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| Marietta finished its third trip to the Elite Eight by extending their run for another round. Marietta athletics photo |
Randolph-Macon made it look easy, Marietta made it look hard, but the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country each advanced to the Final Four, joined by Elmhurst and Wabash as the Division III Final Four is back, looking a heck of a lot like the Great Lakes Invitational back in November.
Marietta, Wabash and Randolph-Macon all met at Marietta the third weekend of November, and those three plus Elmhurst will reconvene a couple hundred miles to the west with the winner getting to bring home Walnut and Bronze.
The Pioneers needed to hold on after two missed free throws in the closing seconds against Christopher Newport, Elmhurst stopped UMHB at the buzzer in regulation and overtime, and Wabash used an 11-2 run in the second half to put some distance between them and host Illinois Wesleyan.
Lukas Isaly poured in 38 for Marietta, going 7-for-11 from 3-point range, including multiple shots that he got off in seemingly lightning-quick fashion. Jason Aigner had a chance to tie it in the closing seconds but missed the third of three free throws and the Pioneers survived, 81-79.
Jack Davidson had 29 points, 18 of them in the second half to get Wabash to the Final Four for the first time since the Little Giants won the national title 40 years ago. The game, played in front of 1,175 raucous fans at the Shirk Center at Illinois Wesleyan, had a total of four technical fouls. Kellen Schreiber, forced to the bench with foul trouble after playing less than five minutes in the first half, put up 13 points in the second half and four rebounds, perhaps none bigger than a one-handed board he pulled down with 1:16 to play. Vinny Buccilla had a solid night off the bench, going 3-for-3 from the floor and 2-for-2 from deep to finish with eight points.
"An incredible game," Wabash coach Kyle Brumett said. "Starting with the atmosphere, our crowd, our following. And then you come here. There were some flashbacks. I played here, sitting on the bench when Dave Benner came here and played a really tough Illinois Wesleyan team that went on to win the national championship. We have used Illinois Wesleyan as the barometer for what we're trying to become."
Jake Rhode scored 21 for Elmhurst, and the Bluejays did a number on UMHB All-American Josiah Johnson, holding him to 3-for-19 shooting, including a desparate 3-point heave at the buzzer that did not fall. It was the third game in a row in which Elmhurst had to rally from a halftime deficit. With the score even at 81-all and less than two minutes remaining, Dominic Genco hit a pull-up jumper from the baseline to put the Bluejays in front. After a UMHB miss, Ocean Johnson hit a fast break layup to give Elmhurst an 85-81 lead with less than a minute remaining. Elmhurst missed a free throw and the Cru took advantage with Kyle Wright splashing home a 3-pointer with 32.1 seconds left, slicing the Bluejays lead down to one at 85-84. Thomas was fouled with 15.1 seconds left and promptly hit both free throws to extend Elmhurst's lead to 87-84. UMHB was forced to call timeout with 2.5 seconds left. Josiah Johnson's 3-point attempt was off the back of the iron and the Bluejays came away with the victory.
Rhode led the way for Elmhurst with 21 points, shooting 7-of-16 from the floor and adding six assists and four steals. Genco came off the bench to add 18 points, four assists and five steals while Johnson added 17 points and four rebounds.
Randolph-Macon was led by a 23-point, five rebound, four assist and five steal effort from Buzz Anthony who was 5-for-9 from deep on the evening. Anthony was aided by an 11-point effort from Miles Mallory. WPI had the first bucket of the second half to cut R-MC's lead to 40-35 before sophomore Daniel Mbangue had five points and Will Coble canned another trey for eight straight points by the home team and a 48-35 advantage with 15 minutes remaining. Ian Robertson hit three treys and Anthony added two triples as the overall run was 25-6 over 14 minutes as the Yellow Jackets took a 65-41 lead with five minutes to go.