued its hot streak, beating MWC title game host Grinnell 88-69. Will the MASCAC get two teams in the tournament? Second-seeded Bridgewater State beat No. 1 seed Salem State 77-66 to secure its bid. The SUNYAC will send its eighth seed to the NCAA tournament after Fredonia State lost to Brockport State 64-59. John Carroll beat Capital 90-87 to win the OAC title. Wheaton (Ill.) got another 24 points from Kent Raymond as the Thunder locked up the CCIW bid by beating Elmhurst 67-63.
No. 1 St. Thomas finished its unbeaten regular season, running away from Bethel 68-51. The Tommies led by as many as 24 in the second half thanks to a 16-0 run. Bethel turned the ball over 27 times. Photo gallery. Cornell couldn't get at-large consideration, but beating Wartburg for the IIAC title takes care of that. Top-seeded Wooster held off sixth-seeded Wabash in the NCAC finals. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps defeated rival Pomona-Pitzer 56-44 for the SCIAC crown. Senior Johnnie Jefferson and freshman Quentin Thompson combined for 28 second-half points as University of New England won the CCC 90-79 against Colby-Sawyer.
In conference tournaments that have yet to be completed, Southwestern will play for the SCAC title after knockin off Trinity (Texas) 68-63. Centre edged host school Hendrix to take the title game's other spot. NESCAC top seed Middlebury had little trouble with No. 5 Bowdoin, winning 76-46. The Panthers host Amherst tomorrow since the Lord Jeffs eliminated rival Williams, 86-74. No. 7 Virginia Wesleyan and No. 8 Washington and Lee advanced to the finals of the ODAC, as the final two teams masquerading as high seeds were eliminated in Salem. Mississippi College will play UT-Dallas for the ASC title. Wells and SUNYIT advanced to the NEAC final, putting the first-year Wells men, one of two teams with worse schedules than Chapman, on the verge of the NCAA Tournament.
And not to get lost among the hubbub of a busy day of conference tournaments was the big story from the one team that clinched without a tournament. Wash U coach Mark Edwards won his 500th career game when his No. 2-ranked Bears beat the University of Chicago 72-49.
Check back all day for updates. Then overnight we'll do our next set of tournament projections, with more games to be played Sunday and the brackets announced Monday.