LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - Southwestern University picked up two huge road SCAC wins over weekend when the Pirates took down Colorado College 64-58 on Friday before finishing the conference sweep with a narrow 62-61 win at the University of Dallas. The wins put the Pirates just 1.5 games back of third-place Dallas in the league standings.
AROUND THE SCAC
Austin College shot nearly 60% from the field in their lone game against Centenary last week, as the ‘Roos exploded for 91 points in a 91-78 victory. The ‘Roos are now 5-15 overall and 2-8 in conference play, having won their last two games. Alen Michael made his senior day a memorable one, scoring 18 points, grabbing 12 rebounds, and blocking five shots as one of six players to hit double figures in the scoring column. Jordan Hancock added 18, Antoine Thompson had 13, Ransom Okpala added 12, Andre Bryant finished with 11, and Walter Phillips scored 10 in the victory.
Jonathan Blount posted a game-best 25 points as
Centenary dropped a 91-78 decision at Austin
College. It marked the 10th game with 20-plus points for the junior
and his 15th in double figures this season. The setback sets the
Gents back to 7-11 overall and 3-7 in the SCAC. Donovan Williams
joined Blount in double figures adding 13 points along with a
team-leading 8 rebounds in the effort. Williams has five games as
the leading rebounder and has scored in double figures four times.
The Gents, who shot 41.7 percent from the field in the contest,
garnered 21 points off of 15 Roo miscues, but it wasn’t
enough to snap a four-game skid.
Colorado College split a pair of home games last weekend,
but managed to remain a half-game out of first place. The Tigers
shot a season-low 29.8 percent from the floor and committed 15
turnovers during a 64-58 loss to Southwestern on Friday night.
After shooting just under 22 percent while scoring a season-low 16
first-half points, CC got its game in gear and cut a 16-point
deficit to three with 18.8 seconds remaining. However the Pirates
made just enough of their free throws during the closing minutes to
hand the Tigers their first conference loss at Reid Gymnasium.
Sophomore forward Chris Lesnansky scored a game-high 18 points and
grabbed eight rebounds to pace the Tigers. Freshman guard Luke
Winfield had a season-high 12 points, while senior forward Ian
Rewoldt added 10 points and eight rebounds. Facing a must-win
situation on Saturday night, Colorado College built a 21-point lead
in the second half and hung on for a 63-52 victory over first-place
Trinity. The Tigers opened the second half with a 28-9 run to break
open the defensive struggle that saw CC lead 21-19 after 20
minutes. TU pulled to within 59-51 with 1:59 to play, but Colorado
College answered with buckets by Lesnansky and Rewoldt to re-gain
control. Lesnansky poured in a game-high 19 points, grabbed six
rebounds and tied his career high with five assists, while Rewoldt
recorded his second double-double of the season with 12 points and
11 rebounds. With the sixth of his seven assists, junior point
guard Ryan Milne became the sixth player in program history to
record 300 or more in his career. Milne finished with 10 points,
including a key 3-point basket that gave his team a 59-48 lead with
2:15 to play. CC posted a 40-28 advantage on the glass, its second
largest of the season. Colorado College continues its five-game
home stand on Saturday with a matinee against the University of
Dallas that tips off at noon.
Dallas (11-8, 6-4 SCAC) went 0-2 in conference home games
on the week. The Crusaders led 25-23 at halftime over Trinity,
before falling 64-53 on Friday evening. Dallas held a 53-50
advantage with 3:26 remaining, but the Tigers tallied a 14-0 run
down the stretch. Trinity managed five 3-pointers and a 14-of-17
clip from the free-throw line in the second half. Senior forward
Tanner Bruffey finished with a team-high 15 points in defeat, while
junior forward Ross Davidson added 14. On Sunday afternoon at the
Maher Athletic Center, Dallas erased a 10-point halftime deficit
only to have Southwestern dish a 62-61 defeat. Sophomore guard Kym
Malone tied the game at 60 when he netted a 3-pointer with 36
seconds left in regulation. Sean Myers produced what proved the
game-winning backdoor layup for Trinity with 10 seconds remaining.
Sophomore forward Aaron Wyatt was fouled with two second to go, but
could only put home his first free throw attempt. Wyatt garnered a
double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds) for the Crusaders, while
Bruffey registered a game-high 15 points. Dallas plays once this
week, a 3 p.m. road affair Saturday at Colorado
College.
Southwestern went 2-0 in SCAC play this weekend to improve
to 8-11 overall and 3-5 in the SCAC. The Pirates began play this
week in Colorado Springs, Colorado to face Colorado College. The
Pirates got 45 points from their bench and built a big lead in the
first half. CC chipped away at the lead in the second half and
pulled within three points with 20 seconds remaining, but Michael
Cantu and Adrian Johnson calmly stepped to the line to seal the
64-58 win. On Sunday, Southwestern was able to get revenge over the
University of Dallas with a 62-61 win. Travis Kurtz made the first
and last baskets of the game to give the Pirates the win. The
Pirates enter their final round of SCAC play this weekend,
returning home to face Centenary College on Friday night and Austin
College on Saturday.
Trinity split a pair of SCAC games over
the weekend, but maintained its spot in first place in the
conference standings. The Tigers opened with a 64-53 win over
Dallas on Friday, then suffered its second defeat in as many games
against Colorado College on Saturday night. Trinity lost 63-52 to
Colorado, following a 68-66 loss in San Antonio earlier this
season. The Tigers are 7-0 against the rest of the conference teams
so far this season, winning by double digits in five of those seven
games. This weekend, Trinity will open up a stretch of five home
games in the last six contests of the regular season. The
Tigers will host Austin College and Centenary this weekend, and
will look for a series sweep of the two teams. This will be the
first home games for the Tigers against these two opponents,
though, having won the last two meetings on the road.
To view the entire SCAC Hoops Weekly for Week 10,
click here.
