DIII Doubleheader

  In the midst of college and pro football seasons, college basketball broke out for me. Division III college basketball to be exact. 

On Wednesday night, my wife and I traveled to Hoboken, New Jersey. When I said “traveled,” I really meant trekked. 

For those unfamiliar with the New York/New Jersey Metropolitan area, thee are roadways which, at certain times, become parking lots, with little movement and plenty of frustration for those driving. 

Which is why, if possible, I opt for mass transit, even though using New Jersey Transit has its own self-inflicted problems, in addition to what might transpire in a day or week. Getting to Newark or New York Penn Station is a stressful adventure, as you search for parking in locations like Summit and Millburn, where the local authorities make life exceptionally difficult for those who wish to avoid traffic, parking lots and Congestion Pricing. Plus the NYC Subway system is older, antiquated and its own mess—I still marvel at how functional it remains despite its obvious setbacks. 

Yes, you can take mass transit to Yankee Stadium, Citi Field, Madison Square Garden, the USTA Tennis Center, the Prudential Center and to Long Island to see the New York Islanders’ UBS Arena adjacent to Belmont Park. Except for MSG and the Rock, the rides involve multiple trains and long trips. Plan to spend the bulk of your day traveling. 

But for other venues, the car is the only way to get there. Going to Rutgers, Princeton, and the NJ state colleges all require using an automobile. Which is what our mode of transportation was to get to Stevens Institute of Technology. 

Stevens was probably the only college campus in New Jersey I hadn’t seen. So while I knew it was part of the formation of Hoboken, I was going to be reliant upon my GPS to arrive there in time for the 6:00 p.m. tip off for the visiting Franklin and Marshall College Diplomats and the home standing Stevens Ducks. 

I also knew that the starting time for the game was going to put me into massive traffic. Part of that was going to be by the Holland Tunnel, one of the portals of entry into Manhattan. 

Rush hour at the Holland Tunnel is normally a nightmare. Add the fact that we are facing many gridlock alert days before Christmas, and the normally insane traffic around 5:00 p.m. took on a different dimension. 

I watched the arrival time to the Stevens campus continue to rise as I sat nearly motionless on a ramp coming off of the New Jersey Turnpike Extension. Making the left turn towards Hoboken became an adventure, as those who were more familiar with the daily rigors of commuting were aggressively pushing their cars into the flow of traffic—other drivers be damned. 

Once we crossed over from the high rises of Jersey City to Hoboken, there was a little more movement. My GPS was going to be my savior. Except it wasn’t. 

The address which I plugged into the screen for a parking lot at Stevens was not the right one. I was traversing Hoboken blindly. In a city with narrow streets, not a lot of spaces to pull over and lots of stop signs and pedestrians to boot. In essence, a very difficult place to drive if unfamiliar with it and at night. 

Now we were lost and the pressure to make it to the gym on time increased. Fortunately, I found a driveway entrance to pull into and reset the GPS for Stevens. Even when I pulled off the street, unbelievably, somebody pulled right behind me to park in the spot I was frequenting. 

We entered the Stevens campus and immediately saw we were by a high rise dorm. That was not the place to be. I traveled through an inner street which somehow put me near the lit athletic fields and a big parking lot—which I later learned was the one which I had been searching all along for on 8th Street. Nervously we parked there, for the online admonitions were that parking required a permit except for the 8th Street lot. 

I saw a bigger building nearby the multi-purpose turf fields which Stevens uses for soccer, lacrosse and baseball. I guessed correctly that it was the gym. But we had to go all the way around to locate an entrance. And my bladder was clearly indicating that it had been a bad idea to drink water and have pasta for lunch, then sit in traffic for nearly an hour and forty-five minutes. 

Fortunately, Stevens didn’t charge for attending the game nor did we have to go through metal detectors like at Rutgers and Seton Hall games. My bladder was taken care of and we were there with just over 13 minutes to go. 

Before taking our seats in the third row of the very nice Caravan Arena bleachers, I even caught an errant basketball and flipped it to a Stevens player. Good hands, I guess. 

The gym was far from packed. In the box score, the crowd size was 249. That’s if you counted the players, coaches, managers and on line announcers and camera men. They did make some noise when F&M shooters attempted foul shots. Otherwise, it was easy to converse with my wife and hear others bellyache about the officiating (they did miss some obvious calls which another patron agreed with me numerous times). 

As to the game, both squads entered the fray with only one loss. F&M had lost its opener to Elizabethtown College in a game which had to be postponed a day and switched to E-town due to a power outage which plagued Lancaster on November 8. Stevens lone loss was at home to Middlebury College, which itself had only one loss this season as of Wednesday. 

F&M had been tabbed as the favorite to repeat as Centennial Conference champions. With returning lettermen and abetted by some key freshmen, Head Coach NIck Nichay’s team seemed like it could power through the schedule. To a degree that was true, with the Diplomats having overpowered Hamilton College in its last contest. 

Nobody told Stevens that they should roll over for their opponents. The Ducks came out firing and didn’t stop. Thee was little that F&M could do to stop the onslaught and in turn, solve the matchup zone defense the Ducks were employing. 

Before long, F&M trailed by 19. Things looked dire. It was bad enough that we had to endure horrible traffic. But to do all this and then see my school lose badly was not a prospect I wanted. 

I told my wife that if the Diplomats could cut the lead to 10 or less by halftime, they had a chance. A flurry of shots plus turnovers and a few shots finally not going in for Stevens led to a score of 39-29 in favor of Stevens at the break. 

Jokingly, I said to my wife that now F&M would shoot at the better basket, where all the shots seemed to fall. That proved to be more prophetic than I thought. 

F&M rattled off a 11-0 run to start the second half and actually take the lead, only to see Stevens sink two three point shots to go back ahead 45-40. The lead swung back and forth through the second half, with F&M ahead but Stevens sinking a three point shot to tie the score at the end of regulation. 

Having had a double bonus for much of the second half and overtime, F&M made just enough free throws and baskets to outscore the Ducks 11-8 in the extra session to secure a hard-fought 77-74 win. 2024-25 Centennial Conference Player of the Year Kevin Nowoswiat tallied 25 points to lead the Diplomats, but his shooting mirrored the Diplomats—better in the second half and overtime but a paltry 42% for the team overall, with the foul line betraying the visitors to the tune of 13-22 for 59.1%. 

Stevens went 12-20 from beyond the arc—a torrid 60%. The foul disparity hurt the Ducks, as they went 8-11 from the line. 

The score was tied 9 times and there were 7 lead changes. The poise of the Diplomats facing such a daunting task was evident. A quality road win for F&M. 

It made our delayed dinner of egg salad eaten in the car in the parking lot so much tastier. The trip home was much easier. 

Saturday afternoon we made the much simpler and far more familiar drive to Madison to watch previously #20 Drew University host Lycoming College in a Landmark Conference game. Drew’s Baldwin Gym was older, smaller dingier, with a stage covered by a large Drew Rangers banner at one end—a far cry from how spacious and well-lit Stevens looked. Unlike Stevens and F&M, Drew charges admission to its games.

There was a crowd of 190 spectators on a Saturday afternoon in December—almost all Drew loyalists scattered around the gym. A full contingent of 24 noisy cheerleaders was there, ensconced at one end of the floor. 

Drew entered the game as the favorite. In its previous game, Elizabethtown roared back from a deficit of over 20 points in the second half to stun the Rangers 95-93 in overtime. Drew was seeking to right its ship with a win over what appeared to be a depleted Lycoming team—I observed four injured players on the bench. 

The Rangers came out firing—a lot like Stevens did against F&M. Hitting their first three three point shots and a regular basket, Drew surged to a 11-0 lead. 

That proved to be short-lived, as Lycoming fought back on a 29-12 run to take its biggest lead of the afternoon. Drew fought back and toed the score a the half at 39. 

The second half was much more physical than the first half, and the fouls mounted up for both sides. Not due to the defenses being spectacular, the shooting percentages plummeted. 

Lycoming’s depth and playing on the road caught up to them. Drew had a five point lead with a minute left to play. Still, the Warriors did not give up and in the game’s closing seconds, whittled the score to 75-73 as the game ended. 

Unlike the poise and athleticism from both teams in F&M—Stevens game, this was not as much a basketball game as a skirmish between two teams which liked to recklessly shoot the basketball. In the first half, Lycoming shot 18-33—a 54.55% clip. In the second half, the Warriors managed to take only 24 shots, hitting just 8. Lycoming shot 4-15 from three point range, and 16-27 from the foul line, which came to 59.3%.

Drew shot 36% for the game, taking an astounding 75 shots but hitting only 27. Bombing at will from behind the arc, the Rangers went 12-45. Drew was even more miserable from the foul line, shooting 52.9% on just 17 attempts. 

Drew won this game by out rebounding Lycoming by a 50-39 margin. The Warriors were far better in the paint and had a slight differential in their favor points off of turnovers. Drew won the game with a stronger bench and more fast break points. 

None of us was overly impressed with either team on Saturday. My wife thought, and I concurred, that Wednesday’s game was played at a far higher level. When the two teams meet again on January 31 in Williamsport, it would not surprise me if Lycoming emerged the victor. 

F&M could meet Drew on December 30 in Lancaster if the Rangers get by Lancaster Bible and F&M prevails over a weak CCNY squad. I expect Drew to tumble from the DIII Hoops Top 25. Conversely, F&M should move up in the voting—not necessarily cracking the Top 25 but close to its doorstep. 

The one common opponent for any of the teams thus far is E-Town. The Blue Jays are 7-1, having suffered a one point loss to currently 4-3 Moravian College on November 19. E-Town owns victories over both F&M and Drew. 

It’s too bad they don’t play Stevens (nor does Drew) so I could try to figure out how good any of these teams really are. Will E-town and Drew be at the top of the Landmark Conference? Will F&M repeat in the Centennial? Is Stevens a contender in the Middle Atlantic Conference? (The Ducks lost 79-74 on Saturday at 3-5 Albright, a school F&M defeated 66-60 at home on November 20)

One thing needed to be repeated—the officiating missed a lot of calls in both contests. Not that the officials are hounded to death at Rutgers in a Big Ten match for their inconsistency. 

It was fun. It was cheap—the two games cost me a total of $20.00 for five people (our daughter joined us on Saturday). Neither locale was far from home—getting through Chatham and Madison on a Saturday afternoon 19 days before Christmas was far easier than the rush hour ordeal on Wednesday. 

Two different skill sets. Two competitive games. My kind of DIII doubleheader.