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CoBL-area Division III Power Rankings (MBB): Jan. 28, 2022

01/28/2022, 1:15am EST
By Josh Verlin & Matthew Ryan

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin) &
Matthew Ryan (@matthewryan02)

With the college season more than halfway done, local schools are starting to cement their identities in the college landscape. All the programs are around the 15-game mark and into the thick of conference play. As the league standings begin to take shape and games going forward become increasingly more important, now is a good time to take a look at how the small colleges in our area have fared thus far.

Here’s our updated men’s D-III rankings:

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Others to Watch: Arcadia (6-13, 5-5 MAC Freedom), Cairn (10-9, 4-4 CSAC), Delaware Valley (10-7, 6-4 MAC Freedom), Gettysburg (10-7, 6-5 Centennial), Haverford College (9-8, 5-5 Centennial), Immaculata (5-9, 2-1 Atlantic East), Lancaster Bible (10-6, 6-1 United East), PSU-Abington (8-8, 2-5 United East), Rosemont (7-10, 6-3 CSAC)

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10. Albright (OTW)
Record: 9-8 (5-4 MAC Commonwealth)
Since Jan. 3: 5-1 (5-1)

Since starting the season 4-7, Albright has done a complete 180. The Lions have since won five of their last six with with the only loss coming by two points to Eastern (14-3). The 5-1 stretch has mostly come against lesser MACC teams, but the road ahead for Albright is much more difficult. It faces Hood (12-5), Alvernia (11-5), Eastern and Stevenson (9-7) across the final seven games of the year. The Lions operate by committee mostly, with the lone double-digit scorer for them being Sidney Brown who averages 15.9 points per game. Brown is a high volume 3-point shooter for Albright, going 51-for-135 from beyond the arc on the season.

Next Up: @ Hood (Jan. 29), @ Widener (Feb. 2), vs. Alvernia (Feb. 5)

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9. Ursinus (7)
Record: 10-6 (7-4 Centennial)
Since Jan. 3: 4-4 (4-4)

Following an 8-3 start, the Bears faced an incredibly tough two game slate against Johns Hopkins (14-2) and Swarthmore (15-3) where they lost both contests and then fell to McDaniel (8-8) on the road. After that three game skid, Ursinus topped Washington College and then handily beat Franklin & Marshall, 97-77, to get back on track. With games to go, there certainly isn’t a lack of difficult competition in the back half of the season as the Bears still have to face Haverford (9-8), Gettysburg (10-7), Swarthmore and Hopkins. Ryan Hughes (18.4 ppg) leads the team in scoring, followed by Trevor Wall (12.9), Kyle Maurer (12.4) and Sean Neylon (12.3). Cole Grubbs, the fifth starter, averages 5.4 ppg.

Next Up: @ Dickinson (Jan. 29), vs. Haverford (Feb. 2), vs. Gettysburg (Feb. 5)

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8. Gwynedd Mercy (5)
Record: 10-6 (2-2 Atlantic East)
Since Jan. 3: 2-3 (2-2)

After routing Bryn Athyn 86-60 on Dec. 17, the Griffins went over a month before picking up their next win, beating Cabrini 65-61 on the road. In between those two wins, Gwynedd Mercy lost five straight games, three of those coming against D-III competition, while having numerous contests either canceled or postponed. While the back half of the season has been tough for the Griffins, early on they picked up big wins over Delaware Valley (10-7) and Washington and Jefferson (13-4). Gwynedd currently sits in the middle of the AE with eight games to go, including a rematch against Neumann who got a 15-point victory earlier in the season. Guard Aziz Parker leads the Griffins on offense, averaging 16.3 ppg on 46.4/42.1/90.5 splits. Ty Jones (12.8 ppg), Manny Clark (11.7) and Donaven Spencer (10.5) round out the double figure scorers.

Next Up: @ Centenary (N.J.) (Jan. 29), vs. Centenary (N.J.) (Jan. 31), @ Neumann (Feb. 2)

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7. Neumann (OTW)
Record: 11-6 (3-1 Atlantic East)
Since Jan. 3: 4-1 (3-1)

After starting the season 6-5, the Knights have heated up in the second half of the season, rattling off wins in five of their last six games. Now sitting in second in the Atlantic East, Neumann has eight games to go, including big conference contests against Marymount (3-2 AE) and Gwynedd Mercy. The AE is very much up for grabs with no teams having more than three conference wins and no team being held winless. The Knights are led by Pocono Mountain West graduate Jalen Vaughns, who averages team-highs in points (22.4) rebounds (8.6) and blocks (1.2), while shooting an impressive 65.9% from the field. Joining the 6-7 forward in double figure scoring are Kyson Rawls (13.4 in eight games) and Tony James (11.0).

Next Up: @ Cabrini (Jan. 29), vs. Gwynedd Mercy (Feb. 2), vs. Centenary (Feb. 5)

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6. Alvernia (9)
Record: 11-5 (5-4 MAC Commonwealth)
Since Jan. 3: 4-1 (3-1) plus two forfeit losses

The Golden Wolves had to forfeit their first two league games of 2022, to Eastern and Messiah, but they played well once they got back on the court, beating Lebanon Valley, Widener and York while losing to conference co-leading Hood on the road (74-66); they also beat non-NCAA member PSU-Brandywine earlier this week. Only seven games left in the regular season to secure a spot in the MAC playoffs, with huge games against Stevenson (5-5 MACC) and Albright coming up in that regard. Gratz product Malik Green, Alvernia’s leading scorer (18.5) ppg, has been on a tear recently with five games of 20+ points in his last six outings.

Next Up: vs. Stevenson (Jan. 29), vs. Eastern (Feb. 2), @ Albright (Feb. 5)

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5. Susquehanna (6)
Record: 13-4 (5-1 Landmark)
Since Jan. 3: 5-1 (4-1)

Since losing to Swarthmore on Dec. 8, a loss that dropped them to 5-3 early in the season, the River Hawks have been on a tear. Their only setback was an 86-72 win at Scranton on Jan. 12, certainly not a ‘bad loss’ by any means, and they rebounded with three straight wins, including an 88-53 romp over Moravian on Wednesday. With eight games left in the regular season and likely a couple postseason ones, Susquehanna has its sights set on the fourth 20-win season in the last six years under head coach Frank Marcinek, who’s been there since 1989-90. SU’s been getting strong play from senior guard Lukas Yurasits (15.1 ppg), redshirt junior wing Dominic Dunn (14.4 ppg) and senior point guard Danny Frauenheim (10.1 ppg/5.6 apg).

Next Up: @ Catholic (Jan. 29), @ Juniata (Jan. 31), vs. Drew (Feb. 2)

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Sam Gallardo (above) and Eastern hold steady at No. 4 in the latest CoBL rankings. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

4. Eastern (4)
Record: 14-3 (9-1 MAC Commonwealth)
Since Jan. 3: 5-1 (5-1) plus a forfeit win

Following a 1-2 start to the season, Eastern is one of the hottest teams in the nation, going 13-1 over its last 14 D-III contests, including a forfeit victory over Alvernia. During that stretch, the Eagles narrowly lost to Lehigh, 70-63, while picking up impressive wins over Wilson (12-5), Hood, Scranton (10-6) and Lancaster Bible. The race atop the MACC is undoubtedly a two team one as Eastern and Hood (9-1 MACC) are four games ahead of third place Alveria. Eastern won its first matchup against the Blazers 83-77 and the second between the two on Feb. 12 could determine the conference champion. The Eagles are led by a well rounded starting lineup that has all five starters averaging at least eight ppg, with William Blet atop the team in scoring at 13.8 ppg.

Next Up: @ Alvernia (Feb. 2), vs. Stevenson (Feb. 5), vs. Albright (Feb. 9)

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3. Swarthmore (1)
Record: 15-3 (9-2 Centennial)
Since Jan. 3: 6-2 (6-2)

The Phoenix started the season off winning 15 of 16 and sitting pretty as one of the top teams in D-III hoops. Over that span, they picked up wins over Scranton, Neumann, Haverford, Susquehanna, Johns Hopkins, Gettysburg and Ursinus. But since then, Swarthmore has lost its last two contests, first on the road to Dickinson (5-9, 4-5 Centennial) and then at home against Muhlenberg (6-11, 3-7). The losses marked the first time Swarthmore had dropped two straight conference games since 2018. In the two recent defeats, Swarthmore was without its leading scorer Vinny DeAngelo (16.8) who is sidelined with an injury, the only reason we’re not dropping them further. The Phoenix have massive games to come, most notably a rematch against Hopkins on Saturday where the winner of the contest will sit in first place of the Centennial. 

Next Up: vs. Johns Hopkins (Jan. 29), @ Washington College (Feb. 2), @ Franklin & Marshall (Feb. 5)

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2. DeSales (2)
Record: 16-2 (9-1 MAC Freedom)
Since Jan. 3: 4-1 (4-1), plus a forfeit win

Just a week after scoring 90 points in a win over Delaware Valley, the Bulldogs didn’t even get half of that in a 46-44 home loss to Wilkes on Wednesday, which was enough to knock them down a peg in our rankings. Otherwise, though, things have been going well for Scott Coval’s group, which sits two games ahead of the pack in the MAC Freedom, a good spot to be with six league games to play. A win over second-place Stevens (7-3) on Wednesday would go a long way towards helping them lock up the top seed, and the season finale against Lycoming (Feb. 19) might be the decider. DeSales had tremendous depth, with nine players averaging between 5.3 ppg and 10.0 ppg, and everybody in that group has multiple double-digit scoring outings.

Next Up: @ Misericordia (Jan. 29), vs. Stevens (Feb. 2), vs. FDU-Florham (Feb. 5)

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Donyae Baylor-Carroll (above) and PSU-Harrisburg are the No. 1 team in the CoBL-area D-III rankings for the first time. (Photo courtesy PSU-Harrisburg athletics)

1. Penn State-Harrisburg (3)
Record: 14-1 (7-0 United East)
Since Jan. 3: 5-0 (5-0)

With the exception of a slip up at the beginning of the season against Delaware Valley, Harrisburg’s season has been nearly perfect. Currently on an 11-game winning streak, the Nittany Lions have wins over Mary Washington (13-4), Wells (11-6), Scranton and Lancaster Bible. While Harrisburg is currently in first place in the United East, it’s not the only undefeated squad. St. Mary’s (Md.) hasn’t lost in six conference games, and a matchup between the two programs is coming up on Feb. 4. Lancaster Bible is right behind Harrisburg and St. Mary’s with a 6-1 conference record, and the Lions will look to get the season sweep against the Chargers in their last game of the season. Harrisburg is led in scoring by 5-7 dynamo Donyae Baylor-Carroll (17.3) followed by Dylan Daniels (12.9), Nate Curry (12.7) and Brandon Coleman (11.5) to round out the double figure scorers.

Next Up: @ Wells (Jan. 28), @ Morrisville State (Jan. 29), @ St. Mary’s Md. (Feb. 1)

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