Wednesday: Keeping clean in conference

Colin McNamara scored a season-high and No. 23 WPI improved to 3-0 in conference on Wednesday night. WPI athletics file photo

No. 23 WPI and No. 8 Marietta stayed perfect in conference with convincing wins while Guilford did the same by upsetting No. 15 Roanoke and the list of unbeaten men’s teams was trimmed by one.

The marquee matchup of the night was close for a half before No. 8 Marietta shut down No. 14 Mount Union and pulled away for an 84-59 victory at home.

After trailing by five at the half, Mount Union tied the game at 38 on a Darrell Newsome three-pointer early in the second half. The teams traded baskets and then Tim Kreeger hit a jumper that started a game-deciding run for Marietta. The Pioneers outscored the Purple Raiders 24-5 over the next 10 minutes and took a 66-45 lead with seven minutes left. Marietta’s lead hung around 20 points the rest of the way.

Marietta (11-2, 6-0 OAC) shot just 4 for 19 from three, but the Pioneers made up for it by taking care of the basketball, tallying 18 assists to just five turnovers. Jason Ellis led the Pioneers with 20 points, five rebounds and three steals. Ethan Stanislawski scored 19 points with four 3-pointers for Mount Union (10-2, 4-2 OAC).

No. 23 WPI stayed hot in the NEWMAC and overall with a comfortable 88-57 win over Babson. After Spencer Cline gave Babson a 12-8 lead midway through the first half, the Engineers scored 15 of the next 17 points and took the lead for good.  Colin McNamara scored a season-high 23 points for WPI (11-1, 3-0 NEWMAC) which has won seven straight. WPI sits alone in first in the NEWMAC thanks to its victory and Emerson knocking off previously-unbeaten Clark, 72-59. Jarred Houston piled up 14 points and 21 boards for Emerson (8-3, 1-1 NEWMAC).

Clark’s loss leaves No. 2 UW-Platteville and No. 7 St. Joseph (Conn.) as the last two unbeaten teams in Division III men’s basketball. Neither played Wednesday night.

Guilford stayed perfect in the ODAC with a 58-53 victory at home over No. 15 Roanoke. Liam Ward posted a double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Tyler Dearman scored 22 points off the bench for the Quakers (7-3, 3-0 ODAC). Guilford is tied for first in the conference with No. 1 Randolph-Macon and a half-game in front of Lynchburg, both of which were idle on Wednesday night.

Augustana showed it’s still a factor in the CCIW race by going to King Arena and upsetting No. 10 Wheaton (Ill.), 79-73. The Vikings snapped a 61-all tie with a 7-0 run and made enough free throws down the stretch to beat the Thunder. Augustana stays on the road and plays at No. 3 Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday. The Titans downed Millikin, 78-67, in their first game since beating then-No. 1 Yeshiva in New York City.

Widener snapped its five-game losing streak in style when Steven Matlack drained a three-quarter court, overtime buzzer beater that lifted the Pride over Mary Washington, 66-63. Widener (6-8, 1-5 MACC) erased a 10-point halftime deficit and got a combined 28 points in 83 minutes from starting backcourt Pat Holden and Jared Peters.

Women’s recap: Springfield, Millikin keep rolling; UW-Stout trips UW-Eau Claire

No. 23 Springfield continued its best start in program history by stopping Babson on Wednesday afternoon. Springfield College athletics photo

No. 18 Springfield and Millikin kept rolling while two ranked OAC teams survived nailbiters and UW-Stout stumbled No. 11 UW-Eau Claire in WIAC play.

Springfield got a three-point play from Sidney Wentland and a bucket from Grace Dzindolet in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter to stave off Babson, 75-71. The Beavers had pulled within three, 65-62, with 4:27 left before the Pride’s spurt pushed the lead back to eight. Wentland and Dzindolet were two of five Springfield players to score double figures, and Sam Hourihan had 15 points and 15 rebounds for the Pride (13-0, 3-0 NEWMAC). Megan Bauman paced Babson (9-4) with 21 points in a game between NEWMAC rivals that does not count in the conference standings.

Millikin improved to 6-0 in the CCIW by rolling over Wheaton (Ill.) 68-48 in a battle of the top two teams in that conference’s preseason poll. The Big Blue (12-3, 6-0 CCIW) outscored the Thunder 38-21 in the second half. Millikin had 17 steals and converted 21 Wheaton turnovers into 30 points. Annika Richardson scored 21 points for the Thunder (10-4, 2-4 CCIW) who have dropped three of their last four.

All three ranked OAC teams took the court on Wednesday night, and two of them had close victories. Freshman Kaelyn Underwood hit a long-range jumper and two free throws to lift No. 12 John Carroll over Otterbein, 52-47. Makenzie Wilson notched a double-double (18 points, 11 rebounds) for No. 22 Marietta which survived Mount Union, 70-67. The third ranked OAC team also won, but it wasn’t as close. No. 15 Baldwin Wallace held Ohio Northern to 15 points in the second half and cruised past the Polar Bears, 58-41.

No. 8 UW-Whitewater ground out a 62-53 win at UW-Platteville and stayed unbeaten in the WIAC. The teams entered the fourth quarter tied at 43 and remained tied midway through that period until Yssa Santo Domingo hit a three and Johanna Taylor followed with a layup that put the Warhawks in front, 56-51, with 1:29 left. UW-Whitewater went six for eight from teh foul line and put the game away.

UW-Stout moved past No. 11 UW-Eau Claire in the conference standings by beating the Blugolds, 72-68. Raegen Sorensen came off the bench and scored 25 points in 30 minutes for the Blue Devils (8-7, 3-2 WIAC). Jessie Ruden scored 18 points in a full 40 minutes for UW-Eau Claire (11-4, 2-2 WIAC).