Shiffrin tops Slovakian rival Vlhova
Mids forced to play without Davis, Njoku
Mikaela Shiffrin denied her Slovakian rival Petra Vlhova a home victory Saturday, winning the first World Cup slalom following the world championships. Shiffrin trailed first-run leader Vlhova by 0.27 seconds on a hill where the Slovakian regularly trains. But the American had a blistering final run to win the race by 0.34 as the pair continued its dominance in the discipline. They combined have won 31 of the 32 World Cup slaloms held since January 2017, a streak interrupted only once by Switzerland’s Michelle Gisin. “I feel pretty amazing about it,” Shiffrin said about her 45th career slalom win and 69th overall. “It was a really good fight for me and that’s a pretty nice feeling to have right now.” The result moved Shiffrin within one victory of a World Cup record. Only one skier, male or female, has won more races in a single discipline: Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark triumphed 46 times in giant slalom in the 1970s and 80s. Wendy Holdener finished 0.52 behind in third. It was the 26th career slalom podium for the Swiss skier, who is yet to win a race in the discipline.
Navy men’s basketball absorbed a brutal blow long before Saturday’s Patriot League Tournament quarterfinal against Loyola Maryland got underway.
The Midshipmen learned late in the week that two starters, including team captain and first-team All-Patriot League pick Cam Davis, would be unavailable. Junior forward Richard Njoku, a member of the Patriot League All-Defensive team, was also sidelined by coronavirus protocols.
It marked the third straight missed game for Davis and Njoku, who did not play in either of last weekend’s games against the Greyhounds.
Things only got worse for the Mids after the game began.
Junior guard Jaylin Andrews scored 17 points and No. 9 Loyola led from start to finish in upsetting top-seeded Navy 76-68 at Alumni Hall. Sophomore forward Santi Aldama notched another double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Greyhounds, who had lost all three regular-season meetings with the Midshipmen.
Freshman forward Alonso Faure contributed 13 points off the bench for Loyola (5-10), which will play at No. 4 Army in Wednesday’s semifinals. This marks the first trip to the semis for the Greyhounds since 2014.
“We prepared this whole week for this game — rebounding drills, defensive drills and executing against their pressure,” said Andrews, a Boys’ Latin graduate. “We all bought in knowing we could win this game. We will celebrate today and get ready for the next one starting tomorrow.”
Sophomore Cam Spencer (Boys’ Latin) started at point guard for the Greyhounds and delivered a strong all-around performance with 10 points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals. Golden Dike added eight points and five rebounds for Loyola, which earned its first Patriot League Tournament win under thirdyear coach Tavares Hardy.
“We told ourselves coming into this game it was a new season.,” Hardy said. “We wanted to take the lessons from the 14 games we’ve played and apply them to try to win a championship. We took the first step toward that, but there’s a long way to go.”
Junior guard Greg Summers scored 21 points on 9-for-12 field goal shooting to lead Navy (15-3).
Mount St. Mary’s 66, Wagner 60: The Mountaineers needed some heroics in the final minutes — a theme of late — to rally past Wagner and advance to the Northeast Conference tournament finals with a victory Saturday in Staten Island, New York.
The Mountaineers (11-10) built a ninepoint lead midway through the second half before the top-seeded Seahawks (13-7) starting chipping away.
Wagner put together 16-6 run to take the lead at 57-56 with 1 minute, 45 seconds remaining on a free throw from Will Martinez. MSM’s Mezie Offurum scored a layup with 32 seconds to go, then grabbed a rebound off a Seahawks missed free throw on the next possession and knocked down two from the line.
Malik Jefferson and Damian Chong Qui (McDonogh) added a pair of free throws down the stretch and the Mount capped its victory with a dunk from Nana Opoku.
Chong Qui and Opoku led the Mountaineers with 14 points apiece, and Jefferson added 10 points and 10 rebounds. Offurum filled the stat sheet with eight boards, seven points and four assists. DeAndre Thomas scored 13 off the bench and was 7-for-9 from the free-throw line.
Mount St. Mary’s won despite missing 9 of 12 3-point attempts. The Mountaineers erased a seven-point deficit in the final minute last week to knock off Saint Francis in overtime.
Martinez poured in a game-high 17 points for Wagner, which had beaten the Mount twice during the regular season and finished 13-5 in NEC play. Elijah Ford added 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Seahawks. MSM had lost five in a row against Wagner and five of its last six in Staten Island.
Mount St. Mary’s, the No. 4 seed, moves onto the Northeast tourney title game March 9 at 7 p.m. against No. 2 Bryant.
Elon 69, Towson 48: Hunter McIntosh had 13 points as eighth-seeded Elon romped past ninth-seeded Towson in the first round of the Colonial Conference Tourney on Saturday.
The Phoenix face league champion James Madison in the quarterfinals on Sunday.