Saturday: Lions and Tigers and Bears...

More news about: Emory | TCNJ | Trinity (Texas) | Washington U. | Wisconsin Lutheran
Nov 15, 2025
 
Dean Balo scored 18 points as Trinity (Texas) upset No. 3 Emory at the Midway Classic on Saturday afternoon.
Trinity University athletics file photo
 

Oh my, we had some great finishes in Division III basketball on Saturday, including No. 24 TCNJ edging No. 13 Wesleyan, No. 5 WashU holding off St. Thomas, and Trinity (Texas) topping No. 3 Emory. Meanwhile, Emory and Wisconsin Lutheran stayed hot at home in women's basketball.

No. 24 TCNJ got a three from Matthew Solomon at the end of regulation and 28 points from Nick Koch in a 92-90 win over Wesleyan at the Greg Grant Tip-Off Tournament. The Cardinals led 82-79 with second seconds left but elected not to foul TCNJ. Lions' point guard Koch looked for a three-pointer and instead found Solomon open for the game-tying shot, and then Koch and Solomon scored all 10 of TCNJ's points in the extra period. TCNJ went 15 for 38 from behind the arc with five players hitting multiple threes. Wesleyan has six players score double figures, led by Fritz Hauser who had 18 points, nine rebounds, and five assists.

Trinity (Texas) scored a big win at the University of Chicago's Midway Classic, as the Tigers took down No. 3 Emory, 90-78. Joshua Chesney sparked Trinity to victory with a personal 7-0 run that gave the Tigers a 68-59 lead midway through the second half. Emory pulled within six a couple of times in the second half, but Trinity went 17-for-19 from the foul line and sealed the victory. Dylan Walker and Dean Balo had 18 points apiece for Trinity (2-0) which faces host Chicago tomorrow. The 11th-ranked Maroons downed UC Santa Cruz 82-64 in their season opener.

Connor May's layup with 21 seconds left lifted Washington U. to victory over St. Thomas, 54-53, at the Bears' Lopata Classic. After WashU tied the game at 52 with 47 seconds remaining, St. Thomas had the ball and a chance to knock off the Bears in St. Louis. The Celts missed their first shot, but Nicholas Buffalo grabbed the offensive rebound and got fouled. He split his free throws, briefly giving the Celts a one-point lead, before WashU called timeout and set up the game-winning shot. May finished with 21 points and seven rebounds for WashU (3-0) while Corey Thompson led St. Thomas (3-1) with 23 points and six steals.

No. 22 Catholic had four starters score double figures, and the Cardinals fended off No. 9 Christopher Newport at home, 84-74. Catholic (2-1) shot just 60 percent from the foul line, but the Cardinals made up for the low percentage by taking a lot of free throws, 31 attempts in the second half alone. Charlie Hepting made six of his nine foul shots and finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks for CUA.

Jalen Overway finished two assists shy of a triple-double, and Calvin overpowered Colorado College, 85-70, in Grand Rapids. Overway posted 30 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists in 32 minutes for the Knights (2-1). Calvin outrebounded the Tigers by 15 and shot 53 percent from the field (29 for 55).

Marcus Wourman sent the Hope crowd home happy with a game-winning three pointer at the buzzer, as Hope edged Wheaton (Ill.), 76-75. Down by two, Hope's Parker Hovey rebounded a missed free throw and got the ball to Wourman with four seconds remaining, and he raced up the floor and hit a deep three fading to his left for the win. The senior captain finished with 21 points including 13 over the final five minutes for Hope (2-2).

No. 23 Montclair State also got late-game heroics in its 93-91 win over Alvernia. Jacob Morales drilled the game-winning shot at the buzzer, giving him 32 points and the Red Hawks their third win to start the season.

Women: Emory, WLC stay hot at home

Abby Cole and Wisconsin Lutheran have pushed past Trine, Gustavus Adolphus and Wartburg in their first three games.
File photo by Wisconsin Lutheran College athletics


Emory improved 3-0 with a 68-59 victory at home over No. 12 Randolph-Macon. The Eagles took a 15-point lead in the third quarter, but the Yellow Jackets pulled within three at 57-54 on Erin Porter’s layup with 4:29 to play. Emory guard Mia Strazza took over from there, scoring nine of her 14 points down the stretch. The Eagles went 18 for 22 from the foul line with Strazza and Mary Mullinax making 14 of their 15 attempts.

Wisconsin Lutheran is also 3-0 with each win over a 2025 NCAA Tournament participant after dropping Wartburg, 67-53. Alexis Berger’s layup gave the Warriors a 10-point lead entering the fourth quarter, and Wisconsin Lutheran led by double digits the rest of the way. Abby Cole led four WLC players in double figures with 18 points on just nine field goal attempts in 25 minutes.

No. 8 Johns Hopkins also continued its hot start by rolling over No. 19 Catholic, 73-49. The Blue Jays are 4-0 with an average margin of victory just below 40 points. They’ll face Christopher Newport at Bridgewater on Sunday.

No. 10 Illinois Wesleyan tipped off its season with a 73-63 win over Trinity (Texas) behind a strong performance from All-American Ava Bardic. She scored 22 points on 20 shots, and teammate Sara Balli added a double-double for the Titans who led from start to finish.

After losing to No. 23 Hope on Friday night, Colorado College bounced back and topped No. 18 Calvin, 66-63. The game was tight throughout with neither team able to gain more than a two-possession advantage. The Tigers went ahead 61-58 on Andie Will’s three-pointer midway through the fourth quarter and held the Knights to one free throw in the final 3:46. JuJu Garcia paced Colorado College (1-1) with 15 points, while All-American Ana Fernandez scored 17 for Calvin (1-3).

Everyone left Calvin’s event with a weekend split. Ohio Wesleyan, which lost to Calvin on Friday night, knocked off No. 23 Hope, 65-62. Ohio Wesleyan edged in front of the Flying Dutch, 57-56, on Kendall Dieringer’s three-pointer and then pushed its lead to three on a Macy Miller three-point play. Consecutive baskets by Alyssa Griner and Miller boosted the Battling Bishops fourth-quarter lead to eight, and they hung on from there.

Makenna Mummert scored 48 points and Elizabethtown outlasted Haverford, 115-104, in double overtime. Haverford extended the game when Brianna Feifer’s layup knotted the score at 80 with four seconds left in regulation. Both teams missed chances to win at the end of the first overtime, and the teams went to the second overtime tied at 96. Mummert took over from there, scoring eight points as the Blue Jays pulled away for their second win.

Mummert went 15 for 20 from the field and 18 for 20 from the foul line in 43 minutes, and set a new single-game scoring record for Elizabethtown (2-0) while Audrey Jakway racked up 42 points and 16 rebounds for Haverford (2-1).

All-American Brianna Fitzgerald scored a career-high 35 points and SUNY New Paltz stayed perfect with a 72-65 home win over Ithaca. Fitzgerald, who missed all of last season due to injury, shot 11-for-18 from the field and finished one point short of the Hawks’ single-game record. SUNY New Paltz heads to No. 1 New York University next Saturday.

Washington and Jefferson scored just five points in the fourth quarter, but that was just enough for the Presidents to tip Mount Union, 66-65. The Purple Raiders started the fourth quarter down 61-47 but opened the final period with an 18-0 run. Mount Union took the lead, 63-61, on Tess Conroy's three and bumped its advantage to four on Elizabeth Mason's layup. Katie Kovalchick snapped W&J's scoring drought with a layup and then Riley DeRubbo nailed the game-winning three with 30 seconds left. Kovalchick and DeRubbo each scored 19 points for the Presidents (3-0).