Friday night streak snap

Feb 14, 2025
Cedrick Dodd scored 15 for University of the Ozarks in its win against No. 18 St. Thomas (Texas).
University of the Ozarks athletics file photo
 

No. 2 NYU survived a buzzer beater attempt, No. 18 St. Thomas (Texas) had a 15-game winning streak snapped, and ranked teams had a good night in women's basketball in Friday night action in Division III basketball.

Jair Knight forced up a three-pointer with five seconds to play that fell short as No. 2 NYU survived and came away with a season split at No. 5 Emory, defeating the Eagles by an 82-79 score. The Violets had led by 7-10 points for most of the second half before Emory went on a 9-2 run to cut it to a two-point game at 70-68, then later tied it at 74, and took its first lead of the night, at 77-76 a three-pointer by Albert Fallas with two minutes to play.

Hampton Sanders answered at the other end with a three off a feed from Zay Freeney, and added a layup to put his team up by four with 17 seconds left. Emory cut it to 81-79 on two foul shots by Ben Pearce and the Eagles (17-4, 7-3 UAA) benefitted when Jack Stone bobbled the inbounds pass. AJ Harris picked up the loose ball and took it to the hole but was fouled with 15 seconds left and missed both free throws. Freeney made one of two foul shots to make it 82-79 in favor of NYU (20-1, 9-1), setting up Emory for a chance to tie the game at the horn, but Knight's shot was way off, and the rebound was tapped way into the backcourt, allowing time to expire.

"In a game like this, sometimes it comes down to making big plays," NYU coach Dave Klatsky said. "Hampton Sanders was able to do that on offense and Big E (Emmauel Onuama) was able to have a huge block on defense. Those couple of plays put us over the top."

The Violets have now taken a two-game lead atop the UAA standings with four games remaining.

University of the Ozarks overcome 30 points from Angel Johnson and 20 points off the bench from Marion Williams as the Eagles defeated St. Thomas (Texas) 78-76. Ozarks (14-8, 6-7 SCAC) shot 62 percent in the first half, leading by nine points at the half. The Celts (20-2, 12-1) whittled into the lead, trimming the deficit to one point with 30 seconds remaining. Amari Leflore hit a clutch free throw with 15 seconds left to push the lead back to two points on a three-point play by Johnson. But Amari LeFlore hit one of two foul shots on the other end, leaving room for St. Thomas. But Nathan Kongolo missed on a long shot from the right win with three seconds left and the rebound went so far out that St. Thomas could only attempt a desperation heave. Justice Marmara led the way with 17 for Ozarks.

Shane Regan had another nice Friday night in the NESCAC, as his 20 points helped lift No. 1 Wesleyan past Bowdoin, 84-73. The Cardinals, who have been the last unbeaten team remaining in Division III men's basketball for weeks, improved to 23-0, 9-2 in NESCAC play.

The top-ranked NYU women extended their winning streak to 52 consecutive games as they won at Emory, 67-40. Natalie Bruns scored a game-high 23 points on 10-for-14 shooting, while the Violets (21-0, 10-0 UAA) held Emory to 30 percent shooting, including 0-for-11 from three-point range.

No. 6 Whitman had to survive a last-second shot attempt at the end of the night to remain in the winning column. Alyssa Wells hit a three-pointer from the corner to cut the lead to one at 66-65. Briana Andrade was fouled, and hit two foul shots with 2.8 seconds left to make it a three-point game, and after a timeout, George Fox had one final play in the front court, as the Bruins were able to get it to Alyssa Wells, but her 25-footer from the far win hit square off the back iron and Whitman was able to breathe a sigh of relief. Krin Baker led the Blues (21-1, 13-0 Northwest Conference) with a game-high 25 points in the victory.