William & Mary’s three-game men’s winning streak ended Thursday night in a 79-76 loss at Elon that came down to the final seconds before 1,815 in North Carolina.
Chase Cuthrell scored 18 points, including 14 in a second half when the Phoenix (13-9, 5-4 Coastal Athletic Association) came from behind. Cuthrell had seven rebounds, while Ned Hull and Bryson Cokley added 14 points each and Randall Pettus II had 12 points and three steals. Hull was 4 of 6 from 3-point range.
W&M (14-7, 5-4) got 13 points from Ryan Jackson Jr. and 12 apiece from Chase Lowe and Cade Haskins. Lowe had six rebounds and three assists, and Kyle Pulliam had eight points, five rebounds and four assists.
Elon and W&M are part of a five-way tied for third, along with Drexel, Monmouth and Stony Brook, at conference play’s halfway point. The top four finishers will gain byes to the tournament quarterfinals in March.
A 14-0 run gave the Tribe a 29-17 lead, and they were ahead 44-37 at the half. The Phoenix gained their first second-half lead, 71-70, with 4:36 to go.
Layups by Cokley and Cuthrell put Elon ahead 77-74. A Pulliam layup made it 77-76, and another Cuthrell layup gave the Phoenix a 79-76 edge.
Reese Miller missed a 3-point try to tie with 37 seconds left, and he stepped out of bounds with 2 seconds left to end the Tribe’s final possession.
Drexel 58, Hampton 51: Despite Xzavier Long’s 13 points and 10 rebounds, the Pirates (10-12, 4-5 CAA) shot 32% from the field and lost to the Dragons (11-11, 5-4) in Philadelphia.
Josh Reed’s 14 points off the bench drove Drexel. Victor Panov had four steals, and he and Shane Blakeney scored 11 points each.
Daniel Johnson scored 12 for Hampton, which led 25-24 at the half. Drexel used a 17-2 second-half run for a 43-31 lead with 9:16 remaining.
An Aidan Haskins 3-pointer closed the gap to 51-49 at the 2-minute mark, but the Pirates didn’t score for the next 1:55.
Christopher Newport 71, UC Santa Cruz 64: Toa Hollenbeck scored 21 points as the Captains (17-3), ranked 14th by d3hoops.com, survived a late scare at Freeman Center in a Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference game by the Banana Slugs (12-8), who were starting a three-game trip to Virginia.
CNU (17-3) has won 16 of its last 17 games. The Captains also got 13 points from Zyir Baskerville, 12 points and six rebounds from Collin Hines and 10 points and eight rebounds from Tyson Henderson. Ben Lim had 17 points to lead four Slugs in double figures.
Santa Cruz, which led most of the first half, saw CNU move ahead 53-36 by starting the second half on a 24-9 surge. Joe Espy’s follow made it 65-64 with 1:22 to go, but the Captains didn’t allow another point.
Bryant & Stratton 132, Johnston Community College 57: The Bobcats (12-6, 10-3 conference) went to Smithfield, North Carolina, and posted one of their most lopsided victories ever.
Women
Virginia 109, Wake Forest 103, 3OT: It took 55 minutes instead of the usual 40, but UVA pulled out a victory that could be critical to their chances of reaching their first NCAA Tournament since 2018.
The Cavaliers (15-6, 7-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) outlasted Wake Forest in triple overtime in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Listed in the “first four out” this week on ESPN’s Bracketology, it was a victory they needed.
Kymora Johnson, who played all 55 minutes, had 26 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Caitlin Weimar and Gabby White, who both began the game on the bench, each had double-doubles — 25 points and 10 rebounds for Weimar, 22 points and 12 rebounds for White.
Freshman Milan Brown scored a season-high 30 and grabbed 11 rebounds for Wake, while Grace Oliver had 19 points.
Playing earlier than expected because of a bleak weather forecast, the Demon Deacons (12-10, 2-8) trailed 40-25 after beating outscored 30-12 in the last 12 minutes of the first half. They still were behind 72-61 after White hit a jumper with 5:50 left in regulation.
But Wake closed the gap to 74-73 with a 7-0 surge. Weimar hit two free throws for a 76-73 game with 5 seconds left, but Brown sank a right-wing 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime.
UVA led 84-79 in the first OT, only to see Oliver sink three free throws at the 6-second mark to the score at 84 after being fouled beyond the arc.
Weimar made two free throws with about a second left in overtime No. 2, forcing a tie at 95.
UVA finally gained control in the third OT, scoring the first six points to go ahead 101-95. Johnson sealed the victory with four free throws, never letting the lead go below four.
Virginia Tech 67, Pittsburgh 50: Carleigh Wenzel’s 17 points propelled the Hokies (17-5, 7-3 ACC) past the Panthers before 4,051 at Cassell Coliseum.
Carys Baker had 13 points, two blocks and nine rebounds for Tech, while Kilah Freelon had 10 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.
Mikayla Johnson scored 21 for Pitt (8-15, 1-9), which was outrebounded 42-36 and committed 19 turnovers to Tech’s nine. The Panthers pulled to 55-50 with 4:05 remaining but never scored again.