SUWANEE, Ga. - Trinity University clinched a spot in the 2010 SCAC Tournament with a 79-78 overtime win at Colorado College. All but one of the eight tournament spots have been wrapped up and the final spot in the West will be determined on the final weekend of the regular season (Feb. 19-21).

AROUND THE SCAC

Austin College wrapped up the home portion of it’s 2009-10 slate with a pair of big wins over Trinity and Southwestern, and with those two victories the ‘Roos clinched the top seed in the SCAC West Division with an overall record of 18-5 and a conference mark of 11-3. The 18 wins is already the second most in a season in school history, with a program record of 19 being set in the 1957-58 season. Against Trinity the ’Roos used a 21-0 run to break things open in the second half before holding on for a 70-61 win over the Tigers. Kola Alade shot 7-of-11 from the field and had 15 points and eight rebounds while Scott Straley added 11 points and Arron Mewbourn had 10. Against Southwestern, the ’Roos again used a big second half run and led by as much as 18 before ultimately coming away with a 76-64 win. Alade, Kyle Lintelman and Nick Wade each had 15 points and knocked down 5-of-6 three pointers and Chris Sturtevant added 10 points. This weekend the ‘Roos close out the regular season at Hendrix and Millsaps.

Birmingham-Southern clinched a piece of the East Division title with another conference win this weekend. The Panthers (19-3, 11-3) defeated Rhodes on Saturday, 92-58, to take a two-game lead into the final weekend. Both remaining games are with the two teams currently tied for second, and the top seed in the SCAC tournament due to BSC’s provisional status. ‘Southern will travel to Centre on Friday before wrapping up the season at DePauw on Sunday.

Centre earned a pair of SCAC road wins this last weekend defeating Oglethorpe 70-62 Friday and then Sewanee 56-38 Sunday. Of the four halves of basketball the Colonels played over the weekend, the defense allowed nine or less made field goals in three of them, including only two makes in the first half against Sewanee and only 11 for the entire game. After dropping three-straight games, Centre has now won three straight to tie DePauw for second place in the conference with two games to play. Centre, now 13-8 overall and 9-5 in the SCAC, will host Birmingham Southern and Rhodes this weekend.

Nick Rose poured in 32 points as Colorado College came from behind to defeat Southwestern, 81-67, on Friday night. Brady Ohlsen posted his fourth double-double of the year with 10 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Ryan Harty finished with a season-high 15 points, while Jarrell Sweet added 14 points and six assists. On Saturday night, Sweet’s driving layup wouldn’t drop as time expired and Trinity escaped with a 79-78 overtime victory. The loss spoiled a dramatic comeback that saw CC nearly overcome a six-point deficit during the final 1:36 of overtime. Rose finished with a game-high 33 points. Ohlsen posted his fifth double-double of the year with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Colorado College wraps up the regular season with games at Millsaps and Hendrix next Friday and Sunday, respectively.

DePauw is 16-7 overall and 9-5 in the conference after splitting the final two road games of the season. The Tigers defeated Sewanee by a 50-41 score and lost at Oglethorpe, 77-70. In the win at Sewanee, the Tigers committed just six turnovers and allowed the fewest points all season. Tony James hit two free throws with 55 seconds left to give DePauw a 46-37 lead. The hosts got no closer than seven the rest of the way. James led the Tigers with 13 points and three steals, while Tommy Weakley followed with 11. Ryan Sever added six rebounds in the win. In Sunday's loss at Oglethorpe, David Gray's bucket with 55 seconds left tied the game at 70-70, but Oglethorpe scored the game's final seven points. Weakley matched a career high with 14 points and nailed four three-pointers. James added 12 points and three steals, while Steve followed with 11 and knocked in three three-pointers.

Hendrix went 0-2 this week with a non-conference loss to University of Dallas on Tuesday evening and a SCAC loss to Millsaps on Saturday afternoon. The Warriors fall to 6-15 overall and 3-11 in conference play. Dallas outscored Hendrix, 11-2, in the final four minutes and Crusaders’ senior guard Jim Norton finished the run on two free throws with just nine ticks left on the clock to give Dallas the 65-64 win at Grove Gymnasium. Hendrix led 60-54 with 3:58 remaining in regulation, until Dallas used a 3-pointer, a pair of jumpers and 4-for-4 shooting from the line in the last minute to make its game-winning run. Hendrix struggled from the field with just five baskets in the second half and 25.5 percent shooting in the 49-38 loss to West Division foe Millsaps at the Hangar Dome. Neither team led by more than five points in the first 24 minutes and Millsaps owned just a 28-25 advantage after 20 minutes. The Majors did not stretch its lead past eight points until the Warriors were forced to foul with under a minute remaining in the second half.

Millsaps took a three-point lead into halftime and closed the game on an 11-1 run to defeat Hendrix College 49-38 Saturday afternoon at The Hangar Dome to remain in the hunt for the final playoff spot in the SCAC West Division. On a night when both teams struggled to find offense, the Majors converted 10-of-12 free throws in the second half to secure the conference victory. With the win, the Majors move to 10-12 overall and 6-8 in the SCAC. Hendrix went on a 7-0 run over a four minute span in the second half to get back into the game down just one, 38-37 but the Majors responded by controlling play in the final five minutes, outscoring the Warriors 11-1 to preserve the crucial win, 49-38. Varnado led the Majors with 12 points, on 5-of-10 shooting, while Chris Ingle pulled down eight rebounds. With only two conference games remaining, Millsaps remains in the hunt for a playoff spot and hosts Colorado College next Friday night at 8 p.m., a team they sit a game behind in the standings.

Oglethorpe split two home contests this past weekend against SCAC East rivals Centre (L, 70-62) and DePauw (W, 77-70). In Friday’s loss to Centre, The Petrels were done in by a 21% (6-29) shooting performance in the first half that sent them to the locker room trailing 38-19. The The Petrels were led by Todd Ward's 20 points and nine rebounds on the evening. David Allison was the only other Petrel in double-figures with 13 in the home conference loss. Sunday’s game against DePauw was a classic that was tied at 70 with 55 seconds left and featured 14 ties and 9 lead changes. The Petrels scored the final 7 points of the contest before a jubilant crowd in the Dorough Field House to earn the win. The second half was a classic battle that saw the lead change hands seven times and the two teams tied on 11 occasions. Ward led the Petrels yet again with 21 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Alex Richey added 13 points and Erik Strong scored 11 in his first career start to round out the Petrels in double-figures. Oglethorpe is now 13-10 on the season and 8-7 in SCAC play.

Rhodes dropped its only game of the week to Birmingham-Southern 92-58. Rhodes placed three players in double digits, with Nathan Ollie scoring a game- high 14 points. Kory Kilpatrick (Athens, GA) and Andrew Galow (Oswego, IL) scored 12 and 11 respectively. Galow led the Lynx with a game-high 8 rebounds. Rhodes shot just 31% from the field, but did connect on 75% of their free throws (27-36). Rhodes won the rebounding battle 37-33 including 14 offensive rebounds.

Sewanee fell 50-41 to DePauw on Friday and 53-38to Centre on Sunday. Newcomer Matt Cowan led Sunday with a career high 11points. Garrett Hollingsworth is leading with 9.5 points per game. Sewanee is now 4-19 overall and 1-14 in the SCAC. The Tigers will play anon-conference game at Tennessee Temple Tuesday before heading to Oglethorpe Saturday to wrap up the 2009-10 season.

Southwestern dropped their final two road games of the regular season to relinquish a shot at a first place seed at the SCAC tournament as they fell to Colorado College on Friday and Austin College on Sunday. The normally sharp shooting Pirates hit cold streaks in both contests that allowed their opponents to mount a lead that was insurmountable. SU closes their season with senior day on Friday as they play host to conference rival Trinity and look to retain second place in the West.

Trinity punched its ticket to the SCAC Tournament with an overtime win over Colorado College on Saturday night, which followed a narrow loss at Austin College on Friday. Heading into the weekend, Trinity had various ways to qualify for the tournament, but the easiest was accomplished with the 79-78 win in overtime over Colorado College. The Tigers lost 70-61 against Austin College the night before. Trinity will face Southwestern in its final SCAC game of the season on Friday, followed by a Saturday night game at the University of Dallas. Southwestern beat Trinity 78-56 earlier this season, which is the largest margin of victory in this series since Trinity defeated Southwestern 74-50 in 1997-98. It was Trinity’s biggest loss to Southwestern since a 108-77 defeat in 1986-87. Last year at Trinity, the Tigers defeated Dallas 73-58.

For the complete SCAC Men's Hoops Weekly for Week 12, click here.