LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - Trinity University and Colorado College wrapped up the top two seeds for the 2013 SCAC Men's Basketball tournament. The two will play for the top seed this coming weekend as the Colorado College Tigers hold the head-to-head tiebreaker for the No. 1 seed in the SCAC tournament.
AROUND THE SCAC
Austin College dropped their two games against
the University of Dallas last week, falling 59-53 on Wednesday
before being edged in the last minute 82-78 on Saturday. The 'Roos
are now 6-18 overall on the year. Walter Phillips averaged 17
points and 7.5 rebounds while shooting 65% from the field and
knocking down all four of his three point attempts in the two
games, and poured in a career high 27 points on Saturday while
hitting 10-of-14 shots and 3-of-3 from long range. Alen Michael
scored 16 on Wednesday, and Ransom Okpala scored 10 in that game.
On Saturday, Jordan Hancock scored 18 and Okpala scored 15 while
handing out five assists in the loss.
Centenary dropped both contests at Colorado
College on the weekend, falling by single digits in both outings
against one of the top teams in the SCAC. The setbacks conclude the
Maroon and White’s season-long, five-game, road swing in
which Centenary lost three contests by under double figures.
Jonathan Blount led the Gents on the week with a total of 33
points. Brett Bell paced the squad on the glass with total 16
rebounds. Centenary returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 16 against
Austin College.
Colorado College overcame a double-digit first-half
deficit for the second game in a row to post a 65-61 victory over
Centenary College on Friday night. The Gents jumped out to an early
16-5 lead, and despite several comeback attempts by the Tigers,
maintained that advantage until there was less than three minutes
remaining in the half. A three-pointer by freshman guard Juwan
Rohan ignited a 10-0 run that saw CC pull to within 29-28, and the
Tigers trailed by only three points after 20 minutes. Freshman
guard Justin Berardino drained the first of his two three pointers
to tie the game with 3:10 to play, and 25 seconds after freshman
forward Tyler Jonas blocked a shot, he put Colorado College ahead
to stay with a trey from the right wing. Despite playing just 24
minutes because of foul trouble, sophomore forward Chris Lesnansky
finished with a game-high 17 points. Senior forward Ian Rewoldt
added 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds and became the 14th
Tiger to record 500 or more. Junior point guard Milne finished with
seven points and became the 18th player in program history to reach
the 1,000-point mark. In his final home appearance, Rewoldt set
career highs with 21 points and 18 rebounds to lead Colorado
College to an 88-79 victory over Centenary on Saturday night. The
Tigers extended their season-best winning streak to five games and
pulled even with Trinity atop the conference standings. CC got a
huge performance from Lesnansky, who scored a game-high 22 points
and grabbed 10 rebounds en route to his third double-double of the
season. Milne added 13 points and four assists before fouling out
with 1:36 remaining. Leading just 35-33 after 20 minutes, the
Tigers used a 20-7 early in the second half to take a 55-40 lead
when Berardino dialed long distance with 12:55 remaining. The Gents
got to within 85-79 with 28 seconds to play, but Colorado College
sank three of four free throws to put the game away. The Tigers
close out the regular season at Trinity and Southwestern on Friday
and Sunday, respectively.
Dallas (13-9, 8-5 SCAC) went 2-0 on the week in a pair of
home games against Austin College, and have shored up the No. 3
seed heading into the conference's postseason play. On Wednesday at
the Maher Athletic Center, the Crusaders triumphed 59-53 behind
Ross Davidson's game-high 19 points. Head coach Jarred Samples'
squad then achieved an 82-78 win on Saturday afternoon thanks to
Davidson's 21 points and 20 from Tanner Bruffey to earn a sweep of
the 'Roos. Bruffey and Drew Assinesi will be honored on Monday, as
Dallas celebrates Senior Night with a 7:30 p.m. tilt versus
Arlington Baptist College. The Crusaders will then take to the road
-- Southwestern University (Friday, 8 p.m.); Trinity University
(Saturday, 6 p.m.) -- to round out the regular season.
Southwestern went 1-1 in SCAC conference play against
Trinity this week to move to 9-13 on the year and 5-9 in the SCAC.
Wednesday in San Antonio SU ran into a hot shooting Trinity team
and fell 68-49. Saturday in Georgetown, Southwestern was able to
get their revenge as they dominated the glass and buckled down
defensively. SU was +14 in rebounds for the game and got hot from
the free throw line just in time to take the 70-63 win. The Pirates
close out SCAC regular-season action at home this weekend as they
face the University of Dallas on Friday night and Colorado College
on Sunday.
Trinity split a home-and-home week with
Southwestern, beating the Pirates on Wednesday, but falling in the
regular season finale on Saturday night. The Tigers secured the
season series with a 68-49 win, but followed that with a 70-63 loss
to close the weekend. Trinity remains in first place in the SCAC
standings, with the SCAC Tournament’s top seed to be decided
next weekend. The Tigers will host Colorado College and the Dallas
in the final games of the regular season on Friday and Saturday.
The three schools are currently the top three teams in the
conference standings.
To view the entire SCAC Hoops Weekly for Week 12,
click here.