AREA COLLEGES | Saturday's games

NAIA playoffs
St. Francis 42, Walsh 3
FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- Taylor Vieck rushed for 119 yards and two touchdowns on six carries to lead St. Francis in the first round of the NAIA playoffs. Walsh (9-3) took a 3-0 lead on a 21-yard Mike Lum field goal before the Cougars (11-0) scored 42 straight points. Daniel Carter ran for a 65-yard touchdown in the third quarter and finished with 78 yards rushing on five carries for St. Francis. Eric Hooks was 13-of-19 for 181 yards and a touchdown for the Cougars.
Division III playoffs
St. John's 21, Central College 13
PELLA, Iowa -- Alex Kofoed threw for 216 yards and two scores as St. John's (Minn.) beat Central College 21-13 Saturday in the first-round of the NCAA Division III playoffs. The Johnnies (10-1) will face the winner of Whitworth (Wash.) and Occidental (Calif.) on the road next week. St. John's never trailed Central, preserving key drives by converting all four of its fourth-down tries. "They were very good on fourth down," Central coach Jeff McMartin said. "Give them credit. The plays they got were well-executed." Iowa Conference champion Central (10-1), which was making a record-tying 18th Division III playoff appearance, had trouble protecting quarterback Tim Connell. Entering the game Connell had been sacked three times this season. St. John's sacked him four times and forced two turnovers. "We needed to protect the quarterback a little better and we didn't take care of the ball as well as we have all year," McMartin said. "But our guys really battled hard. We had a tremendous season and our players have a lot to be of." St. John's grabbed a 7-0 lead on a 23-yard pass from Kofoed to Mike Lofboom with 19 seconds left in the second quarter. Central quickly responded as running back Vance Schuring raced down the sideline for a 63-yard gain to the 6-yard line that set up a touchdown. St. John's blocked the extra point attempt to preserve the lead.
Men's basketball
Kent State 61, Detroit 48
KENT -- Sherman Rodriguez scored 14 points, including four points during a 13-2 run to close the first half that gave Kent State the lead for good. Mike Scott and Armon Gates scored 12 points apiece for Kent State (3-1). Gates also has eight rebounds. Mike Scott hit two foul shots with 5:45 left in the first half to tie the game for Detroit (1-2) before Kent State began its run on tip in by Haminn Quaintance. Rodriguez hit a jumper to give Kent State a 27-23 lead and then made two foul shots to make it 36-25 at the half. Detroit didn't get closer than nine in the second half. Brandon Cotton led Detroit with 14 points. Jon Goode and Chris Hayes scored 11 apiece. Kent State shot 45 percent from the field, 24-of-53, to 38 percent, 19-of-50, for Detroit. The Golden Flashes scored 21 points off of 14 Detroit turnovers while Detroit had just eight points off eight Kent State turnovers.
Associated Press