NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — Max Newton had two goals and an assist as Merrimack eliminated UMaine with a 6-2 win in the opening round of the Hockey East playoffs Wednesday night.

Filip Forsmark had a goal and two assists for the Warriors (19-14-1). Hugo Ollas made 26 saves.

Lynden Breen scored in the second period for Maine (7-22-4) and Matthew Fawcett added a late goal. Matthew Thiessen made 19 saves.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

SOUTHERN MAINE CC 61, PENN STATE MONT ALTO 44: Zachary Mickle’s 27 points and six rebounds powered the Seawolves (20-5) past the Nittany Lions (25-5) in the USCAA Division 2 national tournament semifinal in Petersburg, Virginia.

Cameren Cousins had 13 points and nine rebounds for SMCC, which faces Johnson & Wales (NC) in Thursday’s championship game.

Darrius Bush led Penn State Mont Alto with 11 points and seven rebounds.

NORTHEAST CONFERENCE: A fight in the stands marred the tournament championship game won by top-seeded Bryant over Wagner 70-43 Tuesday night at Smithfield, Rhode Island.

With 4:37 to play and the Bulldogs leading 68-32, play stopped for nearly 30 minutes. A small section of seats mostly occupied by Wagner fans sat next to Bryant’s student’s section and the contentious atmosphere led to a scuffle. None of the players or coaches made it into the stands, though Wagner’s Will Martinez attempted to and was ejected from the game and several players had to be restrained.

SYRACUSE: Syracuse star Buddy Boeheim was suspended for the Orange’s Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament game against Duke after he punched Florida State’s Wyatt Wilkes in the stomach Wednesday during a second-round victory.

The ACC announced the one-game suspension for a “flagrant act” about four hours after ninth-seeded Syracuse beat Florida State 96-57 to advance to the quarterfinals Thursday at Barclays Center.

The senior, the son of Orange coach Jim Boeheim, earlier released a statement acknowledging he was wrong.

“In the heat of today’s game, after some shoving in the lane, I swung my arm while turning to go back up court. It was wrong to act out in frustration,” Boeheim said in a statement posted on Syracuse basketball’s Twitter account. “I apologized to Wyatt Wilkes multiple times in the handshake line. He said not to worry about it, but I know it was wrong.”

Boeheim was not called for a foul on the play, which happened after Syracuse made a basket.

Buddy Boeheim leads the ACC in scoring at 19.3 points per game.

BIG TEN: Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis is The Associated Press player of the year in the Big Ten Conference and the Badgers’ Greg Gard is coach of the year.

Davis won top honors over Iowa’s Keegan Murray, and both were unanimous picks for spots on the AP All-Big Ten team along with Purdue’s Jaden Ivey in voting of journalists who cover the conference.

Nebraska freshman Bryce McGowens is newcomer of the year.

MID-AMERICAN: Kent State’s strong season has been rewarded with junior guard Sincere Carry being named the league’s top player and Rob Senderoff winning coach of the year honors.

Forward Justyn Hamilton collected a third award for the Golden Flashes as the best sixth man.

METRO ATLANTIC: Rick Pitino, the Hall of Famer who led Iona to the regular-season Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title, was honored as the coach of the year.

In his second season with the program, the 69-year-old Pitino guided the Gaels to a 25-6 overall mark and a 17-3 record in the MAAC to secure the top seed in the conference tournament underway in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He was selected in a vote by the league’s head coaches.

Iona has won a conference-record 13 tournament titles. The architect of much of the team’s recent success, former coach Tim Cluess, resigned in March 2020 after nine seasons due to health issues and Pitino was hired after coaching two seasons in Greece.

AAC: SMU senior guard Kendric Davis is the player of the year, as selected by the league’s 11 head coaches.

Davis, who leads the conference with 19.5 points a game and is third with 4.6 assists, was the only unanimous pick on the All-AAC first team.

Houston’s Kelvin Sampson is the coach of the year for the third time, with the Cougars going into the conference tournament with a 26-5 record. .

BIG EAST: Villanova guard Collin Gillespie won his second consecutive Big East player of the year award, and Ed Cooley was selected coach of the year after guiding Providence to its first regular-season championship.

Injured point guard Ryan Nembhard of Creighton took freshman of the year honors in announcements made at Madison Square Garden a couple of hours before the start of the conference tournament.

USC: Andy Enfield’s success in turning around Southern California’s basketball program has earned him a six-year contract extension.

Athletic Director Mike Bohn announced the extension through the 2027-28 season a day before the 21st-ranked Trojans open play in the Pac-12 Tournament. The team is 25-6 overall, having set a record for regular-season victories.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

SOUTHERN MAINE CC 68, VILLA MARIA 65: Reserve Maddy York scored 17 points and Hannah Richards added 16 as the Seawolves (21-5) beat the Vikings (14-12) in a USCAA Division 2 Small College National Tournament consolation bracket semifinal in Petersburg, Virginia.

Richards scored the winning points on a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to put the Seawolves ahead 66-65. Tara Flanders (seven points) added two more foul shots and the Vikings missed on a 3-point attempt on their final possession. Kyla Greenleaf and Shea Pickering each finished with eight points.

The Seawolves, who lost 63-51 to Cincinnati-Clermont in their opening round game, will play Maine-Augusta in the consolation final.

(23) FLORIDA GULF COAST 82, STETSON 67: Kierstan Bell had a double-double and Kendall Spray and Kerstie Phills combined for all 21 of their points in the second half as Florida Gulf Coast (28-2) pulled away from Stetson (20-12) in the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament semifinals at Fort Myers, Florida.

(25) UCF 61, SMU 28: Brittney Smith led a balanced offense with 13 points and UCF’s nation-best defense had its best game of the season with a win over SMU in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament at Fort Worth, Texas.

Going into the game, the top-seeded Knights were allowing 48.1 points per game and held 16 teams under 50 points and seven under 40.

Now they have held one under 30.

FLORIDA: Coach Kelly Rae Finley’s recently signed five-year contract is worth $740,000 annually.

The University Athletic Association released her contract in response to a public records request. Finley signed it March 1, two days after agreeing to terms on the $3.7 million deal.

She’s the fourth-highest-paid head coach on Florida’s campus, behind football’s Billy Napier ($7.1 million annually), men’s basketball’s Mike White ($3.2 million) and baseball’s Kevin O’Sullivan ($1.4 million).

KANSAS: Brandon Schneider signed a new four-year contract with Kansas that will pay the Big 12 coach of the year $400,000 annually along with numerous benefits and incentives through the 2025-26 season.

Schneider led the Jayhawks (20-8) to a fifth-place finish in the Big 12 this season after they were voted last in the league’s preseason poll. They won seven straight games earlier this season, the program’s longest streak since 1997, and the 20 wins in the regular season were their most since the 1999-2000 season.
Kansas opens the Big 12 Tournament against fourth-seeded Oklahoma on Friday in Kansas City, Missouri.

MEN’S LACROSSE

U. OF NEW ENGLAND 14, SOUTHERN MAINE 7: Andrew Lawrence had four goals and two assists and the Nor’easters (3-3) outscored the Huskies (1-1) 7-2 in the second half to win in Gorham.

Jordan White added three goals and an assist, Kyle Kennedy had two goals and two assists and Sam McGregor also scored twice for UNE.

Nick James had three goals and an assist and Schuyler Wetmore had two goals and an assist for the Huskies.

WENTWORTH 15, ST. JOSEPH’S 14: Erik Madden and Calvin McKenna each had four goals as the Leopards (3-2) beat the Monks (1-4) in Davenport, Florida.

Sam Prunier put Wentworth ahead 15-12 with 6:57 remaining, and the Monks kept it close on goals by Noah Tierney-Honan (5:22 left) and Timothy Goodfellow (45 seconds left).

Goodfellow and Max Lacy had four goals, Xavier Michaud had three and Tierney-Honan had two for St. Joseph’s.

WESTERN NEW ENGLAND 21, BATES 13: The Golden Bears (5-0) got four goals each from Mike Bannon and Jared Newall as they topped the Bobcats (0-4) in Lewiston.

Bannon added four assists. Brian Madden, Ben Kolb and Conor Tracy all had three goals for Western New England. Carter Randall made 13 saves.

Wil Masterson and Will Schinabeck led Bates with three goals apiece. Jackson Sell had two goals and three assists. Spencer Wood made 16 saves.

BOWDOIN 19, ENDICOTT 5: Jason Lach had six goals as the Polar Bears (2-0) handled the Gulls (0-3) in Beverly, Massachusetts.

Will Byrne added four goals for Bowdoin. Matt Ward and Donal Mullane each had three goals, with Mullane getting two assists. Robert Hobbs made 10 saves.

Nick Pagluiso scored two goals for Endicott. Tim Luciano and Christopher Tillotson combined for 12 saves.

WOMEN’S LACROSSE

ROGER WILLIAMS 13, COLBY 10: Lily Cunningham and Devon Sarazin each scored four goals to lift the Seahawks (5-1) over the Mules (1-2) in Waterville.

Mandy Beck and Karly Chapin each had two goals for Roger Williams. Hannah Goodwin made 19 saves.

Annie Eddy and Elizabeth Hennessey led Colby with two goals apiece. Emily Podgorni stopped 11 shots.

FOOTBALL

VANBERBILT: Coach Clark Lea announced Nick Howell as the Commodores’ new defensive coordinator weeks after hiring him as defensive backs coach.

Howell replaces Jason Minter who left for the same job at Michigan.

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