hoop squads sweep scotty wood titles

Two Run at Cross Country Nationals Muhlenberg seniors Timothy VanSyckle and David Chorney both posted career-best finishes at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships. VanSyckle came in 99th in a field of 278 for the second-best placing by a Mule runner at the national meet. Will Elson was 94th in 2002. Chorney wasn’t far behind, in 116th place. He finished 195th and 237th in his previous two NCAA trips. Click here for the championship Web site.

When the Muhlenberg men’s basketball team jumped out to an 11-0 lead in the first four minutes of the Scotty Wood Tournament championship game against Marymount, someone in the lively student section shouted “I sense a shutout.”

It wasn’t quite a shutout, but the Mules put on an impressive defensive display in defeating Marymount, 70-49, for their first Scotty Wood title since 2005.

Earlier in the evening, the Muhlenberg women beat William Paterson, 72-62, for their fifth Scotty Wood championship in the last six years. The Mule teams have swept the Scotty Wood Tournament four times: in 1997, 1999, 2005 and 2008.

The men held the Saints to 25.4-percent shooting and owned a 53-35 rebounding advantage. In their two tournament games, the Mules’ defensive field goal percentage was .317 and their rebounding margin was plus-41.

The 49 points were the fewest allowed by Muhlenberg in the Scotty Wood championship game since 1996, and the 21-point margin of victory in the final was topped only once previously by the Mules (an 89-60 win against Moravian in 1991).

Leading the defensive effort was tournament MVP Peter Barnes, whose presence in the middle forced Marymount to settle for outside shots. The Saints were only 2-for-18 from behind the arc and did not make their first three-pointer until 5:22 remained.

Barnes had three blocked shots and scored five points in the game-opening 11-0 run. He finished with nine points and nine rebounds.

Marymount scored the next seven points after falling behind 11-0, but four was as close as the margin would get. The Mules led by double digits the entire second half.

Joining Barnes on the all-tournament team was junior Obi Nwizugbo, who pulled down 10 rebounds in the final. Junior Brian Frankoski led Muhlenberg in scoring, with 12 points, while sophomore Evan Tozer had his second straight solid game, scoring 11 points. (corrected 11/26)
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The women started off slow, falling behind 9-2 in the first three minutes. William Paterson made its first six field goal attempts, but then shot only 25 percent the rest of the game.

Trailing 20-19 at the 10-minute mark, the Mules went on a 13-1 run to take the lead for good. Junior Maiza Mock and freshman Alexandra Chili scored five points apiece in the run, and the Pioneers never got closer than four points.

Senior Lauren Boyle was named tournament MVP after scoring 19 points to go along with nine rebounds in the championship game. Sophomore Kelly McKeon notched her third career double-double (17 points, 11 rebounds) and added six assists, earning all-tournament honors.

Chili finished with 10 points and Mock with nine.
Click here for box score.
Click here for complete stats.