2014 D-III College Championships - Day One Men's Recap
Erick Starkey
Posted: May 17, 2014 08:30 PM
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Erick Starkey recaps the men's division action from day one of the 2014 Division III College Championships in Westerville, Ohio.
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The top 16 Division III teams in the country played through the rain, mud, sunshine and occasional hail to finish pool play and pre-quarterfinals in Westerville, Ohio, today.
Pool A
The day began with teams following their seeds as Bentley beat GOP by seven points, and Lewis and Clark beat John Brown by seven scores as well, although John Brown held it close at the beginning. The surprise in this pool came when Carleton College pulled off the upset against Lewis and Clark. Even though the game was only decided by three points, it never seemed to be in the hands of Bacchus. Other than that one upset, the games in Pool A followed what was expected. Bentley rolled over their competition all day and took first place in the pool with Carleton College taking second and Lewis and Clark finishing third.
Pool B
Teams in Pool B proved that there is a ton of parity across the competition field at this tournament. Lehigh was expected to take charge of the pool and finish first easily, but Brandeis Tron had other ideas. Brandeis went undefeated in the pool, beginning with their win over SUNY-Geneseo Snail on double-game point. Tron ended up defeating Lehigh during soft cap and handled St. John's with ease to close out their day. Lehigh took second in the pool, but they did not win as solidly as expected, beating St. John's by four and SUNY-Geneseo by only two. As if there were not enough upsets in Pool B, St. John's edged SUNY-Geneseo by two during soft cap to finish in the pool’s third spot.
Pool C
Pool C played to seed until the game for first place in the pool. Elon and Claremont both beat Bryant and Kenyon in the morning, rather easily. Claremont won by two in each of their games, and Elon won by eight and three. The battle for first in the pool was between Claremont and Elon during the late afternoon. Elon won by a huge margin as they pulled off the upset against Claremont 15-6. The battle for third in the pool was at the same time between Bryant and Kenyon. Bryant won by another large margin, defeating Kenyon by seven.
Pool D
Georgia College made waves to start out they day as they beat Cedarville by two to prove that they were better than others expected. Despite entering the day as the pool’s third seed, Disconnected opened eyes as they went undefeated on the day, beating Richmond by seven and Olivet Nazarene by nine. Cedarville fell through the ranks and eventually landed in the pool’s third spot. They lost to Richmond by three and were pushed to the limit by Olivet Nazarene before they pulled out the win on double-game point. Richmond only lost to the eventual pool winners to finish in second in Pool D.
Pre-Quarterfinals
The first seed in each pool automatically advanced to the championship bracket which will begin tomorrow morning. Each of the pool’s fourth seeds were placed into the consolation bracket. The second and third seeds were pitted against second and third seeds from other pools in the pre-quarterfinal round to determine who would compete in the championship bracket and who would be on their way to the consolation bracket.
Lehigh and Bryant faced off for a chance to take on Bentley in the quarterfinals, and Lehigh came away with a solid win 14-7. Bryant kept it close until half but just could not keep up with Lehigh's speed and power. St. John's held the lead for the beginning of the game their pre-quarters match up against Claremont, but the Braineaters managed to claim a few breaks, enough to lead them to a three-point victory. They will face Georgia College on Sunday morning. Richmond took down Lewis and Clark by three during hard cap to advance to a contest with Elon, while Carleton took down Cedarville to move on to face this year’s Cinderella team, Brandeis.
Looking Ahead
Sunday will begin with the quarterfinal round, and it will be interesting to see if the dark horse teams of Georgia College and Brandeis can keep their momentum going throughout the whole tournament. The game between Bentley and Lehigh, the number one and two seeds coming into the weekend, will definitely be a game to watch.
A mix of seeds made it to the quarterfinals this year – three one seeds, two two seeds, two three seeds and a four seed – so it is anyone's guess who will advance through to the championship finals.
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Day 1 Men's Photos, by UltiPhotos (Extended Gallery)