Wednesday: Top seeds out

Feb 22, 2023
Javen Flowers-Smith hit a bunch of high-percentage shots on Wednesday, including all 23 of his foul shots, to lift Keystone past CSAC No. 1 seed Cairn.
Keystone athletics photo
 

Colonial States Athletic Conference top men's seed Cairn and Presidents' Athletic Conference women's No. 1 Washington & Jefferson went down on Wednesday, while the Catholic men saw their NCAA Tournament hopes end after a 21-1 start to the season.

  • Wednesday, Feb. 22 scoreboard: Men | Women
  • Updated regional rankings: Men | Women
  • Conference tournament tracker: Men | Women

There's something about how freshmen play at the end of the season. Javen Flowers-Smith proved that, as the Keystone frosh exploded for a game-high 44 points, going a perfect 23-of-23 from the foul line to lift CSAC No. 4 seed Keystone past top-seeded Cairn 95-88. Flowers-Smith, who scored 46 on Feb. 11 at Bryn Athyn, leads the team with 24.3 points per game, and averages a team-best 4.9 assists as well. Keystone improved to 14-13 and will face conference No. 2 seed Wilson for the automatic bid.

The Division III record for free throws in a game is 30, set by Rob Rittgers, who did so for UC San Diego in 1988 in a perfect performance. 

The Catholic men started the season 21-1, looking to be in great position for a bid to the NCAA Tournament. But the Cardinals' skid to end the season will almost certainly keep them out of the Field of 64, as Catholic fell to its third loss in its final four games. The Cardinals shot just 3-for-18 from 3-point range and fell at home to Scranton in the Landmark Conference semifinals, 70-63. Jackson Danzig helped get his father's team into the conference final by scoring a team-high 21 points, going 8-for-18 from the floor. Jon Spatola added 18 and was 7-for-9 from the floor in the win.

In women's action, the seventh spot in the recently released NCAA regional rankings was an unlucky one for three teams that may have had their seasons end in the conference semifinals on Wednesday night.

After narrowly missing an upset win over No. 25 Washington and Jefferson earlier this season, Chatham left no doubt in a 57-40 win that eliminated the top-seeded Presidents from the PAC tournament.

Chatham led for most of the game and pushed its lead to double digits on Emily Durkee’s three-pointer that put the Cougars in front 37-26 midway through the third period. Chatham hit 12 three-pointers while W&J went 0 for 23 from behind the arc. Ashlie Loudon led Chatham (18-8) with 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

The Cougars will face St. Vincent in the PAC tournament finale while Washington and Jefferson (24-3) awaits its fate in the pool of teams hoping for at-large bids. The Presidents were slotted seventh in Region 7 in this week’s regional rankings.

Rowan scored 40 points in the final 17 minutes of its NJAC semifinal game at Kean, and the Profs eliminated the Cougars, 68-58. After Kean took a 40-28 lead with 6:48 to play in the third quarter, Rowan (19-8) ripped off a 14-2 run to tie the game, capped by Reagan Russo’s three-pointer. The Profs continued their surge in the fourth quarter, outscoring Kean 26-13. Shannon McCoy scored 17 points in the loss, giving her more than 1,900 in her career.

Rowan will face New Jersey City in the NJAC tournament title game because the Gothic Knights fended off TCNJ, 78-74, in overtime. Damarais Rodriguez, who leads Division III women’s basketball in points per game this season, added 33 more on 13-for-38 shooting in 44 minutes for New Jersey City (15-10).

Elizabethtown led from start to finish in an 81-64 win over Catholic in the Landmark Conference semifinals. The Blue Jays outrebounded the Cardinals 53-36 and got double-doubles from Jessica King (19 points, 11 rebounds) and DaniRae Renno (10 points, 17 rebounds). Erin Doherty scored 20 points for Catholic, which is ranked seventh in the Region 5 rankings.

Elizabethtown (22-3) advances to play No. 3 Scranton which stayed perfect with a 58-31 win over Moravian in the Landmark’s other semifinal. Bridget Monaghan racked up 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Lady Royals (26-0).