Friday: 500 in the Freedom

Feb 26, 2021
Scott Coval and his DeSales Bulldogs are unbeaten through three weekends in the MAC Freedom.
DeSales athletics photo by Patrick Jacoby Photography
 

The DeSales men's basketball team remained unbeaten and got their coach his 500th win in the process, Marietta continued its run and the Montclair State women ended NJCU's streak in Friday's NCAA Division III basketball action.

DeSales finished the first half on a 19-2 run and added an 8-0 run and a 7-0 run in the second half to hold off Arcadia in a 78-71 win on Friday night. Timmy Edwards, who scored a game-high 26 points, scored five of the seven in that final run, which opened the lead back up after the Knights pulled to within fve late in the game. Edwards finished 12-for-17 from the field and had seven rebounds in the win.

Scott Coval, the Bulldogs' head coach, picked up his 500th career win, 12th among active Division III men's basketball coaches. Coval is 500-244 (.672) overall.

No. 9 Marietta picked up its seventh consecutive win, as Jason Ellis and Mason Lydic scored 17 points apiece in the Pioneers' 90-77 win at Ohio Northern. The Polar Bears (3-5) got the lead down to seven early in the second half, but Marietta answered with a 10-2 run and the Pioneers' lead never went below double digits the rest of the way.

UW-Platteville salvaged a split in its two-game series with UW-La Crosse, as the No. 10 Pioneers avenged their Wednesday night loss, handling No. 14 UW-La Crosse 73-50. Platteville held the Eagles to 30% shooting and just 4-for-17 from beyond the arc, as nobody reached double figures for La Crosse (6-2). Kyle Tuma, a junior, came off the bench on senior night to score a game-high 20 points. Braden Nies, a senior guard for Platteville (6-2) scored the team's first bucket, and his first bucket of the season, with a 3-pointer three minutes into the game.

Top-ranked Randolph-Macon remained undefeated, as Buzz Anthony was two assists shy of a triple-double in a 76-49 win at Virginia Wesleyan. The Marlins jumped out to an early 12-7 lead before R-MC (7-0, 4-0) went on a 21-7 run, capped off by an Ian Robertson 3-pointer with 5:12 left to take control. Anthony was the man to watch, however, with 19 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, shooting 8-for-12 from the floor. VWU fell to 3-4, 3-1 in the ODAC.

Rochester went 9-for-15 from beyond the arc in the second half, and the Yellowjackets needed just about every one of them to hold off area rival Nazareth Friday night in a shootout, 93-87. U of R (1-1) shook off a rough first half to shoot 18-for-30 from the floor after halftime. Down by 11, the Flyers (0-1) rattled off nine consecutive points to get to 86-84 with just under a minute left. But Ross Gang lobbed the ball to C.J. Amsellem who rolled to the hoop for a layin and a four-point lead. Trent Noordsij hit three free throws and Gang sank two to wrap up the win. Ryan Algier scored a team-high 24 and added a game-high 10 rebounds for Rochester, while Kevin Underwood went for 27 and 7 for Nazareth.

Pfeiffer won its fourth consecutive game, taking the first of two from Methodist in a 77-71 victory. Jerome Savoy scored a team-high 19 points for the Falcons, going 6-of-10 from the field. Methodist threatened in the waning seconds, closing to 75-71 after a 3-pointer from Clayton Coe, but Savoy canned a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left to provide the eventual 77-71 final. Pfeiffer improved to 7-2.

Friday's women's action

Messiah and Widener cleared their hurdles on their way to next week's scheduled home-and-home showdown. Messiah made 24 of its 30 free throw attempts and defeated Alvernia 65-47 while Widener had four starters score double figures in a 57-48 road win at Lebanon Valley. Both teams are 6-0.

Montclair State ended New Jersey City's record-setting win streak and knocked the Gothic Knights out of the three-way tie for first in the NJAC with a 67-58 win. The Red Hawks (5-1, 5-0 NJAC) got 20 points from Taylor Brown and 26 points from their reserves.

The Red Hawks led after each quarter but found themselves down 51-50 with five minutes to play after Damaris Rodriguez drained a straightway 3-pointer. Hodges answered with a layup at the other end, however, answered that with a field goal making the score 53-52. Julia Sutton came up with a steal which turned into a Montclair State lead as she connected from behind the arc putting the Red Hawks up 55-53 with 3:45 to play. Sutton did it again 30 seconds later extending the lead to five. The teams traded misses over the next minute-plus but it worked to Montclair's advantage as it grabbed three offensive rebounds, taking several seconds off the clock. Brown then delivered a dagger, drilling her fifth 3-pointer with 1:54 left as MSU widened the lead to 61-53.

NJCU (6-1, 6-1 NJAC), which won its first six games for the first time in program history, will get another shot at Montclair State tomorrow in the only scheduled matchup between conference leaders. TCNJ, which will not play Montclair or NJCU, topped William Paterson 70-57 to keep its perfect record intact at 7-0.

After scoring just 37 points last Saturday, No. 11 DePauw scored 39 in the first half vs. Ohio Wesleyan and coasted past the Battling Bishops, 76-53. Mya Shannon netted a career-high 26 points, including five 3-pointers, for the Tigers (6-1), who never trailed in the game. The teams meet again tomorrow on Ohio Wesleyan's home court.

Katie Essen's layup at the buzzer lifted No. 15 UW-Eau Claire over UW-Oshkosh, 64-62, in the second meeting of the week between the WIAC's division leaders. Tyra Boettcher put UW-Eau Claire in front, 62-60, with 17 seconds left but the Titans answered with a Jenna Jorgensen basket off a Leah Porath offensive rebound and assist. The Blugolds went right down the court and answered with Essen's game winner.

Essen filled the stat sheet with 22 points, 10 rebounds and four assists for the Blugolds (7-1, 7-1 WIAC). Maizie Deihl and Jesse Ruden also scored double-figures for Eau Claire while Jorgensen led Oshkosh (6-2. 6-2 WIAC) with 18 points.

Trinity (Texas) outscored Schreiner 20-4 in the second quarter and cruised to a 84-56 victory that jumbles the already-messy SCAC standings even more. The Tigers (6-2, 6-2 SCAC) are now a half-game in front of Schreiner (5-2, 5-2 SCAC) while Colorado College sits at 5-1 pending this weekends games against University of Dallas. The Tigers of Colorado College swept the season series with Trinity but will not play any of the other SCAC teams with a winning record before the SCAC tournament.

Jenna Mace scored 21 points for Wisconsin Lutheran and the Warriors held Edgewood to 21 points total in the second half, as the Warriors beat the Eagles, 63-49. Wisconsin Lutheran (9-0, 9-0 NACC) won easily despite shooting only four free throws, all of them by Mace. Edgewood (9-4, 8-1 NACC) gets another crack at Wisconsin Lutheran tomorrow.