D3 WBB Daily: Another outstanding Wednesday in the books

CNU/Mary Washington, Concordia/Gustavus, Cal Lutheran, La Verne

Hope everyone has had a great Thursday! I just wanted to reflect back on our games from yesterday (Wednesday) and some of the bigger storylines that stuck out to me. What a great time of year with so much high-level basketball ahead in the next four weeks.

In case you missed today’s edition of Hoopsville, Dave McHugh sat down for three great WBB interviews with Lindsay Schultz (Carroll), Ben O'Brien (Scranton), Craig Dagan (Maine Maritime). Be sure to check out those conversations if you get a chance!

Tipping Off

Mary Washington, Christopher Newport battled at a very high-level

I thought one of the most thrilling games of yesterday’s slate ended up being a battle between the C2C’s best as #6 Christopher Newport used a huge final stretch to come-from-behind and defeat Mary Washington, 60-55, on the road. It’s hard to know whether the game itself said more about CNU or Mary Washington, but I really think my big takeaway was around Mary Washington’s performance despite the loss. The Eagles really fought step-for-step with CNU and made life tough for the Captains early on, especially in the first half, as UMW took a 28-25 halftime lead. They shot 41.8% from the field to CNU’s 36.7%, had 17 assists to CNU’s 10, and had a solid 11-point, eight-rebound performance from Sydney Sherman. UMW is definitely in contention for a Pool C bid, and really could challenge some top teams in the national tournament. That said, credit goes to CNU for winning on the road, putting a rough first half in the rearview mirror, and using a 12-0 run to close the game and seal the win. The Captains weren’t as sharp as I would’ve liked to have seen, but they battled back well, especially after UMW became the fifth team this year to take a three-possession lead on CNU. I fully expect we’ll get a third meeting between these two in the C2C Championship Game here in a couple weeks.

Concordia-Moorhead pulled away from Gustavus Adolphus in a huge win for the Cobbers

Concordia-Moorhead saw its stock rise with a huge win over #5 Gustavus Adolphus in a game that the Cobbers really controlled in the second half. Concordia was the last team in the MIAC with a real chance to potentially snap the Gusties’ perfect conference record, and in a 26-16 third quarter, the Cobbers took a major step towards that. It broke a 33-33 halftime tie, and one of the aspects of this game that needs to be noted is the aggressiveness of the officiating. Concordia went 26-of-35 at the free throw line, attempting 30+ free throws in a game for the second time this season. Point being, the Cobbers took advantage of the frequent trips to the line, and converted on those opportunities to stay in the lead as Gustavus charged back. The Gusties nearly followed in the footsteps of CNU with a fourth-quarter comeback, cutting the deficit to 69-63 with 1:16 left. But as it turned out, Concordia forced a key turnover with 46 seconds left, and ended up taking a 10-point lead with 12 seconds left. Of all the teams that won last night, Concordia definitely made the strongest push to claim a spot in my Top 25 ballot. I had the Cobbers in my ranking right before Christmas and it appears they’ll be back in on Monday.

SCIAC shakeup

I feel like I’m talking quite a bit about the West Region in these write-ups, but in fairness, we have some really interesting title races going on out there. And of all the regions, Region 10 seems to be one of the deeper (and perhaps more unpredictable) regions in the country this year. Cal Lutheran really impressed me as everything seemed to fall for the Regals offensively in a 102-84 win over Occidental, which moved CLU into first place in the SCIAC at 10-3. CLU shot 51.2% over four quarters, surpassing the century mark as Occidental’s defense simply had no answer. Occidental fell a half-game back of the SCIAC’s leaders at 10-4. But CLU wasn’t the only team to gain ground in the race for the regular season title. La Verne stunned Whittier, 69-62, on the road in a double-overtime classic, as the Leopards outscored the Poets, 11-4, in the second overtime period. La Verne improved to 10-3 in league play as well, and into a first-place tie with CLU. Whittier sits in the fourth spot in the SCIAC, at 8-5. La Verne led 34-25 at the half, but Whittier stormed back in a big third quarter. In the second-overtime, with both teams battling fatigue, La Verne’s offense won out, shooting 4-of-7, while Whittier was just 1-of-6.

Fast Breaks

» MIT also won in an overtime battle, beating Babson, 69-63. It keeps MIT in a three-way tie for first-place in the NEWMAC, along with Smith and Coast Guard.

» After losing at home to UW-La Crosse earlier in the year, UW-Stout made a statement at La Crosse, winning 84-69. The Blue Devils have now won four of their last five after starting 1-5 in WIAC play.

» For the first time since the 2015-16 season, UW-River Falls has completed a season sweep of UW-Eau Claire. Macy Nilsen scored 32 points and the Falcons connected on 14 3-pointers (the third-most in a game in program history), as UWRF defeated UWEC, 85-50.

» Washington & Lee’s Elka Prechel connected on a program-record 9 3-pointers in last night’s 109-54 win over Averett. Prechel scored 29-points, a career-high.

» Baldwin Wallace pulled out a 72-71 road win at Ohio Northern in a game that came right down to the wire after BW erased an eight-point deficit. The Yellow Jackets finished an impressive 15-of-32 from beyond the arc, and remain in first place in the OAC, at 14-1.

» Webster won its 22nd straight game and hit the century mark as the Gorloks captured their fifth-straight SLIAC title in a 100-43 win over Blackburn. Webster is one of four teams in the country that is still undefeated.

That’ll wrap up this edition of D3 WBB Daily! Johns Hopkins is playing Dickinson tonight and Mary Hardin-Baylor is facing UT-Dallas in two pretty critical games in each of those two conferences. Tomorrow brings UAA and NESCAC battles as we head into the weekend. Lots of great matchups are ahead as the days left in the regular season dwindle! Have a great rest of your evening.