|
| Noah Cleveland and a balanced Illinois Wesleyan attack powered past Chicago on Wednesday night. File photo by Kodiak Creative |
No. 16 Illinois Wesleyan held off No. 11 Chicago while No. 18 UW-Platteville edged North Central (Ill.) in overtime, and St. Thomas just missed upsetting its D1 foe. On the women’s side, UW-Whitewater continued its hot start and all eight ranked teams won comfortably.
Illinois Wesleyan topped Chicago, 72-69, in a meeting between All-American Nick Roper’s new team and his old team.
The Titans built, lost and then rebuilt double-digit leads over the Maroons throughout the second half until Shane Regan scored back-to-back baskets and pulled Chicago within three points with 1:13 to play. Chicago split two free throws on its next possession to pull within 71-69 and had a chance to tie the game, but Karlo Colak swiped the ball for IWU and Josh Fridman nudged the Titans’ lead back to three with a free throw. Chicago had two looks at game-tying shots on its final possession but missed both.
Illinois Wesleyan (3-0) featured a balanced attack with five players scoring double figures, led by Noah Cleveland (14 points, eight rebounds). Noah Roper, who was first-team All-Region as a senior at Illinois Wesleyan last season and is now a graduate student at Chicago, tallied 14 points and eight rebounds.
North Central scored six points in the final two minutes to force overtime with No. 18 UW-Platteville, but the Pioneers prevailed in the extra period, 66-60.
After Joey Fuhremann staked Platteville to a 56-50 lead, the Cardinals scored six straight and tied the game on Tyler Disilvio’s buzzer-beating jumper. The Pioneers regained control with an 8-0 run capped by Miles Hettinger’s layup with 1:23 left in overtime. Fuhremann filled the stat sheet with 12 points, nine rebounds and two blocks for the Pioneers (3-1).
St. Thomas just missed upsetting Division I Texas-El Paso before the Miners escaped with an 84-83 win in overtime. The Celts led 41-30 at the half and 72-69 with 11 seconds left in regulation before UTEP tied the game with a three-pointer at the buzzer. St. Thomas held an 83-82 lead very late in the extra period but UTEP won the game with a tip-in with one second left.
Corey Thompson led all players with 34 points, going 10-for-21 from the field and 10-for-15 from the foul line. Angel Thompson added 10 points, seven assists and six rebounds for the Celts whose record is not impacted by this exhibition result.
On the women’s side, eight ranked teams took the court but none of them had close games.
No. 2 Scranton followed Sunday’s exhibition win over D1 Pitt by rolling over Drew in both teams’ conference opener, 71-48. The Royals led 44-15 at the half and had four players score double figures. Katie Gorski, who had a double-double against Pitt, posted another with 12 points and 10 rebounds against the Rangers.
No. 4 Smith ensured that history did not repeat itself a third time, as the Bears blasted Mass-Dartmouth, 83-38. The Corsairs defeated Smith the past two seasons, but Smith held Mass-Dartmouth to 13 field goals against 19 turnovers on Wednesday night. Felicia Fongemie scored 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting in 20 minutes for the Bears (3-0).
No. 20 Christopher Newport cranked up the defensive pressure and pushed past TCNJ, 85-59. The Captains forced 11 turnovers in the fourth quarter and 25 overall and outscored the Lions, 60-24, in the paint. Sydney Worsham scored 17 points off the bench for Christopher Newport (3-2).
UW-Whitewater continued its impressive start with a 73-62 win at home over Carroll. Renee Rittmeyer scored eight of her team-high 21 points and led the Warhawks (4-0) with 11 rebounds. Natalie Gricius poured in 29 points for the Pioneers (2-2).
Elizabethtown and Susquehanna both stayed perfect ahead of their Saturday matchup. The Blue Jays improved to 3-0 with a 70-67 win at Moravian while Susquehanna handled Juniata, 80-43.