John Carroll entered the weekend as the top seed in the Ohio Athletic Conference and the No. 1-ranked team in the NCAA's Great Lakes regional poll. But the Blue Streaks will have an uncomfortable 60 hours to wait to see if they will make the NCAA Tournament Field of 62 after they lost at home to OAC No. 5 seed Heidelberg 104-97. It's the sixth regional loss for John Carroll. Check out Friday's men�s scores with box scores and game stories. For women's coverage, scroll down.
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&&f-boxl&&Bubble team fans narrowly avoided another upset as Carthage, which trailed the first 15 minutes of the second half, then rallied for a seven-point lead which it almost gave away before beating Augustana 55-52 in the CCIW semifinals. The Red Men will host Illinois Wesleyan for the automatic bid tomorrow night.
No. 21 Cabrini squashed Neumann's Cinderella dreams by routing the Knights 97-73 for the CSAC title and their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2002. Freshman guard Cory Lemon led the way with 25 points and 10 assists.
Millsaps is hosting the SCAC playoffs but home court was not much of an advantage. Centre eliminated the Majors by beating them 64-49 in the first final of the men's tournament. Illinois Wesleyan lost both regular season games against Wheaton (Ill.), but the Titans knocked the Thunder out of the CCIW tournament 68-59. John Hoch erupted for 37 points as Carroll advanced past Lake Forest 85-81 in the MWC semifinals. They'll have to take down homestanding St. Norbert in order to make the NCAA Tournament.
All four ranked ODAC teams advanced to the conference's semifinals, with No. 11 Virginia Wesleyan holding off Washington and Lee 85-80 in the nightcap from the Salem Civic Center. No. 7 Eastern Mennonite ended the season of rival Bridgewater (Va.) by beating the Eagles 87-67. No. 18 Randolph-Macon did the same in resounding fashion, trouncing Hampden-Sydney 84-48. No. 4 Guilford finished off Lynchburg 69-61.
Cross-campus rivals Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer will meet for a third time, in the SCIAC final, after CMS edged Occidental 65-62 and P-P outlasted surging Cal Lutheran 74-71 in double overtime. Wabash rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit to lead with 45 seconds left, but Wittenberg hit a pair of free throws with seven seconds remaining to edge the Little Giants 61-60 in the NCAC semifinals. Wittenberg will play at archrival Wooster on Saturday night for the NCAC title. Top seeds Calvin and Hope advanced to the finals in the MIAA, as they did in MIAA women's basketball as well.