Recaps of the Action from Day Three of the USCAA Basketball National Championships

March 4, 2016

This page will be updated throughout the day with recaps of all games from day two of the 2016 USCAA Basketball National Championships.

FINAL SCORE: #1 Concordia College Alabama Hornets (73), #5 University of Maine Fort Kent Bengals (57)

RECORDS: Concordia (23-3); Maine Fort Kent (20-6)

LOCATION: Penn State Fayette Main Arena, Uniontown, PA

IN BRIEF: The number one seed Concordia College Alabama Hornets defeated #5 Maine Fort Kent 73-57 to advance to the USCAA Women’s Division I Final. Erica Ousley led all scorers with 31 points to lead the Hornets to the championship round, while Shuntavia Harris added 11 and Ashley Henley contributed 10 points.

ON THE COURT

Concordia jumped out to an early 12-4 lead to start the game following an and-one conversion by Erica Ousley at the 6:05 mark.
Over the next two minutes, Maine Fort Kent went on a 6-2 run to make it 14-10 with 4:01 to play in the quarter.
The Hornets established their first double-digit lead of the contest with 13 seconds left in the first quarter with an Ousley layup, making the score 22-12.
Concordia pushed its lead to 32-16 at the 6:26 mark in the second quarter after two straight Ousely three-pointers.
Then, the Bengals roared back with a 13-2 run over the next five minutes to make the score 34-29 with 1:42 left in the quarter. It would be the closest they would come to the Hornets the rest of the game.
Following a pair of Ousley baskets, Concordia took a 38-29 lead into half.
Coming out of the break, Concordia layups by Lashanique Youngblood and Rayshell Harris made it 42-29 and reestablished a double-digit lead for the Hornets that they would not relinquish.
Concordia would push its lead to as much as 18 in the fourth quarter, and would go on to win the game by a 73-57 margin.

BEHIND THE BOXSCORE

Concordia’s Erica Ousley led all scorers with 31 points off 11 of 22 shooting and 6 of 7 from the charity stripe. Shuntavia Harris recorded 11 points and 9 rebounds on the day, while Ashley Henley also reached double-digits scoring with 10 points.
The Bengals were led by Danielle Carrillo, who scored 17 points, followed by Ericak Saucier’s 16, Samantha Carapellucci’s 14, and Romanalyn Inocencio’s 10 points.
Concordia recorded 15 points of 12 Fort Kent turnovers.
The Fort Kent starting five played all 40 minutes.

NEXT UP

The top-seeded Hornets will face the winner of #6 Rochester and #2 Iowa Wesleyan in the Championship game Saturday at 12:30pm in Main Arena.

FINAL SCORE: #3 Penn State Mont Alto 91, #7 Penn State Fayette 116

RECORDS: Penn State Mont Alto 22-5; Penn State Fayette 16-12

LOCATION: Penn State Fayette at Maltho, Uniontown, PA

IN BRIEF: In a rematch of the Penn State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC) championship game, Penn State Fayette defeated Penn State Mont Alto 116-91 in a men’s division II consolation match. Fayette won the regular season meeting but lost in the championship game 68-66. The Fayette Roaring Lions were led by First-Team All-American Brandon Cunningham who made 10 three pointers and finished with 36 points.

ON THE COURT

Penn State Mont Alto jumped out to an early lead but Penn State Fayette went on a 10-2 run to take the lead 24-19 with just over 12 minutes remaining in the first half. Moments later, Penn State Mont Alto went on an 8-2 run of their own to retake the lead.
Fayette fed off the home crowd and went on a 33-12 run to close out the first-half. Cunningham made three shots from behind the arc during the run and finished the first half with six three-pointers.
In one of the highlight moments of the game, London Hoxie made a half-court pass to Second Team All-American, Luke Williams, who was able to go up and get it for the alley-hoop with just over four minutes to play in the first half.
Off a missed opportunity at the end of the first half, Williams grabbed the rebound and put it back in before time expired to give Fayette a twenty point edge at the half.
The second half saw more of the same, with both teams making shots but Penn State Mont Alto wasn’t able to dig out of the first half hole and fell 116-91 in the highest scoring game of the tournament.

BEHIND THE BOXSCORE

Cunningham was 10-16 from behind the arc and added five assists and eight rebounds. He finished with a game-high 36 points. Williams had a double-double with 23 points and 13 rebounds. He was one assist away from a triple-double.
In his final game as a Roaring Lion, C.J.Gaddis put in 22 points and was one rebound away from a double-double. Fayette as a team shot 50% from behind the arc. Williams, Cunningham, and Gaddis will graduate following the year for Penn State Fayette.
Cody Rydbom led Mont Alto with 14 points, dished out three assists, and pulled down six rebounds. Freshmen Jalen Smith pulled down 10 boards and added eight points with two steals.

NEXT UP

Penn State Fayette finished the year 17-12 and 14-4 in the PSUAC. They went 2-1 during the tournament, losing a close overtime contest to #2 Central Penn College on Thursday. Penn State Mont Alto finishes the year 22-7 and 15-2 in the PSUAC. Penn State Mont Alto will only be graduating one senior in 2015 All-Tournament Team member Corey Myers.

FINAL SCORE: #2 Iowa Wesleyan College Tigers (74), #6 Rochester College Warriors (60)

RECORDS: Iowa Wesleyan (19-7); Rochester (17-14)

LOCATION: Penn State Fayette Main Arena, Uniontown, PA

IN BRIEF: Iowa Wesleyan College will advance to the finals of the USCAA Women’s Division I National Championship after defeating Rochester College in semi-final action 74-60. The Tigers were led by Dakota Flesner, who recorded 15 points and 13 rebounds. Wesleyan will face #1 Concordia College Alabama Saturday at 12:30 p.m. for the title.

ON THE COURT

It was a back-and-forth affair to start the game, with Rochester holding a slim 11-10 lead at the 6:19 mark of the first quarter.
From there, Iowa Wesleyan went on a 14-0 run to take a 24-11 lead with 2:41 remaining in the quarter.
A Bethany McCord layup at 2:17 brought a stop to the Tigers scoring barrage, but Iowa Wesleyan was able to take a 32-18 lead to the start of the second quarter.
After a Dakota Flesner layup to begin the second period, Rochester went on a 9-0 to cut Iowa Wesleyan’s lead to 34-27 with 3:47 to go in the half.
A Kaylee Moselesy three-pointer with 57 seconds to go in the half gave the Tigers a 41-29 lead, but a Rochester layup with 41 seconds remaining made the score 41-31 at the half.
Rochester was dominant to start the third quarter, as they came within two points of Iowa Wesleyan at the 6:18 mark following a 10-2 run that was capped by a Erica Schwartz three pointer.
Rochester would be able to stay within two possessions of the Tigers through the majority of the third quarter, but Iowa Wesleyan scored the last four points of the frame to take a 57-50 lead into the fourth quarter.
Starting with a Darby Massner three pointer at 9:34 in the fourth to make the score 60-50, Iowa Wesleyan pulled away from Rochester the rest of the way out, as the Warriors were able to cut their deficit to single digits only once for the remainder of the game.

BEHIND THE BOXSCORE

The Tigers were led by Dakota Flesner’s 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Rachel Williams chipped in with 11 points and 8 assists.
Rochester’s Jackie Highstreet led all scorers with 17 points, and also recorded 12 rebounds. Sam Charney also scored in the double digits for the Warriors with 15, while Erica Schwarz distributed the ball well recording 9 assists.
Iowa Wesleyan shot 14 of 16 (87.5%) from the charity stripe for the game.

NEXT UP

#2 Iowa Wesleyan will face top-seeded Concordia College Alabama in the Championship game Saturday at 12:30 p.m. in Main Arena.

FINAL SCORE: #2 Central Penn College Knights 83, #6 Johnson & Wales University Wildcats 74

RECORDS: Central Penn (20-8); Johnson & Wales (16-13)

LOCATION: Penn State Fayette Main Arena, Uniontown, PA

IN BRIEF: With each team coming off overtime games from the quarterfinal round, Central Penn College and Johnson & Wales University NC played a tight semi-final contest Friday at the USCAA Men’s Division II Tournament that led to yet another overtime contest. However, John Starks, Jr., led the Knights with six extra time points as Central Penn dominated the overtime period to advance to Saturday’s final with an 83-74 win.

ON THE COURT

Penn College jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the contest.
Three Johnson & Wales free throws got them into the scoring column after that, but the first Wildcat field goal did not come until Nick Crawford hit a layup to make it 10-5 with 15:05 on the clock.
Andre Batte had the hot hand for the Knights with 11 straight points, including three straight 3-point baskets to give Central Penn a 21-11 lead at the 12:16 mark.
JWU continued battling, whittling their deficit down to just three at the 6:26 mark after a Michael Cuthbertson layup made it 23-20 Knights.
Central Penn responded with a pair of baskets to push their lead back to 8 at 28-20, but JWU came back with a 10-2 run to tie the game at 30 with 2:03 left in the half.
After a John Starks, Jr., three pointer for the Knights, Cuthbertson made a jumper at the 1:15 mark to make the score 33-32 Central Penn, a score that would hold through the end of the half.
The Wildcats took their first lead of the game at 19:45 in the second half to make it 35-33.
Neither team could gain an advantage of more than two possessions until a Johnny Rhodes layup gave Central Penn a 69-61 lead with 3:42 reamining.
JWU battled back to tie the game with 55 seconds left, going on a 9-1 run to tie the game at 70.
Neither team managed a good look at the basket in the waning seconds of regulation, sending the game to overtime.
A John Starks, Jr., jumper gave the Knights a two-point advantage just 12 seconds into the OT period.
The Wildcats responded to tie the game at 72 at the 4:25 mark, but Central Penn ran off 9 straight points to take a 81-72 advantage with less than a minute to go.
In the end, Central Penn recorded an 83-74 overtime victory to advance to the USCAA Men’s Division II title game.

BEHIND THE BOXSCORE

Central Penn’s John Starks, Jr., led all scorers with 22 points, including a critical six points in the overtime period. In addition, he was a perfect 8 for 8 from the charity stripe.
Also for the Knights, Dominique Twiggs put up a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds, including shooting 70% from the field. Andre Batte added 16 points and 12 rebounds, including four 3-point baskets.
Nick Crawford led Johnson & Wales in scoring with 17, followed by Rickey Porter (15) and Joshua Cohen (14). Michael Cuthbertson put up a double-double performance, recording 11 points and 11 boards.
There were a total of 4 ties and 3 lead changes in the overtime contest.

NEXT UP

#2 Central Penn advances to the Men’s Division II national title game where they will face the winner of #1 Berkeley College NY/#4 Warren Wilson College Saturday at 3:15 in Main Arena. Johnson & Wales ended their season with a 16-13 record.

FINAL SCORE: #5 University of Maine Machias 71, #8 College of St. Joseph’s Vermont 55

RECORDS: University of Maine Machias 14-11; College of St. Joseph’s Vermont 20-10

LOCATION: Penn State Fayette at Maltho, Uniontown, PA

IN BRIEF: The University of Maine Machias Clippers faced off against a familiar foe, College of St. Joseph’s-Vermont, in a men’s division II consolation match. The Clippers and Fighting Saints faced off twice in the regular season, and then again in the Yankee Small Conference semifinal, with the Clippers winning all three meetings. The Fighting Saints struggled to start the second half and Machias built up a lead that wouldn’t be overcome, and Machias took the 71-55 victory.

ON THE COURT

The University of Maine Machias Clippers’, Jorge Milo, scored seven of his team’s first nine points. College of St. Joseph’s-Vermont’s Kyle Houston scored six of his team’s first eight points.
The Clippers went on a 13-2 run and built a 29-15 lead halfway through the opening half.
The Fighting Saints would not go away easily as they fought back and reduced the deficit to just one point until Milo from Machias nailed a three pointer in the final minute of the half to open the lead to four.
College of St. Joseph’s did not score in the opening four minutes of the second half and saw the Clippers reestablish their lead. This proved to be the run that would separate the two teams as the Fighting Saints were not able to respond.

BEHIND THE BOXSCORE

Jorge Milo of University of Maine-Machias led all players with 29 points. He also dished out five assists and pulled down five boards. Milo was 6-8 from three and 11-20 from the floor. Travonne Thompson was a force on the boards pulling down 15 during the game. Brandon Blaklely chipped in 14 points in the winning effort.
College of St. Joseph’s-Vermont’s Kareem Brown led the team with 17 points and 10 rebounds. He was also a perfect 5-5 from the line. Anthony Paul and Sean Spruill each added 11 points for the Fighting Saints.

NEXT UP

The University of Maine Machias Clippers finished the season 14-11 and 8-5 in the Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC). The Clippers will be graduating Second-Team All-American Ben Teer and Milo, an Honorable Mention All-American. College of St. Joseph’s-Vermont finishes the season 20-11 and 12-1 in the YSCC. The Fighting Saints will be losing Honorable Mention All-American Antonio Gordon after back-to-back appearances in the USCAA Men’s Division II Basketball National Championships.

FINAL SCORE: #2 Penn State Hazleton 85; #6 Southern Maine CC 71

RECORDS: Penn State Hazleton 21-5; Southern Maine CC 23-9

LOCATION: Penn State Fayette at Maltho, Uniontown, PA

IN BRIEF: The Penn State Hazleton Fighting Lions defeated the Southern Maine CC Seawolves 85-71 in the first of two women’s division II consolation matches on the day. Penn State Hazleton scored 32 points off the turnovers by the Seawolves, capitalizing off the mistakes to end their season on a winning note.

ON THE COURT

The Fighting Lions of Penn State Hazleton jumped out to an early 9-2 lead, but three baskets from behind the arc allowed the Seawolves to quickly work their way back into the game. After the first quarter, Penn State Hazleton led 22-16.
The Seawolves went on a 22-6 run to start the second quarter and built a six points lead with just over two minutes remaining in the half. Penn State Hazleton responded by making six free throws in the closing minutes to take the lead by one with a minute remaining. The Fighting Lions led 43-40 going into halftime.
Penn State Hazleton scored seven points in the opening three minutes of the third quarter and stretched their lead to 54-45.
The Seawolves looked to be getting tired near the end of the game, allowing the Fighting Lions to begin pulling away as the third quarter progressed. The Penn State University Athletic Conference runner-up would the advantage the rest of the way and win 85-71.

BEHIND THE BOXSCORE

Turnovers would prove to hurt Southern Maine in this game. The Seawolves committed 32 turnovers on the game, leading to 32 points for Penn State Hazleton.
Kamryn Dodd from Penn State Hazleton led all players with 19 points. She also added eight rebounds, four steals, and a block.
First team All-American and Women’s Division II Player of the year, Alexis Daly of the Fighting Lions, notched 17 points and was a perfect 5-5 from the charity stripe. Stephanie Guevara was 2-2 from three point land and finished with 13 points on the afternoon.
Second-Team All-American, Alicia Hoyt of Southern Maine, scored a team-high 14 points in 27 minutes of action. Hoyt pulled down six rebounds and had two blocks. Destinie Montano came off the bench and was 4-5 from behind the arc, adding six rebounds, four assists, and two blocks.

NEXT UP

Southern Maine CC finishes the year 23-10 and 9-4 in the Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC). Hoyt and Maria Veino are will both be graduating for the Seawolves. Penn State Hazleton finishes the year 22-5 and 13-1 in the Penn State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC). The Fighting Lions will graduate Daly after a second straight appearance in the USCAA Women’s Division II basketball National Championships.

FINAL SCORE: #1 Berkeley College Knights 82, #4 Warren Wilson College Owls 66

RECORDS: Berkeley (23-1); Warren Wilson (18-14)

LOCATION: Penn State Fayette Main Arena, Uniontown, PA

IN BRIEF: The top-seeded Berkeley College NY Knights defeated the #4 Warren Wilson Owls Friday night in semi-final action at the USCAA Men’s Division II Tournament by a score of 82-66. Massiah Merrett led the Knights with 26 points off 8 of 14 shooting in the victory.

ON THE COURT

Both teams got off to a slow start in the contest, as the first points were not scored until the 17:26 mark when Warren Wilson’s Tyler Triplett scored his namesake, follow by a Kenrick Nesbit layup at 16:52 to make it an early 5-0 Owl lead.
Berkeley then scored 8 straight to take the lead at 15:11.
After a Nesbit three-pointer tied the game at 8 at the 14:56 mark, the Knights went on an 8-2 run to take the lead 16-10 at 12:34.
During that run, the Owls went scoreless for over three minutes of game clocked before Sean Gribble’s layup made it 16-12 at 11:09.
A Keenan Langston and-one gave the Knights a 21-14 lead at the 7:41 mark, although Warren Wilson was able to cut into that lead with a pair of layups to make it a three-point ballgame with 6:35 to go in the half.
From there, Berkeley used an 11-1 run to go up 13 points at 4:10 to go in the half.
The teams swapped scores the rest of the way in, with Berkeley securing an 11-point halftime lead at the half, 37-26.
Berkeley’s Massiah Merritt opened the second half with a three pointer to make it 40-26 Knights.
Berkeley would extend the lead to 18 over the next several minutes, as two more triples by Tasheen Carrow and Merritt made the score 46-28 at 16:34.
Warren Wilson was able to mount a run, cutting their deficit to single digits at 47-38 with 12:19 remaining in the contest, but the Knights responded to push their lead to 20 points with 6:21 to play 65-45.
The Owls would get no closer than 13 points in the final minutes of the contest, with Berkeley winning by a final score of 82-66.

BEHIND THE BOXSCORE

Berkeley’s Massiah Merriett was the top-point scorer for the game, tallying 26 on 8 of 14 shooting, including hitting 5 of 10 from distance.
Keenan Langston and Stephon Jennings were also in double-digits for the Knights, scoring 22 and 16, respectively.
Kenrick Nesbit and Timmy Johnson each scored 11 for the Owls, with Nesbit also adding 8 boards.
Berkeley had a slight rebounding edge in the game with 42, compared to Warren Wilson’s 37.
The Owls bench outscored the Knight reserves 40-9 for the game.

NEXT UP

#1 Berkeley College NY advances to the Men’s Division II national title game where they will face the winner of #2 Central Penn College Saturday at 3:15 in Main Arena. Warren Wilson ended its season with an 18-14 record.

FINAL SCORE: #3 Albany College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences Panthers 57, #7 University of Cincinnati-Clermont Cougars 53

RECORDS: Albany College (20-4); UC-Clermont (14-11)

LOCATION: Penn State Fayette Main Arena, Uniontown, PA

IN BRIEF: In a tightly contested semifinal matchup in the Women’s Division II game between Albany College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences and University of Cincinnati-Clermont, the Panthers went 6 for 9 from the free throw line and added two field goals over the final 4 minutes of action to advance to Saturday’s USCAA Women’s Division II Championship.

ON THE COURT

UC-Clermont jumped out to a commanding 10-0 lead in the first five minutes of game clock, including 6 points by Marie Lawson.
Albany returned the favor with a 9-0 run of their own, making it a 10-9 game at the 3:00 mark of the first quarter, including 4 points by Dannie Griffin.
The teams traded baskets for the remainder of the quarter, with Clermont taking the lead heading into the second quarter 15-12.
Albany scored six straight points to start the second quarter, taking an 18-15 lead at 6:45 with a pair of Morgan Esperti free throws.
A pair of Whitney Brand layups put Clermont back on top 19-18 at 5:03.
Albany went up 23-19 with 4:00 left in the quarter following an Esperti free throw, and layups by Kristen McKeel and Miranda Costin.
A pair of Clermont layups by Arica Stutz and Taylor Martin tied the game at 23 with 2:40 left in the quarter.
The teams then traded field goals to go into the halftime break tied at 25.
The score was tight throughout the third quarter, including two ties and three lead changes, as neither team was able to stretch a lead out to more than 4 points.
Finding themselves down by 4 points at the 5:14 mark, Clermont used consistent full court pressure to score points off turnovers and tie the game at 32 with 4:41 left in the third.
After trading baskets yet again, back-to-back layups by Lawson and Brittany Freson gave the Cougars a 38-34 lead that they would take into the fourth quarter.
Albany’s Griffin tied the game at 41 with 8:01 to go in the contest, which was followed by a pair of Esperti jumpers that gave the Panthers a 45-41 lead with 6:28 left.
Clermont used a Finn jumper and Brand layup to bring about another tie, this time at 45-45 with 4:45 remaining.
After trading another pair of two-point baskets, Albany jumped out to their biggest lead of the game, 55-48 with 46 seconds remaining in the contest.
The Clermont rally in the final seconds would come up short, as Albany won 57-53.

BEHIND THE BOXSCORE

Albany’s Morgan Esperti led all scorers with 18 points, while also adding 5 steals, 4 boards, and 2 assists.
Albany’s Dannie Griffin recorded the game’s only double-double, tallying 17 points and 13 boards.
Esperti and Griffin combined to go 11 for 13 (84.6%) from the charity stripe in the game.
The most complete line for Clermont was turned in by Arica Stutz, who recorded 13 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 steals on the game.
Clermont reserve Whitney Brand also added 13 points, while Taylor Martin chipped in 10.
Albany recorded 15 assists on 21 made baskets for the game.
The back-and-forth contest saw 9 ties and 7 lead changes.

NEXT UP

Albany will face the winner of #1 College of St. Joseph’s VT/#5 Penn State Beaver in the USCAA Women’s Division II Championship Saturday at 6:00pm in Main Arena. Cincinnati-Clermont finishes the season with a 14-11 record.

FINAL SCORE: #1 College of St. Joseph’s VT Fighting Saints 92, #5 Penn State-Beaver Lions 71

RECORDS: St. Joseph’s VT (29-1); Penn State-Beaver (19-10)

LOCATION: Penn State Fayette Main Arena, Uniontown, PA

IN BRIEF: St. Joseph’s VT established an early lead over Penn State-Beaver in Friday’s Women’s Division II semifinal contest and never looked back, defeating the Lions 92-71 to advance to Saturday’s USCAA Women’s Division II Championship versus Albany College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences. St. Joseph’s Jazsala Laracuente and Chontayvia Kennedy combined for 51 points in the victory.

ON THE COURT

The teams kept it tight for the first three-plus minutes of the game, as the score was tied 8-8 at 6:42.
From there, St. Joseph’s began to establish itself by going on a 10-0 run to make it 18-8 at 4:49 in the first quarter.
Brittany Jackson, Asia Borders, and Morgan Kurtz each had layups for the Lions, making the score 18-14 with 3:01 to go in the first. That would ultimately be the closest PSU Beaver would get in the game.
The Fighting Saints then went on an 11-2 run to go up 29-16 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, St. Joseph’s slowly expanded its lead, ultimately going up by 20 points at halftime, 51-31.
The Fighting Saints’ lead only grew larger in the third quarter, going as high as 33 at the 3:48 mark.
Entering the fourth quarter St. Joseph’s enjoyed a 27-point margin, leading 73-46.
In the end, the Fighting Saints were too much for Penn State-Beaver, winning 92-71.

BEHIND THE BOXSCORE

St. Joseph’s Jazsala Laracuente led all scorers with 26 points on 10 for 15 shooting, while Chontayvia Kennedy followed closely with 25. Arreonte Anderson and Regina Steele chipped in 19 and 15 points, respectively.
Four Lions entered double figures, led by the double-double performance of Brittany Jackson who tallied 20 points and 11 rebounds. Morgan Kurtz added 18 points, followed by Kahlia Adams with 13, and Asia Borders with 10.

NEXT UP

#1 St. Joseph’s VT will face #3 Albany College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences in the USCAA Women’s Division II Championship Saturday at 6:00pm in Main Arena. Senior First-Team all-Americans Khalia Adams and Morgan Kurtz led Penn State-Beaver to a 19-10 record on the 2015-16 season.