Penn State's Ace Baldwin Jr. (1) is pressured by Maryland's Deshawn Harris-Smith, right, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, March 1, 2025, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Gary M. Baranec)

From Mirror, wire reports

LORETTO — Riley Parker had 22 points in the Saint Francis men’s basketball team’s 80-71 overtime victory against Chicago State on Saturday.

Saint Francis earned the No. 3 seed for the upcoming Northeast Conference Tournament. The Flash will host No. 6 seed Wagner at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in the quarterfinals.

Parker shot 8 for 16 (1 for 5 from 3-point range) and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line for the Red Flash (13-17, 8-8 Northeast Conference).

Saint Francis was saved from the devastating defeat after Chicago State missed a breakaway dunk in the waning seconds of regulation off a steal to send the game to overtime.

“I’ve been in college basketball for almost 30 years, and I don’t know that I’ve experienced a final 15 seconds in regulation like that, but our guys responded,” Saint Francis coach. “The confidence that they played with in the overtime was important, and to come out with three straight wins, three of them in overtime, gives us some momentum going into the playoffs.”

Chris Moncrief scored 12 points while shooting 4 of 6 from the field and 4 for 8 from the line and added five steals. Daemar Kelly and Jeremy Clayville both finished with 11 points.

“It’s coming back and working and embracing that journey of playing your best basketball in March,” Krimmel said of the team’s resiliency. “They’ve done a good job of embracing struggle, developing composure, and learning how to win close games. And that’s what it will be like the rest of the way for us. There will be some bad moments, but over 40 minutes, this late in the year, victory will go to the team that makes the fewest mistakes.”

The Cougars (4-27, 4-12) were led in scoring by Quincy Allen, who finished with 22 points and seven rebounds. Noble Crawford added 16 points for Chicago State. Dailliss Cox also recorded 12 points. The loss was the Cougars’ seventh straight.

In the other quarterfinal matchups on Wednesday, top seed CCSU (23-6, 14-2 NEC) hosts No. 8 Le Moyne (9-22, 4-12 NEC), No. 2 LIU hosts No. 7 Chicago State (4-27, 4-12 NEC), and fourth seed FDU (12-19, 8-8 NEC) hosts No. 5 Stonehill (15-16, 7-9 NEC).

The winners move on to the semifinals on Saturday, with the top two remaining seeds hosting the semifinal matchups.

“We’ve won three in a row and have another level to get to,” Parker said. “Now, the playoffs are starting. It’s March Madness, and anything can happen. I believe in this team and our staff; we can go all the way.”

Ticket prices for the quarterfinals are $12 for reserved chair-back seating and $10 for general admission. Tickets are available the day of the game or by calling Director of Athletics Jim Brazill at 814-472-2774.

CHICAGO ST. (4-27): Allen 9-19 0-0 22, Cox 6-12 0-0 12, Crawford 6-11 0-0 16, Robinson 3-8 2-2 10, G.Spinelli 4-7 0-0 8, Spate 1-2 0-0 3, J.Spinelli 0-1 0-0 0, Raiford 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-60 2-2 71.

ST. FRANCIS (13-17): Pinedo 4-11 2-5 10, Cranford 3-8 1-2 8, Kelly 4-7 2-2 11, Moncrief 4-6 4-8 12, Parker 8-16 5-5 22, Clayville 4-7 0-0 11, Rosenberger 0-4 0-0 0, Harris 2-2 0-0 4, Sanon 0-1 2-2 2, Payne 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-62 16-24 80.

Halftime–Chicago St. 32-26. 3-Point Goals–Chicago St. 11-25 (Crawford 4-5, Allen 4-11, Robinson 2-5, Spate 1-2, Cox 0-1, J.Spinelli 0-1), St. Francis 6-21 (Clayville 3-5, Kelly 1-3, Cranford 1-5, Parker 1-5, Moncrief 0-1, Rosenberger 0-2). Fouled Out–G.Spinelli. Rebounds–Chicago St. 28 (Robinson 10), St. Francis 35 (Pinedo 10). Assists–Chicago St. 13 (G.Spinelli 7), St. Francis 13 (Cranford 5). Total Fouls–Chicago St. 20, St. Francis 8. A–899 (3,500).

PSU loses to Terps

UNIVERSITY PARK — Derik Queen had 23 points, Ja’kobi Gillespie scored 19 and No. 16 Maryland beat Penn State 68-64 on Saturday.

Selton Miguel added 17 points for the Terrapins (22-7, 12-6 Big Ten), who overcame a 36-30 halftime deficit to snap a seven-game losing streak in Happy Valley.

Ace Baldwin Jr. had 18 points and D’Marco Dunn scored 14 for the Nittany Lions (15-15, 5-14), who needed to win out and get help in the standings to make the 15-team Big Ten Tournament.

Julian Reese grabbed 15 rebounds for the Terps, who entered the game as one of four Power Four teams with all five starters scoring in double figures.

Takeaways: Maryland: The Terps inched closer to a top-four seed and a double bye in the conference tourney with the win. Penn State: The Nittany Lions did all they could to keep their postseason hopes alive but couldn’t overcome miscues in another close loss. This was their ninth loss by six points or less, tied with Northwestern for most in the Big Ten.

Key moment: With Maryland up 66-64 and 44 seconds to play, Baldwin missed what would’ve been a tying jumper. Reese grabbed his 15th rebound and set up Rodney Rice for a bucket on the other end that put the game out of reach with 17 seconds left.

Key stat: Maryland made Penn State pay for its mistakes and turned 16 Nittany Lion turnovers into 21 points.

Up next: Maryland visits No. 15 Michigan on Wednesday night before closing out the regular season at home against Northwestern on March 8. Penn State wraps up its regular season with a visit to No. 11 Wisconsin on March 8.

MARYLAND (22-7): Reese 2-10 0-1 4, Queen 8-16 7-8 23, Gillespie 6-8 4-4 19, Miguel 7-14 0-0 17, R.Rice 2-13 0-0 5, Young 0-1 0-0 0, Geronimo 0-1 0-0 0, Harris-Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Palmer 0-1 0-0 0, Gapare 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-65 11-13 68.

PENN ST. (15-15): Hicks 3-6 0-0 8, Konan Niederhauser 3-7 2-4 8, Baldwin 4-11 8-8 18, Dilione 6-14 0-0 12, Dunn 5-11 2-4 14, Kern 2-5 0-0 4, Nzeh 0-0 0-0 0, Carter 0-1 0-0 0, Stewart 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-57 12-16 64.

Halftime–Penn St. 36-30. 3-Point Goals–Maryland 7-21 (Gillespie 3-5, Miguel 3-7, R.Rice 1-8, Young 0-1), Penn St. 6-19 (Hicks 2-4, Baldwin 2-6, Dunn 2-6, Carter 0-1, Dilione 0-2). Rebounds–Maryland 34 (Reese 15), Penn St. 40 (Hicks 9). Assists–Maryland 18 (Gillespie 7), Penn St. 12 (Hicks 4). Total Fouls–Maryland 16, Penn St. 16. A–10,298 (15,261).

Hepburn lights up Pitt

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Chucky Hepburn scored a career-high 37 points to lead No. 19 Louisville to a 79-68 victory over Pittsburgh on Saturday night.

Terrence Edwards Jr. added 23 points and seven rebounds for the Cardinals (23-6, 16-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who shot 51.1% from the field (23 for 45) and went 11 for 21 (52.4%) from 3-point range.

Jaland Lowe led Pittsburgh (16-13, 7-11) with 16 points and Zack Austin added 15.

Hepburn, a senior transfer from Wisconsin, scored more than 30 for the second time this season. The point guard had 24 points and shot 6 for 6 from 3-point range in the first half, making them all in a span of six possessions. His last 3 gave Louisville a 39-29 lead with 1:05 left before halftime.

In the second half, Hepburn did it from the free-throw line, going 9 for 13. Overall, he shot 13 for 17, the fourth time he has made that many in a game this season.

The Panthers stuck around, using an 8-0 run to take a 62-59 lead on Austin’s 3-pointer with 7:39 remaining. However, the Cardinals answered with a 9-0 run to go up 68-62 with 3:34 left after a layup by Hepburn.

Takeaways: Pittsburgh: For the first 32 minutes, the Panthers looked like the team that started the season 12-2, but Louisville eventually wore them down. Louisville: Similar to the first game with Pitt, this was a hard-fought victory. While the Cardinals trailed a couple of times in the second half, the veteran leadership — led by Hepburn and Edwards — helped the team win its seventh straight and 17th in its last 18 games.

Key moment: After Austin’s 3-pointer gave the Panthers the 62-59 lead, they finished by making just two of their last 15 shots.

Up next: Pittsburgh travels to North Carolina State on Wednesday, and Louisville will host California on Wednesday.

PITTSBURGH (16-13): Austin 5-11 2-2 15, Corhen 2-2 2-2 6, G.Diaz Graham 4-11 2-4 13, Leggett 4-15 1-3 10, Lowe 6-18 3-3 16, Cummings 1-4 2-3 5, Delalic 1-2 0-0 3, Amadou Kante 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-63 12-17 68.

LOUISVILLE (23-6): Scott 2-4 0-4 4, Hadley 1-7 2-2 4, Hepburn 9-11 13-17 37, Smith 2-5 2-2 8, Edwards 8-13 5-6 23, Rooths 0-1 0-0 0, Waterman 1-4 0-0 3, Traore 0-0 0-0 0, Anselem-Ibe 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-45 22-31 79.

Halftime–Louisville 39-33. 3-Point Goals–Pittsburgh 10-37 (Austin 3-8, G.Diaz Graham 3-10, Delalic 1-1, Cummings 1-2, Leggett 1-8, Lowe 1-8), Louisville 11-21 (Hepburn 6-6, Edwards 2-5, Smith 2-5, Waterman 1-3, Hadley 0-2). Fouled Out–Corhen. Rebounds–Pittsburgh 37 (Lowe 10), Louisville 31 (Edwards 7). Assists–Pittsburgh 10 (Lowe 5), Louisville 12 (Hepburn 4). Total Fouls–Pittsburgh 21, Louisville 14. A–18,459 (22,090).