SUWANEE, Ga. - With only two weeks left in the regular season, the final berths in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference basketball tournament should go down to the wire. Hendrix College, the most recent team to earn a conference tournament berth, did so by sweeping a pair of SCAC games at Colorado College and at Austin College. That brings the total number of conference tournament teams to five of eight.
In the Eastern Division Sewanee-The University of the South has a two game lead over Rhodes College for the final Eastern berth. The Western Division is jumbled from third-place all the way through sixth-place with Austin College holding a mere three game lead over sixth place Colorado College.
AROUND THE SCAC
Austin held off a
late charge by Millsaps to pick up a 78-74 win on Friday before
falling in a tough game against Hendrix 71-63 on
Sunday. Against Millsaps, the ‘Roos led by as many as 15
in the second half before the Majors fought back to within two with
three seconds to play, but a pair of free throws in the final
seconds iced the win for Austin College. Chris Sturtevant had
a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds and Kola Alade added
15 points and five assists. Arron Mewbourn came off the bench
to score 14 points. Alade scored 20 points and grabbed nine
boards and Sturtevant added 14 points and nine rebounds in the
defeat.
Birmingham-Southern (10-11) played from behind in
both games this weekend, closing out their 2008-09 conference home
schedule with losses to #25 DePauw and Centre. Friday, the
Panthers gave up 21 unanswered points to open the game and spent
the rest of the night playing catch-up, falling
75-61. Sunday's meeting with Centre saw no major collapses,
but the Colonels controlled the game from tip to buzzer, defeating
BSC 56-44. Aaron Parr led the Panthers in both games. The
sophomore scored 13 points against DePauw on Friday and then
grabbed the first double-double of his college career with 11
points and 10 rebounds. The Panthers travel to Sewanee on
Friday for a 6:00 p.m. start before heading down to Atlanta on
Sunday to face Oglethorpe at noon (1 p.m. eastern).
No. 23 Centre rebounded from their last
second loss to Trinity to win two SCAC road games against Rhodes
College and Birmingham-Southern. The Colonels traveled to
Rhodes for the first game of the SCAC weekend and won
73-69. Against Rhodes the Colonels were paced by four starters
scoring in double-figures. Two days later at
Birmingham-Southern the Colonels came out on top again, with a
56-44 win. The Colonels have won by double digits in 7 or
their 11 SCAC conference games. Centre is now 17-4 overall and
9-2 in the SCAC with a big home SCAC rivalry game against DePauw up
next.
Colorado
College's Lance Jacobs led the
Tigers with 19 points during Friday's loss to Hendrix College. It
marked the 12th time this season he scored in double figures. Brady
Ohlsen posted his fourth double-double of the season with 19 points
and 11 rebounds on Sunday against Millsaps. He also had a
career-high seven assists. Nate Brodman finished with a season-high
17 points, 12 of which came on three-point baskets. Brodman ranks
No. 6 with 177 career threes. CC made a season-high 13 shots from
behind the arc against the Majors. Jacobs needs 47 points to reach
1,000 career points, while Brodman needs 51. Colorado College will
play host to the University of Dallas on Friday at 1 p.m. and
Austin College next Saturday in their final home games of the
season.
No. 22 DePauw
improved to 17-5 overall and 9-2 in the SCAC following a weekend
sweep at Birmingham-Southern (75-61) and Rhodes (82-63). In
Friday's win at Birmingham-Southern, the Tigers scored 21 straight
points early in the first half and maintained the lead the rest of
the way. Mike Moore led all scorers with 29, while Tom Callen added
15 and Joe Bergfeld followed with 10. At Rhodes on
Sunday, DePauw held the Lynx to just two points over
the final nine minutes of the first half as it wrapped up the
opening 20 minutes with a 15-2 run and a 39-25 halftime lead. The
Tigers led by as many as 29 in the second half. Moore led the
Tigers with 23 points, while James added 12 points with six assists
and three steals. Tom Callen posted a double-double of 11 points
and a career-high 12 rebounds. The Tigers shot 56.6 percent for the
game and held a 34-25 rebounding edge with just nine turnovers.
Hendrix picked up a pair of SCAC wins over the
weekend at Colorado College on Friday and Austin College on Sunday.
The Warriors now boast a 15-7 overall record and 8-4 conference
mark. Hendrix first year forward Nick Heathscott scored a
career-high 20 points in 14 minutes of action, while senior forward
Andrew King and junior guard Cal Rose tallied 19 and 18 points,
respectively, to lead the Warriors past Colorado 85-78 on Friday.
Four points is as close as the Tigers would get in the second half
when senior guard Lance Jacobs knocked down a jumper with 12:28 to
go. The Warriors blazed the net during the second half on 53.6
percent shooting from the field. King and Rose scored 16 points
apiece to lead the Warriors to a 71-63 win over Austin on Sunday.
Millsaps split its
final two games of a four-game road swing, falling 78-74 at Austin
before a bounce back win at Colorado College, 76-66, to stay alive
for a spot in the SCAC Tournament. Senior guard Chad Songy had
a breakout weekend, averaging 24.0 points, 3.5 assists and 3.0
rebounds-per-game, including a career-high 30 points against the
‘Roos on Friday. Senior counterpart Chris Sanders pumped
in a pair of double-doubles behind Songy, averaging 17 points and
12 rebounds during the road trip. Millsaps rallied from a
15-point second half deficit at AC before falling by
four. Against CC, Songy led four Millsaps scorers in double
figures with a team-high 18. The Majors will return home for
two games next weekend, hosting 12th-ranked Trinity on Friday and
Southwestern on Sunday. Senior night is slated for Friday
prior to tipoff against Trinity.
Oglethorpe split two contests this past week,
stepping out of conference to top Piedmont in overtime on Feb. 4,
87-79 before losing to Sewanee on Saturday night in double
overtime, 92-88. In the win over the Lions, four starters hit for
double figures to help spring the Petrels to the non-conference
victory. In the extra session it was all Oglethorpe as the Petrels
ran away from the Lions by the score 15-7 to secure the road
victory. Sophomore Todd Ward led Oglethorpe with a monster night
that included 22 points on 11 of 15 shooting, 17 rebounds, 4
assists and three blocked shots. Oglethorpe is now 14-7 (6-5) on
the season and will return home to face Rhodes College on
homecoming this Friday at 6:00 p.m.
Rhodes lost both games this weekend, losing to
Centre 73-69 and then DePauw 82-63. On Friday night, Rhodes
shot 47% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc but could not
overcome Centre. Rhodes placed three players in double
figures, with Nathan Ollie leading the way with 19
points. Dean Shroyer chipped in 11 off the bench and Rob
Bledsoe notched 10. On Sunday, Rhodes had the score tied at 21
but DePauw closed the first half on an 18-4 run. Cory Smith
led the Lynx with 19 points. Smith, Bledsoe and Reid Hamilton
each grabbed a team high five rebounds. Rhodes travels to
Oglethorpe, and Sewanee this weekend for their final road trip of
the season.
After falling to opponent Maryville on Wednesday,
Sewanee rallied on Saturday topping Oglethorpe in
a double-overtime SCAC thriller. Sewanee led 37-35 at the half and
a pair of Ben Pursell free-throws tied the game at 74 at the end of
regulation. Pursell came through in the clutch at the end of the
first overtime, draining a three-pointer to even the score at 79.
The Tigers controlled the second OT period, gaining the eventual
four-point win. Casey Berry had a double-double for Sewanee,
logging 16 points and 11 assists, while Kenton Coleman led Sewanee
with 22 points. Coleman was 6-8 from behind the three-point line.
Bradley Pierson had 19 points and Pursell had 18. Sewanee is now
5-16 and 3-8 in the SCAC and will host BSC and Rhodes this
weekend.
Southwestern had just one game on the road at SCAC
rival Trinity on Saturday. The Pirates were out rebounded in
the contest which proved to be the difference in the game, 86-78.
The Tigers of Trinity had 18 offensive rebounds which resulted in
28 second-half points. Southwestern shot 50% from the field, but
Trinity went 10-21 (47.6%) from beyond the arc. Three Pirates were
in double figures in the game led by junior guard Zach Bergstrom
who scored 18 points. Senior forward Andrew McDonald and junior
guard Anthony Cox followed with 16 and 12 points respectively.
Southwestern will embark on their final regular season road trip of
the season as they travel as they travel to Hendrix Friday and
Millsaps Sunday.
No. 11 Trinity won a pair of games last week, defeating the University of Dallas 73-58 on Tuesday, then downing Southwestern 86-78 on Saturday evening. Trinity remains atop the SCAC standings with a 19-2 overall record and a 10-1 SCAC mark. Head Coach Pat Cunningham secured his 350th career win on Saturday night against Southwestern. Cunningham, who is in his 10th season at the helm of the Tiger men's basketball program, compiled 38 wins at Manchester College and 114 wins at the University of Chicago. He is also nearing 200 wins since coming to Trinity, totaling 198 heading into this weekend. Charles Houston broke his own single season steals record during the week, and he now has 61 steals this season. He is six steals from breaking Trinity's career record for steals, and with eight more steals Houston will tie for a spot in the top 10 in SCAC history for a single season. Only nine players in conference history have ever recorded 70 or more steals in one year. The Tigers travel to Millsaps and Hendrix this weekend, continuing conference play. Trinity swept the two teams earlier this year in San Antonio.
For the complete SCAC Men's Hoops Weekly for Week 12, click here.