WIAC, CCIW, Centennial fit to be tied

Jan 28, 2026
Nick Koch's three-pointer just before the buzzer in the second overtime lifted TCNJ to an 84-82 home win vs. Stockton.
@careycandids photo for TCNJ athletics
 

There's a tie for first in the CCIW, a four-way tie in the WIAC, and a four-way tie in the Centennial as a result of Wednesday's Division III men's basketball action.

In the CCIW, Carthage pulled back into a tie for first place in the conference as the Firebirds went to Illinois Wesleyan and took down the No. 12 Titans by an 80-65 score. Carthage (13-6, 7-3 CCIW) went 5-for-11 from three-point range in the first half and followed it up by going 5-for-10 in the second half, as Illinois Wesleyan spent the majority of the second half trailing by double digits. Twice Karlo Colak was able to get IWU (15-4, 7-3) within six points early in the second half, and Noah Cleveland was able to do the same off a feed from Colak less than five minutes into the half, but Carthage responded with a 10-2 run to put the game back out of reach. Ryan Johnson had game-highs with 26 points and 12 rebounds, while his brother A.J. Johnson added 18 points and Griffin Daun had 19. Wheaton remained a half-game out of first, defeating Augustana at home to improve to 12-6, 6-3.

In the WIAC, the four-way tie came courtesy of homestanding UW-Stevens Point defeating UW-Platteville and UW-Oshkosh losing at home to UW-Whitewater, leaving the four teams tied at 5-3 in conference play. La Crosse and Stout are one game back of this group, at 4-4 in WIAC play. Colin Madson had a huge night for the Warhawks, who improved to 14-5 overall, as he finished with 32 points and shot 5-for-7 from three-point range. Isaac Verges added 23 for UWW, which rallied from a 16-point deficit to get the 101-91 win against the No. 20 Titans. Seth Miron had a game-high 27 for Stevens Point in its 81-62 win against Platteville.

In the Centennial, Franklin and Marshall defeated Washington College, Gettysburg topped McDaniel, Ursinus defeated Swarthmore and Johns Hopkins topped Dickinson as the number of tied teams was reduced from five to four. Swarthmore fell to 4-2, one game back of the pack, as Ursinus (12-6, 5-1 Centennial) placed four scorers in double figures in the win. Nick Nocito scored 20 points and had a team-high four assists, while Luke Nieman had nine rebounds on a night in which Ursinus outrebounded Swat 41-23.

On the flip side, Montclair State has made sure there's nobody within reach of them in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, but the rest of the conference showed some drama with two key buzzer beaters.

Khalil Baker put back an offensive rebound as time expired to lift Rowan over Rutgers-Camden, 68-66, to complete the Profs' come-from-behind win. With the victory, Rowan (6-13, 6-6 NJAC) inches ahead of Rutgers-Camden (10-8, 5-7) in the conference standings. With the score tied and 19 seconds remaining, Rutgers-Camden missed the front end of a one-and-one and Michael Pirone corralled the rebound for the Profs. Brycen Williams took a long three-point attempt with two seconds left and Baker grabbed the rebound underneath and put it back as the buzzer sounded for the win. Williams scored a game-high 21 points and Baker finished the game with 18 points and eight rebounds as the only Profs in double figures. It's the fourth win in the past six games for Rowan, which started the season 2-11.

TCNJ won on a buzzer beater in NJAC play on Wednesday night as well, and needed a few extra buzzers to get there as the Lions defeated Stockton 84-82 when Nick Koch hit a three-pointer from two steps behind the arc. His shot swished through just before the buzzer sounded to give his Lions the win.  Koch's heave represented the 15th and final lead change in an epic battle between two contenders that came into the night tied for second in the league standings. When the dust settled, and the Packer Hall court had been stormed, it was the blue and gold standing all alone in the No. 2 slot – and the Ospreys left ruing a season sweep that slipped through their claws. Koch's career-high sixth trey of the night gave him a game-high 33 points in 49 minutes, while senior counterpart Matthew Solomon racked up 24 points, 15 rebounds, and six assists while playing all 3,000 seconds of an unforgettable game.

No. 7 Redlands managed to avoid a season sweep from Chapman but needed to come back from a double-digit deficit in the second half to do so before beating the Panthers 76-66. The game remained at a single possession until Chozen Amadi made a step back three with 2:13 on the clock which forced a timeout by the Panthers. The three made it a five-point game, 64-59, and the Bulldogs went on to make seven of eight free throws to seal the win. Amadi had 21 points, a season-high, with 15 of those coming in the second half. Lucas Gordon played around second half foul trouble as he scored 13 points and added 17 rebounds and three assists. Jake Hlywiak also had 15 second half points for a total of 17.

WPI just got back into the Top 25 in the most recent poll, but took a loss in its very next outing as the No. 23 Engineers fell 86-76 at home to crosstown rival Clark. The Cougars (12-7, 7-3 NEWMAC) led by as many as 16 points midway through the second half before WPI chipped away at the lead, eventually cutting it to 78-74 with 50.2 seconds left. Clark, however, got a breakaway layup and hit six consecutive free throws in the final 40 seconds to secure its win. Nathan Bledsoe scored 12 of his game-high 26 points during a 24-11 surge in the first half for WPI (15-3, 8-2), while Quentin Pridgen scored 19 to lead Clark, followed by a career-high 18 for Elijah Small.

Backed by Chase Garito's 22-point effort, No. 21 Otterbein won its 11th straight contest and handed coach Andy Winters his 100th career win, defeating Baldwin Wallace 86-70. Garito led all players on a 10-of-13 effort from the floor, tying his career-high in points. Holding all of the momentum in the second half, Otterbein (16-2, 8-1 OAC) never let BW cut into the lead. Extending the advantage to as many as 23 points, the Cardinals answered off the conference bye week with a big victory. Baldwin Wallace fell to 6-13, 3-7.

Catholic extended its lead in the Landmark to two full games over Drew and Scranton after the Cardinals rolled past Goucher 95-51 and Drew defeated Scranton 79-65. Scranton has lost two out of three since beating Catholic at home on Jan. 17, with the sole win being an overtime win at Goucher. Drew pulled into a tie for second in the conference with the victory, which was powered by 20 points from Charlie Thornton and a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds from David Musial.

Tyler Smith recorded a triple-double, putting up 12 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds as Crown took a 72-65 win on the road from UW-Superior. To start the second half, both teams traded baskets, but Superior (5-14, 1-5 UMAC) built a 10-point lead with under eight minutes remaining. That lead quickly vanished as the Polars (10-8, 4-2) hit four straight three-pointers on four consecutive possessions to retake the lead by two, and Crown was able close it out. Crown is tied with Bethany Lutheran and Minnesota-Morris atop the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference.