CLARKS SUMMIT, Pa. -- Abe Valentine set a new career high with 36 points to lead Baptist Bible to a 107-96 win against Cabrini on Saturday. Valentine hit 6 of 9 from 3-point range and also dished out seven dimes.
From the outset, BBC took the lead as Valentine got his team on the board with a baseline jumper. From that point on, the Defenders never surrendered their lead to the Cavaliers as the Defenders started out 7-for-7 from the floor.
Vernon Robinson would get an easy, fast-break layup with 12:29 to go in the first, making the score 21-19 in favor of the Defenders. From there, BBC went on a quick 8-0 run, highlighted by back-to-back 3s from Valentine that extended the lead to 43-27 with just more than 5:30 left in the half.
The 2012-13 CSAC Player of the Year, Aaron Walton-Moss, would cut the BBC lead to five with 11:13 remaining in the second, capping off a 9-0 run from the Cavaliers. As the tension mounted, BBC made two huge plays. Valentine would knock down a big 3, and on the next possession, the Defenders would get two offensive rebounds, leading to a clutch three from Luke Peterson, which would put BBC back up by 11.
No. 1 Wisconsin-Stevens Point 54, Wisconsin-River Falls 50
RIVER FALLS, Wis. -- Wisconsin-Stevens Point overcame its lowest-scoring game of the season by grinding out a 54-50 win against Wisconsin-River Falls on Saturday night at the Karges Center.
The Pointers (21-1, 12-1 WIAC) trailed the Falcons (7-16, 2-12 WIAC) 50-48 with 4:15 remaining but held UWRF scoreless for the remainder of the game and scored the final six points of the contest. UWSP scored a season-low 54 points and shot a season-low 38.8 percent from the floor.
Trailing 50-48, Clayton Heuer tied the score with a pair of free throws before giving the Pointers the lead on a layup with 46 seconds remaining. The Falcons then missed the potential game-winning three-pointer and Stephen Pelkofer drained two free throws after being fouled, putting the game out of reach with three seconds to play.
With the win, UW-Stevens Point claimed at least a share of the 2014 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship. The conference title is the 10th in the past 15 years for the Pointers and the league-leading 28th in program history. UWSP can claim the title outright with one win in its remaining two games or one loss by UW-Whitewater in its final contest.
Heuer led all scorers with 15 points and also grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds for his first double-double at UWSP. Tyler Tillema added 13 points, while Trevor Hass hit 4 of 9 3s to score 12 points and recorded eight boards.
No. 3 Wisconsin-Whitewater 75, Wisconsin-Oshkosh 51
WHITEWATER, Wis. -- Wisconsin-Whtewater wrapped up its regular-season home schedule with a 75-51 win against Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Saturday night. UW-W is unbeaten in Kachel Gym this season, 12-0, 21-3 overall and 12-3 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Warhawks are currently in second place in the WIAC standings with one game left to play.
The lead changed hands twice in the first seven minutes of the contest. Eric Bryson put the advantage back in favor of the Warhawks 12-11 with a 3-pointer at the 12:52 mark and Whitewater held the lead the rest of the way. UW-W ended the half with a 14-6 run to head into intermission with a 37-24 advantage.
Alex Merg led all players with 10 points on a perfect 3-for-3 from the field, 2-for-2 from behind the arc and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line in the first half.
The Warhawks ran off 11 of the first 13 points of the second half to extend the lead to 22, 48-26, at 16:04. The advantage remained in the 20-point range the rest of the way with the smallest margin, 16, coming at the 10:18 mark after an Alex Olson jumper made it 55-39.
No. 5 Illinois Wesleyan 80, Carthage 66
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- Illinois Wesleyan shook off a sluggish start to claim an 80-66 win against Carthage on senior night on Saturday at the Shirk Center.
The Titans improved to 20-3 and 10-2 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, moving into first place by one-half game against Wheaton, who lost Saturday night. The Red Men slipped to 15-9 overall and are 8-5 in conference play.
The Titans are 20-game winners for the fifth year in a row, for the 24th time in school history and the 23rd time in the past 49 seasons.
The game was tied at 18-18 with 7:19 to play in the first half before the Titans took the lead for the rest of the game on a layup by senior Brady Zimmer with 6:47 before halftime. IWU led by a 33-25 score at the break.
Carthage rallied to get within five by scoring the first three points of the second half but got no closer. IWU built up a lead of as much as 21 points at 62-41 with 8:43 to play in the game as the Titans shot an efficient .667 from the field in the second period (12 of 18).
No. 6 St. Norbert 113, Grinnell 88
DE PERE, Wis. -- St. Norbert reached the 20-win plateau in just 21 games in a 113-88 win against Grinnell in a Midwest Conference game at Schuldes Sports Center. The Green Knights have won at least 20 games in each of the past four seasons.
St. Norbert (20-1, 16-0 MWC) also matched a MWC record for conference wins in a season, and claimed its 18th consecutive victory. Grinnell dropped to 15-5, 11-5.
Grinnell held a 23-21 lead before the Green Knights went on a 12-0 run to take control. Austin Elliott got the run started on a conventional three-point play. Bryan Dalton followed with a basket, as did Brandon Gries. Kam Cerroni canned a 3-poitner and Garrett Thorn netted a basket to close out the run.
St. Norbert held a 54-42 lead late in the first half when Andy Fox banked in a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired with 1:06 left before halftime. Cerroni hit a 3-pointer from the corner with 38 seconds left, and then buried another triple in transition from about 25 feet as time expired to send the Schuldes Sports Center record crowd of 2,204 into a frenzy. The Green Knights led 63-42 at halftime.
The Green Knights took a pair of 30-point leads early in the second half, the last at 75-45 on a 3-pointer by Cerroni with 16:13 left. Grinnell slowly climbed back into the game, hitting three consecutive 3-pointers to pull within 15 at 91-76 with 9:18 to go. St. Norbert responded with a 12-0 run to take a 103-76 lead with 6:43 to go to seal the win.
No. 8 Williams 87, Wesleyan (Conn.) 70
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. -- The Williams Ephs (21-3, 9-1) defeated their Little Three rivals, the Wesleyan (Conn.) Cardinals (11-13, 4-6), 87-70 in the final game of the regular season before the NESCAC tournament.
Eph Taylor Epley led all scorers with 28 points in the game, while Jack Mackey scored the most for the Cardinals with 17. In addition, Cardinal Rashid Epps notched a double-double, with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Williams shot 51 percent from the field, while Wesleyan shot at 44 percent.
Williams missed its first six shots in the game but was able to open up a 42-32 lead before the end of the half.
No. 9 Wooster 60, No. 15 Wittenberg 55
WOOSTER, Ohio -- Wooster led the entire second half of its game with archrival Wittenberg but the outcome came down to the final seconds once again as a potential tying 3-pointer by the Tigers was off the mark. The Fighting Scots secured the rebound and a 60-55 win after a couple of free throws, and another North Coast Athletic Conference championship at Timken Gymnasium.
Wooster (20-3, 14-2 NCAC) has clinched at least a share of the conference title, holding a two-game lead in the standings against Ohio Wesleyan with two regular-season games remaining. The Scots have now won nine NCAC championships the past 10 years and a league-leading 16 overall.
Wittenberg (17-6, 11-5 NCAC) trimmed a 58-52 deficit with :50 left to 58-55 at the :13 mark, when Scott Masin missed the second of two free throws and teammate Justin McDowell skied for the rebound. McDowell kicked it out to Zack Leahy at the top of the key for an open look at a 3-pointer, however, it bounced off the rim and Wooster's Kenny DeBoer pulled down the rebound.
DeBoer sunk both of the ensuing free throws with :08 remaining to seal the outcome.
No. 10 Wesley 91, No. 13 Mary Washington 75
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- David Langan scored a career-high 33 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in Wesley's 91-75 win at Mary Washington on Saturday. In the process, Langan scored his 1,000th career point and set the school record for rebounds. The Wolverines (20-2, 12-2 CAC) have now matched their program record for victories in a season while the Eagles fall to 18-5 overall and 11-4 in the Capital Athletic Conference.
Needing 20 points for 1,000 and 10 rebounds to break the school's rebounding record, Langan nearly accomplished both feats in the first half. Langan had 16 points and eight rebounds in the opening period, and finished the day 9 of 12 shooting from the floor and 15 of 18 from the charity stripe. Langan also dished out four assists on the afternoon.
The 12th player at Wesley to eclipse the century mark, Langan now has 1,013 points and 776 rebounds in his career. His 114 blocks are also third on Wesley's all-time list.
Langan also had a lot of help on the offensive end as the other four starting Wolverines scored in double figures. Quincy Pettiford added 17 points while Brandin Youngblood added 16 points with four 3-pointers. Wayne Lennon was a rebound shy of a double-double with 11 points, nine rebounds and a team-high five assists. Senior point guard Eric Selby also tallied 13 points for the Wolverines who shot 52.6 percent from the floor and outrebounded the Eagles 43-30.
