LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - With the 2012-13 regular season complete, attention turns to the 2013 SCAC Men's Basketball Tournament where all six men's basketball teams will travel to Austin College to compete for the 2013 SCAC Men's Basketball Championship and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
AROUND THE SCAC
Austin College dropped a heartbreaker on the
road against Centenary on Saturday, falling 73-72 when the Gents
got two free throws with 0.1 seconds remaining. The 'Roos finish
the regular season with an overall record of 6-19. Ransom Okpala
put the 'Roos ahead with less than 20 seconds left before Centenary
went down to the other end and drew a foul with a fraction of a
second remaining. Okpala finished with 19 points and six rebounds
to lead the 'Roos and Alen Michael posted a double-double with 11
points and 11 boards. Andre Bryant and Jordan Hancock each scored
10 points in the loss.
Centenary snapped a three-game skid heading into
the SCAC Tournament with a 73-72 win over Austin College on
Saturday evening. Jonathan Blount provided the late game heroics
knocking down a pair of free throws with 0.01 seconds on the clock.
The junior tied for the team lead in scoring with 14 points with 10
coming in the second half. The Shreveport, La., native finished the
night 10-of-12 from the line. Caden Cheramie joined Blount with 14
points in the game with Brett Bell adding 12 and 10 points coming
from Brooks Pawsat. Pawsat also led the team with six
rebounds.
Colorado College wasted a 23-point performance by junior
point guard Ryan Milne and dropped a 68-52 decision in the battle
for first place at Trinity on Friday night. Milne made 9 of 22
shots from the field, including five of 15 attempts from
three-point range. He also dished out a team-high six assists and
grabbed five rebounds to aid the defense. Foul trouble plagued CC
during the first 20 minutes, as Trinity went 14-for-20 at the
charity stripe. The Tigers went on a 19-10 run of their own to pull
within eight points early in the second half. Milne's 60-foot
buzzer beater gave Colorado College a 64-62 victory over
Southwestern in the regular-season finale on Sunday. He finished
with 21 points, including 12 from behind the arc to become the
ninth player in program history to make more than 150 in a career.
Milne also dished out four assists and grabbed three steals. Chris
Lesnansky and junior guard Jake Tramutolo aided CC's offense with
12 and 11 points, respectively. Lesnansky led the team with nine
rebounds, while Rewoldt grabbed eight boards. The Tigers play
either Austin or Dallas in the semifinals of the SCAC Tournament on
Saturday at 7 p.m.
Dallas (14-11, 8-7 SCAC) rounded out their 2012-13 regular
season with a 1-2 week. The Crusaders prevailed 61-60 over
Arlington Baptist College on Monday evening at the Maher Athletic
Center. Prior to the senior night game, seniors Drew Assinesi and
Tanner Bruffey were honored in a ceremony at midcourt. Bruffey
finished with a game-high 19 points against the Patriots in his
final home game. Dallas proceeded to fall 72-62 and 65-61 on the
road to Southwestern University and Trinity University,
respectively. In defeat, Bruffey netted game-highs of 22 and 27
points. Head coach Jarred Samples' squad enters the conference
tournament as the No. 3 seed and will face host school Austin
College on Friday at 7 p.m. in Sherman, Texas.
Southwestern closed out the regular season at home, going
1-1 to end at 10-15 overall and 6-9 in conference play. On Friday
night SU took control in the final three minutes of the game and
held on to win 72-62 over the University of Dallas. The Pirates
ended the regular season with a heartbreaker against Colorado
College on Sunday. After battling back form 17 points down in the
second half, SU trailed by one with under a minute to play and got
a huge defensive stop with a block by Travis Kurtz. Michael Cantu
scored in transition with a great assist from Sean Myers with three
ticks left on the clock. CC's Ryan Milne took the inbound pass to
half court and threw up a desperation three that was right on the
money to steal the win from Southwestern 64-62. The Pirates enter
the SCAC conference tournament as the #4 seed and face Centenary
Friday at 5 p.m. in the first round.
Trinity locked up the top seed in the
SCAC Tournament with a pair of home wins over Colorado College and
the University of Dallas over the weekend. The Tigers needed to win
both to secure the top spot in the standings. Friday’s game
was between the top two teams in the SCAC, and Trinity was able to
avoid the season series sweep with a 68-52 win. The Tigers then
edged Dallas 65-61 to ensure the top seed in next weekend’s
tournament. William Young handed out 10 total assists over the
weekend, giving him 113 on the season. That total ties him for
second in Trinity history for a single season, and is the most
assists for a Tiger player since Danny Murphy dished out 113
assists in 1978-79. Young is also just 11 assists from becoming the
16th player in school history to reach 200 in a career. As the top
seed, Trinity receives one of two byes in the first round of the
SCAC Tournament, and therefore will not play until Saturday at 5
p.m. The Tigers will face the winner of #4 Southwestern and #5
Centenary, who tip off the tournament at 5 p.m. on Friday
evening. The finals will be at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday
afternoon.
To view the entire SCAC Hoops Weekly for Week 13,
click here.
