SUWANEE, Ga. - Several SCAC teams were in action leading upto the Holiday break the week of December 15-21. Sixteenth ranked Centre and twenty-second ranked Trinity each completed 2-0 weeks at the Stormy Petrel Classic and Southwestern/Trinity University Holiday Classic, respectively. DePauw senior guard Mike Moore moved into second place on the all-time DePauw and SCAC assists list, while his Tigers nearly upset Division I Indiana State on the road.
AROUND THE SCAC
Austin split their
two games over the weekend, falling in a hard fought game against
the No. 24-ranked University of Texas-Dallas 72-63 and topping
Stevenson University 78-58. Against UTD, the Comets used a
20-8 run late in the game to break open what had been a back and
forth game. Kola Alade hit for 20 points and added six
rebounds and a pair of steals, and Chris Sturtevant added 12
points, eight rebounds and three assists. Spencer Burke
pulled down 10 boards in the game. Against Stevenson, the
‘Roos used some timely three pointers in the second half to
open up another close game on their way to the 20 point win.
Austin College used an incredibly balanced scoring attack in the
win, with 13 players getting into the scoring column and nine
players scoring at least six points. Alade led the way with
nine, while Taylor Beatty pulled down 12 boards and Burke added 11
rebounds and three blocked shots.
Birmingham-Southern (5-4) split its two games this
week. They won 60-57 on Wednesday at Huntingdon College before
falling 79-77 at Rust on Friday. BSC was paced on Wednesday
by Dominic Whicher with 16 points and 10 rebounds for the
double-double. Aaron Parr and Nathan West joined Whicher in
double-figures with 13 and 10 points
respectively. Whicher missed out being the game's
leading scorer by one point, Huntingdon's Jeremy Pittman
finished with 17 on the night. On Friday Nathan West led the
Panthers with 20 points, he just missed the double-double with nine
assists on the night. Rodger Williams finished with
19 and 6 rebounds. BSC will return to Bill Battle
Coliseum after the Holidays when they host Sewanee on January
2. Game time is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. in Birmingham.
After taking a week off for finals, No. 16 Centre
returned to action to earn a pair of non-conference road wins over
UC-Clermont and Thomas More to improve to 7-1. The Colonels, now on
a five-game winning streak, opened the week with a 71-54 win over
Clermont taking a 17-point lead into the locker room at halftime
and finishing with a 17-point road win. Two days later, Centre
defeated Thomas More 76-53 after leading by only two at the half.
The lead changed hands 13 times in the first half, but the Colonels
turned it up a notch in the second half shooting 58.3% (14-24),
while limiting the Saints to only 16.1 (5-31) in the second period.
The Colonels will take some time off and then return to action
Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 29-30 to host its annual Papa
John's/Country Hearth Inn Tournament. Centre will open against
Piedmont and then play Maryville on day two.
Colorado College closed out its
2008 portion of the schedule in historical fashion as the Tigers
earned its first ever Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
victory, a 71-56 win over Southwestern, back on December 6. The
Tigers are off until January 3 when it travels to Austin College to
pick back up SCAC play.
Steve Lemasters tied a career high
with 17 points and Tony James notched a career-best 15,
but Division I host Indiana State hung on for a 66-60 win
over DePauw . ISU held a 33-25 lead at the break
before the Tigers closed the gap to 35-34 as Lemasters nailed a
trio of three-pointers in the opening five minutes of the second
half. Joe Bergfeld's put back and Tom Callen's layup with 1:05 left
cut the margin to 62-58. DePauw's lone lead in the game came early
in the first half when it used an 8-0 run to take a 10-6 lead.
Indiana State scored the next seven and never relinquished the
lead. The Tigers dropped to 5-4 with the loss. Lemasters' 17-point
effort included a 4-of-7 performance from three-point range. Mike
Moore moved into second place on the DePauw and Southern Collegiate
Athletic Conference career lists with 492. DePauw returns to action
on Monday, December 29, when it faces Drew in the opening game of
the Tampa Bay Shootout. Tipoff from Tampa Prep School is set for 5
p.m.
Hendrix junior forward Michael Bertrand knocked
down a pair of clutch free throws with just one second remaining to
send the contest into its second overtime and the Warriors
outlasted the Mustangs in the final minutes. Hendrix stretches its
winning streak to six games and improves to 6-1 overall, while
Central Baptist ends a three-game winning streak and falls to 10-6
on the year. The Warriors will now look to their first opponent of
the Land of Magic Classic, Dickinson College, on Dec. 28 at 5 p.m.
CT in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Millsaps shot a
season-high 65 percent in the second half but could not overcome a
26-point halftime deficit in falling 85-56 to Division I
Southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday night at the University
Center. Behind junior Blake Martinez's 17, junior Cameron
Varnado scored 11 off the bench on 3-of-7 shooting. Chad Songy
edged a few spots closer in the career assists column, dishing out
a team-high four dimes to give him 224, just 25 shy of Phillip
Robinson for fifth all-time. The Majors will take the next
two weeks off for Christmas Break before returning to action Jan. 2
and 4 at conference foes Trinity and Southwestern University.
Oglethorpe won both games at the Stormy Petrel
Classic beating Buffalo State 73-70, and then beating
Pitt-Greensburg 88-71. Leading the way for the Petrels was Wade
Weldon who scored 18 points in both games. With the wins,
Oglethorpe improved to 8-2. The Stormy Petrels return to the courts
January 2 when it travels to Memphis, Tenn. for a showdown with
SCAC rival Rhodes and then travels to Birmingham-Southern for a
January 4 contest.
Rhodes won their lone game of the week, a 71-58
road victory over the University of Dallas. The Lynx used a
12-2 run to open the second half to overcome a sluggish first half
and a two point halftime deficit. The win raised the Lynx
record to 6-2 overall. Cory Smith had a double-double
(2nd of the season) with 29 points and 11
rebounds. Smith scored 21 points in the second half as the
Lynx posted 46 points on 54% shooting from the field in the
half. Nathan Ollie knocked in 15 points and Rob Bledsoe added
8 to go along with his 4 blocks. Andyshea Saberioon dished
out a game high 7 assists and Jeff Blumenthal grabbed 4 steals in
the victory. Rhodes is back in action after a short Christmas
break, when they host Westminster College (Mo.) on December
29th. Tipoff in Mallory Gymnasium is set for 3
pm. Rhodes then begins SCAC play with a January
2nd game versus Oglethorpe University and a January
4th game versus Sewanee.
Sewanee (2-7 overall, 0-2 SCAC) closed out its
2008 portion of the schedule December 9 with a 77-66 loss on the
road to Emory. The Tigers will resume play after the holidays at
Birmingham-Southern and Rhodes on January 2 and 4 respectively.
Southwestern was back in action this week in the
Southwestern/Trinity Classic in Georgetown, TX. A strong
second half led the Pirates to a 67-56 win over Marian University
(WI). Junior Zach Bergstrom led Southwestern with 17 points
shooting 50 percent from the field and beyond the arc.
Friday, in the second game of the night, Southwestern emerged
victorious in a very physical match-up with Lakeland College
(WI). Despite cold shooting, the Pirates' defense and A.C.
Cox's 13 points in the final 3:35 lifted Southwestern past the
Muskies, 55-51. The wins improve Southwestern to 6-3 on the
year. They will return to action after Christmas on December
29th with another home game against SUNY Institute of
Technology at 3:00 p.m.
No. 22 Trinity won a pair of games last week, defeating both Lakeland College and Marian University at the Southwestern/Trinity Holiday Classic in Georgetown, Texas. Trinity opened its week with an 83-52 win over Lakeland on Thursday evening, as B.J. Moon came close to opening the tournament with a triple-double. Moon finished with 13 points, seven assists, and six steals to lead the Tigers to victory. Charles Houston also had 13 points to go with seven rebounds and five steals. On Friday against Marian, Moon scored a season-high 19 points on 7-11 shooting and Houston posted a double-double, collecting 11 boards and 14 points. The win was the seventh straight for Trinity, marking the team's longest winning streak since the 2004-05 season. Trinity will be off until December 31, when the team will host SUNY Institute of Technology. The Tigers will then continue SCAC play against Millsaps and Hendrix on January 2 and January 3 at home.
For the complete SCAC Men's Hoops Weekly for Week 6, click here.