CLEVELAND — Three Northeast Ohio schools earned spots in the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament, and on Friday, all three of those schools won their opening-round games.
Mount Union, Case Western Reserve, and John Carroll have advanced in the 64-team bracket following a trifecta of solid victories. The Purple Raiders and Spartans both had the privilege of playing at home, while the Blue Streaks were at a neutral site in Upstate New York.
JCU (23-4) began the string of triumphs by taking down Albertus Magnus 91-80. The 10th-ranked Blue Streaks trailed late in the first half before taking control with an 11-0 run, and were led by all-conference selection Luke Chicone's 28 points. Chase Toppin added 21 points and eight boards and Will Yontek had 17 and nine, helping the team win the battle on the glass 59-33.
A few hours later, No. 8 CWRU (22-3) hosted Arcadia at Horsburgh Gymnasium and overcame a second-half deficit to win 82-76. All-UAA honoree Cole Frilling scored 14 of his 20 points over the final 20 minutes and added 10 rebounds, while his fellow first-team selection Danny Frauenheim scored all 18 of his points during the same stretch and dished out six of his seven assists.
Finally, over in Alliance, third-ranked Mount (26-2) rode a pair of 12-0 runs to a comfortable 73-65 victory over Anderson out of Indiana. OAC Player of the Year Christian Parker once again dominated with 22 points and 16 rebounds, and his all-conference teammate Collen Gurley scored 20 of his own.
The local trio will be back at it Saturday as they look to earn berths in the Sweet 16, with both Case and Mount again hosting while JCU will play a true road game. The matchups and times are as follows:
- No. 10 John Carroll at No. 6 Oswego State (26-2) - 5:45 p.m.
- No. 8 Case Western Reserve vs. Wisconsin-Whitewater (22-7) - 6:20 p.m.
- No. 3 Mount Union vs. Lancaster Bible College (21-7) - 7:40 p.m.