LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - Trinity University maintained its one game lead on second place Colorado College thanks to a perfect 2-0 weekend sweep of SCAC action. The Texas Tigers beat Austin College, 80-67 before finishing the sweep with an 85-76 win over Centenary.
AROUND THE SCAC
Austin College went 1-1 over the weekend, falling 80-67 against Trinity before coming from behind to top Southwestern 57-52 to improve to 6-16 overall on the year. The ‘Roos have won three of their last four games. Walter Phillips scored 17 points and Alen Michael grabbed nine rebounds in the loss to the Tigers and Ransom Okpala scored 21 points and Michael again led the way on the glass with 10 boards in the win over the Pirates. For the week Okpala averaged 14 points, four rebounds, and three steals per game and Phillips averaged 10.5 points and 5.5 rebounds. Phillips also shot 70% from the field in the two games.
Centenary split a pair of SCAC contests on the weekend as the Gents snapped a four-game skid at Southwestern with a 68-58 victory. Jonathan Blount led the Maroon and White averaging 19.5 points on the weekend, including a 23-point effort in a loss at Trinity. The Shreveport, La., native posted a team-leading 16 points in the win over the Pirates as the only double-digit scorer for Centenary. JaColby Hardin-Crawford and Brooks Pawsat joined Blount in double figures in the decision at TU with 17 and 16 points respectively off the bench for the Maroon and White. Brett Bell paced the Gents on the glass with seven rebounds. Centenary travels to Colorado College for a pair of contests beginning on Friday.
Daniel Webb went 4-for-4 from behind the arc and finished with a
season-high 16 points to help Colorado College
record a 71-66 victory over the University of Dallas on Saturday
afternoon. The junior forward made six of seven shots from the
floor, grabbed five rebounds and blocked a career-high three shots
in just 14 minutes. After falling behind by seven points early in
the second half, the Tigers answered with a 10-0 run and took the
lead for the first time since early in the first half when Webb
dialed long distance on back-to-back possessions. Junior forward
Chris Lesnansky scored 15 points, while senior forward Ian Rewoldt
added 10 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Junior guard
Ryan Milne dished out eight assists, scored seven points and had
five rebounds. Rewoldt scored 17 points, including a key bucket
with 2:53 to play, as Colorado College posted a 65-61 victory at
Johnson & Wales University in its final non-conference game of
the campaign. Not only did Rewoldt's final basket prove to be the
difference in the game, it made the senior forward the 48th player
in program history to record 600 career points. The Tigers play
their final home games of the 2012-13 campaign next Friday and
Saturday when Centenary makes its first visit to Colorado
Springs.
Dallas (11-9, 6-5 SCAC) fell 71-66 to Colorado College on
Saturday afternoon in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Crusaders led
37-35 at halftime after converting 15-of-24 (62.5 percent) from the
floor, but 11 second-half points by Chris Lesnansky helped the
Tigers to a five-point victory. In defeat, junior forward Ross
Davidson and sophomore forward Aaron Wyatt each finished with 11
points and a combined 14 rebounds. On tap this week for the Dallas
are two home games versus Austin College -- Wednesday (8 p.m.) and
Saturday (4 p.m.).
Free throw margin was a huge factor this week as
Southwestern dropped two SCAC games at home to
drop to 8-13 overall and 4-7 in the SCAC. In both contests SU shot
fewer free throws than their opponents made and couldn't get the
run they needed in the second half to pull out the win. The Pirates
fell to Centenary 68-58 and 57-52. Southwestern heads to San
Antonio on Wednesday to face Trinity before TU makes the return
trip on Saturday.
Trinity swept SCAC home games against
both Austin College and Centenary over the weekend, keeping a
one-game lead in the conference standings. The Tigers opened with
an 80-67 win over Austin on Friday, then posted an 85-76 win over
Centenary on Sunday afternoon. With the wins, Trinity swept all
three regular season meetings in the series, winning twice on the
road against both teams earlier this year. The weekend also marks
the first time this season that Trinity has scored 80 or more
points in consecutive games, and the Tigers have reached 80 points
just four times this season. Trinity will continue its quest for
the SCAC Tournament’s top seed with a pair of games against
Southwestern University this week. The Tigers and Pirates will
match up at Trinity on Wednesday, then will finish the regular
season series with a game at Georgetown, Texas, on Saturday.
Earlier this year, Trinity defeated Southwestern 66-49 in San
Antonio.
To view the entire SCAC Hoops Weekly for Week 11,
click here.