While most conferences were wrapping up their regular seasons on Saturday, a handful were getting their conference tournaments started.
We had a full set of quarterfinals in the NESCAC and the men took the floor for four quarterfinal games today in the CUNYAC, along with first-round games in the NJAC.
Marcel Esonwune recorded his third straight triple-double with 24 points, 18 rebounds and 11 blocks as York (N.Y.) defeated CCNY 91-73 to open the CUNYAC tournament. The Cardinals play Hunter while Brooklyn meets Baruch in the conference semifinals. The top seeds all advanced in the NESCAC men's tournament, with Williams to host the semifinals and finals next weekend. Saturday's men's scores.
&&f-boxl&&No. 3 St. Thomas and No. 25 John Carroll solidified their regional ranking status and lived up to their conference top-seed billing Saturday with wins, as the Tommies beat Hamline 80-69 and the Blue Streaks rolled past Ohio Northern 109-83.
Tony Mane and Trevor Stratton combined for 58 points to lead UW-La Crosse to an 88-76 home win against No. 5 UW-Stevens Point. The win hands the outright WIAC title to UW-Whitewater, which had already clinched the No. 1 seed by beating UW-Superior 70-63.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps is 11-2 in the SCIAC, but both losses are to on-campus rival Pomona-Pitzer. The Sagehens followed up their 47-36 win earlier in the season with a 70-56 victory. No. 14 St. Norbert shot 8-for-24 from the floor in the first half and couldn't recover, losing at Carroll 77-68. No. 18 Anderson already had the HCAC top seed in hand, but couldn't finish out the conference season with a win, falling at second-place Hanover 78-75 in overtime. No. 22 Cabrini survived an upset bid on the road, winning 89-87 at Neumann in overtime.
In women's action, Farmingdale State fell from the ranks of the unbeaten, and fell hard as Mount St. Mary whacked No. 21 Farmingdale 68-43, holding the Rams to 3-for-29 first-half shooting. No. 1 Amherst and No. 12 Christopher Newport remained undefeated. Alvernia did to Lebanon Valley what it did to Messiah two nights earlier, beating the No. 18 Dutchmen 70-59. Leb Val must face the Crusaders again on Wednesday night in the MAC Commonwealth semifinals. Ninth-ranked Moravian finished the season sweep of the Landmark Conference, beating No. 13 Scranton 77-60. Saturday's women's scores.
The NESCAC tournament got underway, with fifth-seeded Bowdoin knocking off fourth-seeded Tufts 65-54 in overtime behind a game-high 24 points from senior Caitlin Hynes. The Jumbos now face a wait of more than a week to find out if they will get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. McDaniel hit a season-high 12 three-pointers and knocked No. 24 Gettysburg out of the top seed position in the Centennial tournament with an 82-70 win. They'll meet again next Saturday in the conference semifinals.
In other men's games, Plattsburgh State finished as the top seed in the SUNYAC, beating visiting Brockport State 75-74. The Cardinals edge out fellow first-place team Oneonta State by virtue of a head-to-head sweep. Lamonte Thomas scored 36 points, including his 1,000th career point, as a sophomore.
Eastern Mennonite earned the top seed in the ODAC tournament for the first time since 1980, while Guilford, Virginia Wesleyan, Randolph-Macon and Hampden-Sydney each got first-round byes. Central improved to 21-4, its most regular-season wins since 1977-78, beating Cornell 74-64.