Trinity, Tufts, and Wesleyan earned first-round victories to advance in the 2025 NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Tournament.
Trinity (25-3) def. Neumann (20-8), 76-60 | Box Score
Trinity used a 20-1 run in the second-half to build a 19-point lead en route to a 76-60 win over Neumann at Oosting Gymnasium. The Bantams led by 10 with five minutes left in the opening stanza, but Neumann sliced the lead to two, 32-30, at the break and evened the score in the opening minutes of the second half. A jumper by Henry Vetter at the 17:54 mark sparked the decisive run by Trinity to help the Bantams open up a 19-point lead. Trinity maintained the double-digit advantage the rest of the way. Vetter finished the game with 21 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists to lead the Bantams. Trinity will play Keene State in the second round at 7:10 p.m. on Saturday.
Tufts (22-5) def. Yeshiva (18-11), 83-66 | Box Score
The No. 13-ranked Tufts Jumbos raced out to a 45-25 lead after the first 20 minutes en route to an 83-66 win over visiting Yeshiva. The Jumbos out-rebounded the Maccabees, 64-33, and tallied 23 second-chance points in the win. Five different Jumbos reached double figures in the points column, led by 20 points from James Morakis. Scott Gyimesi added 15 points and 10 boards, and Joshua Bernstein contributed 13 points and 19 rebounds. Tufts will play Redlands in the second round on Saturday at 5:15 p.m. at Cousens Gymnasium.
Wesleyan (27-1) def. Delaware Valley (15-13), 72-50 | Box Score
Nicky Johnson drained a 3-pointer to score the first points of the game as Wesleyan led wire-to-wire in a 72-50 win over Delaware Valley in the opening game of the NCAA Tournament at Silloway Gymnasium. The Cardinals’ lead grew to double-digits midway through the first half and Wesleyan took a 39-22 into halftime and maintained a comfortable margin the rest of the way. The Cardinals outscored the Aggies 30-18 in the paint and limited Delaware Valley to 32 percent shooting while the Cardinals shot 43.3 percent from the floor in the game. Wesleyan’s Shane Regan led all scorers with 20 points. Wesleyan will face Gettysburg in Saturday’s second round at 7 p.m. at Silloway Gymnasium.
Western New England (22-6) def. Hamilton (20-7), 83-73 | Box Score
Western New England used a 10-0 run later in the first half to build a 36-25 lead over Hamilton and maintained its advantage the rest of the way to post an 83-73 victory at Montclair State’s Panzer Athletic Center. Hamilton sliced the Golden Bears’ lead to one, 53-52, with 9:04 remaining on a 3-pointer from Teja Singh. Western New England converted back-to-back three-point plays to push its lead back to five and forced three Hamilton turnovers in the final three minutes to maintain the advantage for the final margin. Garret Keyhani scored a game-high 20 points on 7-for-7 shooting to lead Hamilton.
