Geoff Reeves (15) and his Cornell teammates rejoice after beating Harvard to win their first Ivy League title in 20 years.
(Kevin Rivoli/Associated Press)
New England men's roundup
Amherst is still headed to the NCAA Division 3 tournament, but not with an automatic berth, and likely not as the nation's No. 1 team after Bowdoin stunned the Lord Jeffs, 65-64, last night in the NESCAC semifinals, Amherst's first home loss in more than a year.
Fourth-seeded Bowdoin (21-5) led by 6 at the break and built its advantage to 11 (56-45) with less than eight minutes to play before Amherst (23-3) stormed back to tie it at 58 on a 3-pointer by Steven Wheeler. The Polar Bears surged ahead, 63-59, after a pair of free throws by Mark Phillips, but the Lord Jeffs answered again, taking a 64-63 lead on a 3-pointer by Brian Baskauskas with 1:48 to play.
Amherst failed to capitalize on a shot-clock violation by Bowdoin, an Andrew Olson turnover leading to a go-ahead layup by Jordan Fliegel with 49 seconds to go. After Bowdoin's Andrew Sargeantson missed the front end of a one-and-one with 10 seconds left, Amherst called timeout to set up a play.
Olson misfired on a deep 3-pointer and the clock ran out on the Lord Jeffs, who are a lock for an at-large berth in the Division 3 tournament. Pairings will be announced tomorrow morning. Bowdoin is headed to its first NESCAC final, and will face No. 2 seed Trinity, a 72-63 winner over Middlebury in the second semifinal.
Trinity (20-6) closed the game on a 15-3 run and was led by 21 points from Robert Taylor and 19 from Patrick Hasiuk. Andrew Harris had 24 points for Middlebury (19-7), which could receive an at-large tournament bid.
Northeastern 70, George Mason 59 - Matt Janning struck for 27 points, including 6 in the final 1:15 at Matthews Arena, to help the Huskies break a four-game losing streak.
Manny Adako added 18 points for Northeastern (13-16, 9-9), which is seeded sixth in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament in Richmond. The Huskies meet James Madison in the first round Friday night at 8:30, and a win would give Northeastern a rematch with George Mason (20-10, 12-6) in the quarterfinals.
Folarin Campbell scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half to rally the Patriots from a 12-point deficit, pulling within 54-52 with 4:31 to play. But Janning and Adako scored 13 of the Huskies' final 16 points, punctuated by Janning's dunk with 28.3 seconds left.
Cornell 86, Harvard 53 - Adam Gore (14 points) was the high man among five double-figure scorers for the host Big Red, and Cornell (20-5, 12-0) wrapped up its first Ivy League title in 20 years and third NCAA Tournament berth by pasting the Crimson.
Harvard (8-20, 3-9) shot 24 percent from the field (15 of 62) and had a 10-minute stretch spanning both halves without a field goal. Brad Unger was the only Crimson in double figures with 10 points. Evan Harris, Andrew Pusar, and Dan McGeary each had 9.
Cornell had a 45-20 lead at halftime, and finished with a 46-18 scoring advantage in the paint.
Brown 75, Penn 43 - Mark McAndrew and Peter Sullivan each had 16 points and the Bears (17-9, 9-3 Ivy) matched the school record for victories while also dealing the Quakers (11-17, 6-5) their worst loss ever in league play.
Brown raced to a 14-0 lead, holding Penn without a basket for the first 7:21. The Bears led, 44-14, at halftime and increased the lead to as many as 39 twice in the second half, the last time at 58-19.
Brown's Damon Huffman sank two 3-pointers to give him 216 for his career, breaking the school record of 215 set by Brian Lloyd (1992-96).
Yale 67, Princeton 59 - At New Haven, Travis Pinick had 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead four double-digit scorers for the Bulldogs (11-15, 5-7).
Yale led, 50-36, with 8:30 remaining before Princeton (5-21, 2-9) rallied. Jason Briggs's 3-pointer cut the deficit to 62-59 with 52 seconds left, but Porter Braswell hit a layup to extend the lead to 5.
Dartmouth 63, Columbia 48 - The Big Green (10-16, 3-9 Ivy) left New York with a victory thanks to an early 21-5 run and 19 points by Alex Barrett.
John Baumann scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half for Columbia (14-13, 7-5).
URI 91, La Salle 85 - The Rams (21-9, 7-8 Atlantic 10) broke a five-game skid as Jimmy Baron netted 18 points in the win over the Explorers (14-14, 8-6) in Philadelphia.
Kahiem Seawright added 16 points while Keith Cothran and Will Daniels each contributed 15 for Rhode Island, which never trailed in the second half but coughed up a 9-point lead with 7:55 to play.
Wagner 77, Quinnipiac 68 - At New York, Mark Porter had 27 points and 10 assists as the Seahawks (22-7, 15-3) clinched second place in the Northeast Conference by beating the Bobcats (15-14, 11-7).
Northeast-10 first round - Michael Gore had 24 points for 11th-seeded UMass-Lowell (12-16), which upset No. 6 seed Merrimack, 70-69, in North Andover. Darin Mency scored 20 points for the Warriors (17-11), who fell short after coming back from a 13-point deficit in the second half . . . At Smithfield, R.I., seventh-seeded Bryant (17-11) received 17 points apiece from Chris Birrell and Jon Ezeokoli in a 65-57 win over No. 10 seed Southern New Hampshire . . . No. 12 seed American International gave fifth-seeded Stonehill a scare in Easton, but the Skyhawks (17-13) escaped with a 69-63 victory behind 16 points apiece from A.J. Rudowitz and Matt Hall . . . Thomas Baudinet's 26 points weren't enough for No. 9 seed Saint Anselm (13-14), which dropped a 75-70 decision to host Le Moyne (15-13), which earned a trip to No. 1-ranked Bentley tomorrow night.
MASCAC final - No. 1 seed Salem State won the title for the 15th time in the tournament's 19-year history, routing visiting Westfield State, 82-62, behind 21 points from Marquis Victor and 20 from Jeremy Tate. The Vikings (21-6) earned an automatic berth to the Division 3 tournament.
Little East final - Bobby Bailey had 14 points, including a clinching layup with 25 seconds left, to propel No. 2 seed Rhode Island College past top seed UMass-Dartmouth, 55-52, in North Dartmouth. The Anchormen (22-6) got an automatic bid to the Division 3 tournament, while the Corsairs (25-3), ranked No. 5 in the nation, must hope for an at-large invitation.
Commonwealth Coast final - Johnathan Bowers racked up 29 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks to power top-seeded Curry (18-10) to an 83-66 victory over No. 2 seed Roger Williams (17-11) in Milton. Curry, which lost last year's championship game to Wentworth, advanced to the Division 3 tournament.
North Atlantic final - Aswad Thomas had 17 points in Chicopee as No. 1 seed Elms (22-6) won its fourth straight championship and Division 3 tournament berth by outlasting No. 3 seed Lesley, 72-65.
Great Northeast final - Lasell (20-8) copped the crown and a Division 3 tournament bid by pinning an 86-72 upset on host Emerson (24-4).
NEWMAC semifinals - At Worcester, Jim Marois converted a layup with 10.1 seconds left to give top-seeded WPI (21-5) a 60-59 victory over No. 4 seed Babson . . . Third-seeded Coast Guard (20-6) moved on to today's title game, getting 26 points from Jeff Prebeck in a 68-56 triumph over No. 7 seed Wheaton.
Brandeis 58, NYU 44 - At Waltham, Terrell Hollins totaled 17 points as the Judges (20-5, 10-4 University Athletic), who are ranked sixth in Division 3, reached 20 wins for consecutive seasons for the first time in 33 years.
Bridgeport 84, Mercy 63 - Teairez Stennis shot 13 of 14 from the field and racked up 31 points to lead the Purple Knights (13-14, 11-9 East Coast) at home.
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