Drury 66, Erskine 57: This one was a tail of two halves as Erskine had a fairly comfortable lead during most of the the first half, with Drury able to close the gap to 6 just before half. But Drury came out focused to start the second stanza, determined to ride the broad shoulders of Johnny McNemany. Johnny scored 14 of his team-high 21 in the second half, and Drury outscored Erskine by 15. Erksine went 8-of-25 in the second half.
Longwood 58, Montevallo 50: In the Jekyll & Hyde season had by Longwood so far, there's one consistency: they play outstanding defense at home. Unfortunately for the Mont', they traveled to Farmville, VA. Both teams slowed the tempo to a crawl and it became apparent early that this one would be a war. Longwood grabbed a slim early lead and never relinquished it. This one always felt like about a 5 point deficit to Montevallo, but they could never muster a run against Longwood's stifling D that held them to 39% from the floor. Despite the slow pace, Montevallo committed 25 fouls and Longwood made a living at the line. Offensive stars in this one? Nope, try again.
Barton 68, N Alabama 54: Another matchup where the coaches decided to slow the pace and grind it out. Barton grabbed an early 7-0 lead and the teams were evenly matched thereafter, with Barton up by 8 at the break. Barton rapidly opened up a double-digit lead in the 2nd half, N Alabama was able to close within 7 with just under 5 minutes remaining, but Barton put their foot on the gas to win by 14. N Alabama's Gregory Williams had a game-high 19 on an efficient 8-of-12 effort from the floor. Barton's Jesse Street led the way with 13 for Barton. Anybody ever seen a game where a team won by double-digits despite only pulling down 17 rebounds? Barton helped offset their rebounding deficit with 13 steals.
Heartland 5, CVAC 5, pending the writeup results of the St Edwards & St Mary's games...