| Jaleesa Coleman shot 9-for-17 from the floor to
lead Rutgers-Newark with 24 points. Rutgers-Newark athletics file photo |
Jaleesa Coleman scored a game-high 24 points and hit a pair of crucial free throws in the final 11 seconds to lift Rutgers-Newark to a 54-51 upset win over No. 5 Kean in the New Jersey Athletic Conference semifinals on Wednesday evening.
The upset puts Rutgers-Newark into the NJAC final against William Paterson. If Rutgers-Newark wins the automatic bid, Kean and William Paterson could each get at-large bids as well.
Lebanon Valley crushed Alvernia on Saturday in the last game of the MAC Commonwealth regular season and basically did the same in the semifinals of the conference tournament. Renee Fritz led the Dutchmen with 16 in a 55-38 win. Lebanon Valley will host Messiah, which beat Widener 74-63, on Saturday for the conference title.
Franklin and Marshall won its first Centennial Conference tournament game after seven losses, defeating Ursinus 61-49. The fourth seed of the five-team tournament will face top-seeded Johns Hopkins on Saturday.
In Wednesday's men's action, the round of the MIAA tournament that the conference wants to do away with was an absolute thriller. Next year, the MIAA will be moving to a four-team tournament, meaning that fifth-seeded Adrian, which defeated Olivet in double overtime, wouldn't even have made the field. And the 3-6 game went to double overtime as well before Albion outlasted Kalamazoo 76-66. Second-seeded Calvin beat Trine 72-65 while top-seeded Hope crushed past Alma 110-77. Michael McClary recorded his 50th (and final) double-double for Olivet in the loss.
Hosting its first-ever conference playoff game, Delaware Valley came up big at the foul line, making all 16 of its free throw attempts in a 69-66 win against Wilkes. DeSales advanced past Misericordia and will meet the Aggies in the MAC Freedom finals. In the Landmark, senior Luke Hawk scored 26 points and senior Zach Ashworth added 17 as Scranton survived an upset bid in the 1-4 game, beating Merchant Marine 74-70 in overtime. Scranton will host third-seeded Catholic, which won at Drew by outscoring the Rangers 48-28 in the second half of a 71-58 win.
Northwestern (Minn.) and Minnesota-Morris advanced to the UMAC finals in the first year in which the conference qualifies for an automatic bid. The other new automatic bid is in the NECC, which plays its semifinals on Friday.