R.J. Holmes had a huge double-double, including a career-best 17 rebounds, for Carnegie Mellon. Carnegie Mellon athletics photo

The University Athletic Association entered conference play on Saturday, and three ranked teams all lost on the road as rivals and UAA travel partners faced off in Division III men's basketball action on Jan. 6, 2024.

• Saturday's scoreboard: Men | Women
• Saturday's women's wrap
• More game stories: Men | Women

Carnegie Mellon scored the biggest win of the day, as the Tartans improved to 9-3 and defeated their conference rival, No. 2 Case Western Reserve, 84-74. The Tartans (9-3, 1-0 UAA) took the lead for good less than three minutes into the game and led by as many as 11 points early in the second half. CWRU (11-1, 0-1) responded with an 11-2 run to cut the lead to 55-54 midway through the second half, and the Spartans again got as close as two points with less than three minutes left, but the Tartans went 6-for-6 from the foul line in the final minute to hold off the previously unbeaten Case Western Reserve squad.

Justin Allen scored a game-high 24 points, while R.J. Holmes had 15 points and added a career-high 17 rebounds. It's the second win in a row for CMU at home against a top five team, after the Tartans defeated then-No. 3 Washington U. on Jan. 28, 2022.

Chicago came up with the home win as well, defeating archrival and No. 16-ranked Washington U. 69-68. Neither team held more than a two-point lead for the last 8:22 of the game but a WashU 3-pointer by Hayden Doyle put the outcome of the contest into question for the Maroons, as it gave the Bears a 68-67 lead with 33 seconds left. Eamonn Kenah came through for Chicago, however, though and sank two free throws with 13 ticks left on the clock. A last second attempt for Doyle refused to go in for the Bears.

Mitchell Kershner found Matt Wiele for the game-winner with just under seven seconds left, and Rochester held on late to open UAA play with a 79-77 win over No. 22 Emory. Despite leading by as many as 13 in the second half, the Yellowjackets found themselves up just one, 69-68, with 7:32 to play following a 10-0 Emory run. Matt Niemczura slowed the Eagles' run with a free throw, going 1-for-2 at the line, but AJ Harris, who scored five of the Eagles' 10 points over the 10-0 run, answered with a layup to level the score at 70-all with 5:24 remaining.

Later, at 76-74, a foul by Kershner sent Logan Shanahan to the line, where he went 1-for-2 to make it a one-point game with under a minute to play. And after Wiele couldn't connect on his jumper with 34 seconds left, Jair Knight found Cale Martens down low for a layup and the lead with 17 seconds left. That's when the 'Jackets inbounded the ball and worked their way quickly up the court, where Kershner found Wiele on a cut to help UR retake the lead with seven seconds to play. An offensive foul on the other end then gave the ball back to Rochester, and Malachi Moore converted one of two at the free throw line to make it a 79-77 game. After a timeout by Emory, Shanahan threw the inbounds pass away, but UR gave it right back to Emory with less than a second left. But Emory wasn't able to get a shot off and the Yellowjackets held on.

No. 1 Hampden-Sydney avoided the upset after Washington & Lee started the game with a 21-7 lead and led going into the second half. The Tigers protected home court with a 72-67 win. Adam Brazil scored 17 points, and Davidson Hubbard added 16 points and a game-high eight rebounds in the win. H-SC (12-1, 4-1 ODAC) began the second half on a quick 9-3 run to take its first lead of the day at 42-38 with 17:31 remaining, as Brazil scored five points, including a three-pointer, while Hubbard and Alex Elliott each scored inside. The Tigers would maintain their advantage for the remainder of the contest, though it was close throughout the second half, as W&L (8-5, 2-2) was within a point on a couple of occasions — the last at 49-48 with 12:02 on the clock.

No. 8 Trinity (Conn.) improved to 15-0 on the season, finishing a sweep of its opening weekend of NESCAC play bu defeating Bowdoin 93-54. The Bantams finished the first half on a 29-5 run to go into the locker room up 46-22, as Jarrel Okorougo scored 15 points in the first half. He finished with 17, as did Jared Berry, while Ben Callahan-Gold scored a team-high 18.

St. Vincent extended its winning streak to 14 games as the Bearcats rallied to defeat Washington & Jefferson 73-70 on the road. W&J fell to 2-12, 1-8 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference. The Bearcats (14-0, 9-0 PAC) trailed by nine points with 5:30 remaining and by four with less than two minutes left, before a wild final 90 seconds saw SVC secure the comeback. Mike Iuzzolino connected on his fifth three-pointer of the day with 1:28 left to pull the Bearcats to within one, 68-67. The SVC defense then forced a W&J miss, before Dev Ostrowski drew a foul and connected on both ends of the bonus to give the Bearcats a 69-68 lead with 46 seconds to go, their first advantage since 3:34 left in the first half. After milking time off the shot clock, the Presidents scored to regain a one-point lead with 22 seconds left, but the Bearcats answered right back. Osyon Jones scored on a driving layup through heavy traffic to go in front 71-70. Tayler McNeal then stole the inbounds pass and passed to Jones, who was promptly fouled and buried both foul shots with 2.3 seconds remaining to seal the victory.

Cade Tackmier hit a pull-up from the right elbow with eight seconds left, and Ripon handed Illinois College its second loss in three games as the Blueboys fell at home, 77-75. It's IC's second loss in three games after a 12-0 start, and just Ripon's third win of the season against 11 defeats. The Red Hawks were down 70-63 with 3:39 left but scored 14 of the last 19 games to escape Jacksonville, Illinois, with a win for the first time since January 2019. Luke Meinholz scored a career-high 27 points on 12-of-21 shooting, while Tackmier added 23 for Ripon.

UW-La Crosse got its first WIAC win of the season, as the Eagles edged UW-Stevens Point 86-84. The double overtime win featured 13 lead changes and 10 ties. The Pointers (7-6, 1-1 WIAC) led by 10 in the second half before UWL (7-6, 1-1) scored the next 10 points to tie the game. The Eagles also scored nine of the last 11 points in regulation to force overtime. Dustin Derousseau missed a potential game-winner with three seconds left in the first overtime, but had a chance the next time around and converted it, hitting the game-winner with one second left in the second overtime to secure the win. Derousseau led the Eagles with 32 points, going 10-of-18 from the field, including two-of-six from three-point range, and 10-of-11 at the line.

Ryan Miles-Ferguson scored a career-high 34 points, but it wasn't enough as Clarkson fell 76-72 at Vassar. The Golden Knights saw their record fall to 8-3 overall and 3-2 in the Liberty League, while Vassar edged forward to 5-7 and 3-2. Vassar put Clarkson at arm's-length in the second half with a 12-2 run and Miles-Ferguson could not get his team closer than three points the rest of the way. For Vassar, Shea Fitzgerald scored 18 points on 5-for-8 shooting, Alex Walters had 14 points in 19 minutes off the bench, and Luke Adams added 13 points.