D3 PLUS NJCAA TOURNAMENT ACTION FROM MARCH 22ND

*D3 ELITE EIGHT *

THE CRU ADVANCES – In the NCAA Division 3 tournament the UNIVERSITY OF MARY HARDIN BAYLOR CRUSADERS aka “the Cru” upset the (11) ST MARY’S (MD) SEAHAWKS last night. The Seahawks actually held a 32-26 halftime advantage but UMHB refused to quit. In the 2nd half they came storming back and ultimately won a 69-66 Instant Classic.

TOMMIES TRIUMPHANT – The top seeded UNIVERSITY OF ST THOMAS TOMMIES battled the 8th seeded WILLIAMS COLLEGE EPHS (pronounced “eephs”) for the right to advance to the Final Four. The Ephs seemed primed for an upset and had seized a 47-39 lead by the break. The Tommies regrouped and put together a comeback win in this game for the ages by a final score of 82-79.   

DOUBLE TREAT – For fans of the (2) AMHERST LORD JEFFS the only thing sweeter than a Williams College loss is a win by the Lord Jeffs. Yesterday Amherst faced the CABRINI CAVALIERS in their Elite Eight matchup. Unlike in the other two games above the Lord Jeffs were pretty much in charge throughout the affair. In the end the Amherst squad put up a Century Club- level 101 points to the 82 scored by the Cavaliers. The Lord Jeffs move on to the semifinals tonight!   

COLLEGE OF CARDINALS – The 3rd seeded NORTH CENTRAL (IL) CARDINALS are the final piece in D3’s 2013 Final Four puzzle. The Cardinals and the 7th seeded MIDDLEBURY PANTHERS had a 40 minute war over that privilege. At halftime North Central was in the lead by a score of 40-37 and after the break they clamped down offensively, outscoring the Panthers 37-28 in the 2nd half. When the dust settled the end result was Cardinals  77 Panthers  65.   

* NJCAA1 FINAL FOUR *

CINDERELLA FROM FLORIDA – Last night the Final Four in the NJCAA Division One tournament squared off against each other. The 9th seeded NORTHWEST FLORIDA STATE RAIDERS surprised the 5th seeded VINCENNES UNIVERSITY TRAILBLAZERS with a very dominant 1st half performance on both sides of the ball. At halftime the Raiders led 38-26 and, though the Trailblazers tightened things up in the 2nd half Northwest Florida State wound up advancing to tonight’s championship game by a score of 76-69.   

NO UNDEFEATED SEASON – The 3 seeds, the COLLEGE OF CENTRAL FLORIDA PATRIOTS, prevented the 2nd seeded SPARTANBURG METHODIST COLLEGE PIONEERS from completing a perfect season! The Pioneers came into this semifinal matchup sporting a 34-0 record and hoping for just 2 more wins to reach perfection. The Patriots just shrugged and put together a 39-33 lead by the break, then followed that up with an excellent 2nd half performance to make it an all- Sunshine State title game. The final score was Patriots  71 Pioneers  61.   

* NJCAA2 FINAL FOUR *

IF IT’S NOT ROUGH, IT’S NOT RIGHT – The 7th seeded MORAINE VALLEY COLLEGE CYCLONES may well be this year’s Team of Destiny in NJCAA Division Two. Usually trailing at the half throughout this postseason the Cylcones still manage to come out on top in the end. Last night was no exception as MVC fell behind the 6th seeded BROWN MACKIE COLLEGE LIONS by a halftime score of 44-36. The Cyclones just took that in stride of course and came back to win by a final score of 81-75.      

END OF THE LINE FOR THE EXPRESS – The 4th seeded REND LAKE COLLEGE  WARRIORS ended the Cinderella run of the 8 seeds, the OWENS COLLEGE EXPRESS. The Express looked like they might have another upset in them at first and led the Warriors 35-32 at the break. In the 2nd half the Rend Lake College players asserted themselves and moved on to tonight’s championship game with an 80-75 victory. It’s Cyclones vs Warriors for the title tonight!