Friday men: Death to the bubble

Feb 24, 2023
It was all smiles in Glassboro, New Jersey, as Rowan booked a return trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Rowan athletics photo by Nick Feldman
 

Rowan and Baruch wrapped up NCAA Tournament bids, but it was trouble elsewhere as Utica lost, UW-La Crosse lost, Wheaton (Ill.) lost and the top two seeds in both the ASC and SCIAC lost, making for uncomfortable waiting for some. 

Marcellus Ross scored a game-high 24 points as top-seeded Rowan defeated second-seeded Stockton 103-88 to win the 2023 NJAC men's basketball championship in front of a sold-out crowd at Esby Gym in Glassboro, New Jersey. With the win, Rowan (22-5) earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Ross connected on 7-of-11 three-point field goals and reached the 1,000-point mark for his career.

Baruch coughed up a seven-point lead in the final 30 seconds of regulation, but recovered to defeat Lehman in overtime and book a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, winning the CUNYAC automatic bid by a score of 83-82. Devin Nicholson scored with 4.0 seconds remaining in the extra session and the Bearcats held on against a 3-point attempt in the final seconds to clinch the return trip. Jehmehl Fair scored a game-high 20 points, shooting 8-for-12 from the floor and 4-for-6 from 3-point range.

St. John Fisher sent Empire 8 top seed Utica to the bubble as the fourth-seeded Cardinals defeated the Pioneers 70-65 to advance to the conference final. St. John Fisher (20-7) took its first lead of the second half with 5:49 to play when Jack Foley found Matt Letko for a 3-pointer to put the Cardinals up 60-59. Fisher had trailed 50-40 before surging in front. Foley finished with 18 points to help the Cardinals advance. They'll play Nazareth, which defeated Alfred, as the two rivals who are around the corner from each other will play on a neutral floor at Utica, 127 miles away. 

Wheaton (Ill.) fell hard to Elmhurst im the CCIW semifinals and if Elmhurst defeats North Park on Saturday, the CCIW will likely steal a bid from someone. Ocean Johnson and John Ittounas scored 18 points apiece, as the Bluejays shot 10-for-19 from 3-point range.

Mary Hardin-Baylor and East Texas Baptist each fell in the American Southwest Conference semifinals, as Hardin-Simmons defeated UMHB 78-71 behind 26 points from Steven Quinn. East Texas Baptist defeated Texas-Dallas 74-71 as well. UMHB was ranked second in the Region 10 rankings. The Region 10 rankings also took a beating out West, as Pomona-Pitzer and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps each lost in the SCIAC semifinals, to Cal Lutheran and Redlands. 

UW-Whitewater will play in the WIAC final for the first time since 2015 as the No. 3 seed in the WIAC tournament defeated second-seeded UW-La Crosse 72-68. La Crosse (19-7) entered the week ranked second in the NCAA's Region 9 rankings but now will have to hope for an at-large bid. UW-Oshkosh defeated UW-Eau Claire and will host the title game.

Roanoke needed four overtimes to do it, but the Maroons managed to stay alive in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament, defeating Washington & Lee 117-103 in a quarterfinal battle of two of the ODAC teams which are closest to the Salem Civic Center. Roanoke survived despite shooting just 21-for-42 from the foul line, including a disastrous second and third overtime in which the Maroons connected on just three of 14 freebies. Ronaoke recovered to hit on eight of 10 in the final five minutes, led by a 5-for-5 stretch from Efosa U-Edosomwan. He finished with a triple-double of 24 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, while Kasey Draper scored 40 points and added 11 rebounds in 54 minutes and Tripp Greene played 59 of the possible 60 minutes, scoring 25.

Roanoke will face top seed Randolph-Macon, which had an easy time of it with Ferrum in a 75-61 quarterfinal win. The other half of the ODAC bracket saw top seeds Guilford and Hampden-Sydney advance past Bridgewater and Virginia Wesleyan on a weekend in which any ODAC team not named Randolph-Macon might have a tough time making it into the NCAA Tournament as an at-large, based on where the committee has ranked them.

Top seeds advanced in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, as Carleton (23-3) pulled away from Hamline (15-12) in the second half en route to a 68-51 win and St. John's rallied from a halftime deficit to surge past St. Olaf 67-56. The Knights shot 15-for-30 from the floor in the second half and outrebounded Hamline 27-13 after halftime to pull away. Carleton's second half included a 14-2 run which included a big shot in transition from Beck Page, who finished with 16 points.

Ryan Thissen scored 15 of his 24 points after halftime to help St. John's (17-9) rally from a halftime deficit and defeat St. Olaf 67-56, averting a possible all-Northfield MIAC tournament final. 

Both of the Coach Van Zelst brothers will coach their teams on Saturday with an eye on advancing to the NCAA Tournament. Ryan Van Zelst's Penn State-Abington squad defeated Penn State-Harrisburg 63-56 in the United East semifinals and will play host Lancaster Bible for a spot in the Field of 64, while Arcadia, under Adam Van Zelst defeated Lycoming earlier in the week and will face DeSales in the MAC Freedom final on Saturday.