March 9, 2001

By Gary Rubin

Division III counts down to Sweet 16

The NCAA Division III tournament completed first and second round games last week and is down to the Sweet 16, which begins on March 9 at campus sites.

A new team will wear the Division III crown this season as last year's champion, Calvin College, fell to head coach Joe Campoli's Ohio Northern Polar Bears 79-68 on Saturday night in front of 2,467, the largest crowd in ONU Sports Center history. Ohio Northern, ranked first in the NABC Division III poll, had five players in double figures and used two runs in the second half to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since it won the national title in 1992. The Polar Bears improved to 25-2 after posting their 16th consecutive victory, while the Knights end their season at 23-5 and lost for the first time in nine games.

Ohio Northern moves on to play Wittenberg in the Sectional semifinals on Friday. Massachusetts-Dartmouth and Carthage College will face off in the other Sectional semifinal.

King's Point head coach Bill Lange and his team have a motto for this year's NCAA tournament - "Road Warriors." So far the phrase is working as the Mariners pulled a major upset on Saturday night defeating Wilkes 100-98 in overtime on the road to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time in Academy history. The Mariners improved to 22-7 with the win and will face Paul Philips' Clark squad in the next round.

The game went down to the final seconds of overtime before being decided. Tied 98-98 with 23 seconds left in overtime, Wilkes' Brad Sechler went to the line but missed two free throws. USMMA freshman Fred Slanovec pulled down the rebound on the second miss. With eight seconds left, King's Point All-American candidate Johnny Garrett drove to the basket and converted a layin with three seconds left on the scoreboard. Wilkes had a desperation half-court shot in the waning seconds but came up short.

Mark Perry hit a lay-up with 0.1 seconds remaining in regulation to help the Brockport State University basketball team to a 77-75 win over Hobart College in the second round of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament. The Golden Eagles improved to 21-8 and will face Catholic University on March 9. The Statesmen end the season at 20-8, the only Hobart team in the program's 91 season history to reach 20 wins.

The teams were tied at halftime, 32-32, and knotted at 75-all with less than 30 seconds remaining in the contest. With nine seconds remaining sophomore forward Davidek Herron turned to shoot, but was tied up by Brandon Mills. The possession arrow favored Brockport and set up Perry's game winner.

"With nine seconds left we try to attack the basket," Brockport State Head Coach Nelson Whitmore said after the game. "With three seconds left I tried to call a timeout but the ref didn't hear me. [Mark Perry] made a nice move and made the bucket."

During the postgame press conference, Hobart Head Coach Rich Roche talked about his emotions following the loss.

"It hurts right now," Roche said. "But I have a feeling that I'll wake up in a week or so and feel really good about this season. I feel really good about these kids now. They've played their hearts out."

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