SUWANEE, Ga. - DePauw University, behind two wins, won its fifth consecutive Mike Rockicki Community Versus Cancer Challenge. The Tigers (4-0) topped Washington & Jefferson 76-68 Nov. 28. They then beat rival Wabash for the championship, 65-57 on Nov. 29.

AROUND THE SCAC

Austin College has gotten off to its best start in recent memory, opening the year 4-0 with wins over #12 UT-Dallas, LeTourneau, Rust College and Sul Ross State. In the season opening upset over the nationally ranked Comets, the ‘Roos came from behind to force overtime, where they jumped ahead by five points and never looked back on their way to a 79-77 victory. Kola Alade scored 15 points in the win, 13 of which came in the second half and overtime. Scott Straley set career highs in consecutive games, first by scoring 21 in a 72-63 win over LeTourneau and then following that up with 22 points in an 80-66 win over Rust. The ‘Roos closed out their opening week with a 77-63 victory over Sul Ross with Alade once again leading the way with 24 points and nine rebounds. Alade averaged 18.8 points per game over the first four games. The ‘Roos will once again face UT-Dallas this week when they travel to Richardson on Tuesday.

Birmingham-Southern is off to a 3-0 start to open the season with wins over LaGrange College, the University of the Ozarks, and Pensacola Christian. The Panthers won Nov. 16, 72-52 over a tough LaGrange team in the season openers for both squads, then they came into last weekend with Ozarks and PCC. In a 91-70 win over Ozarks Nov. 20, Freshman Jasen Jonus led the Panthers with 16 points for a young career high, setting the mark fairly high in only his second collegiate contest. Then on Nov. 21, senior Aaron Parr took over the lead with 16 points in the Panthers’ 84-66 win over the Eagles. BSC outscored their three opponents by a combined 59 points over the three games. With the week off for the Thanksgiving holidays, the Panthers have their first road game slated for November 30 against the same Pensacola Christian Eagles, this time in Florida. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Centre won its first game of the season defeating visiting Franklin College 79-51 in its only game of the week. The Colonels, which struggled to put the ball in the basket in the first half of each of their first two games, shot 48.1% (13-27) in the first half against the Grizzlies and even better in the second half at 60.0% (15-25) to win in convincing fashion. Centre also out-rebounded Franklin 34-29, tallied seven blocks and six steals. In addition, the Colonels shot 86.4% (19-22) from the free throw line. Centre will play Berea College, Birmingham Southern and Rhodes, all on the road, this week.

Junior forward Brady Ohlsen scored a career-high 28 points to lead Colorado College to an 89-79 victory over Crown College on Saturday afternoon in Lincoln, Neb. The Tigers improved to 3-1 for the first time since the 1996-97 season. Ohlsen struck for 10 points during a 22-2 run that saw CC turn a 43-33 deficit with 1:31 remaining in the first half into a 55-45 lead with 13:46 to play in the game. Nick Rose had 13 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals. Jarrell Sweet also had 13 points, while Ryan Harty added 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds. The Tigers shot season highs of .519 from the floor and .500 from behind the three-point line and needed that performance to stay within striking distance during the first half. Colorado College dropped its first game of the season, falling 65-55 at Nebraska Wesleyan on Friday night in the 21st Annual Snyder Classic.

DePauw improved to 4-0 and extended its home win streak to 15 with a pair of wins at their own Mike Rokicki Community Versus Cancer Challenge. The Tigers topped Washington & Jefferson by a 76-68 count on Saturday and then defeated Wabash in Sunday's title game by a 65-57 score. Guard Tony James was named the tournament Most Valuable Player and guard Sean Haseley was named to the all-tournament team. In the win over Washington & Jefferson, Ryan Russell led five DePauw double-digit scorers with a career-best 13 points, while Haseley added 12 and hit 10-of-11 from the free throw stripe. After leading by 16 points over Wabash at halftime of the championship game, DePauw held off a late Little Giants' rally which closed the gap to two points and took its fifth straight Mike Rokicki Community Versus Cancer Challenge title. Haseley led the Tigers with 16 with Lemasters following with 15.

Hendrix is off to a 2-1 start after dropping its season opener to University of the Ozarks on Nov. 15 and then sweeping its competition this past weekend at the Rhodes Tip-Off Classic. The Warriors won a pair of close games against Westminster College on Friday and Greenville College on Saturday. The Warriors shot just 33 percent against the Eagles, including an ice cold 27 percent effort in the second half. Hendrix won an 80-78 contest over Westminster and an 85-76 come-from-behind win over Greenville at the Rhodes College Tip-Off Classic. Warriors’ sophomore guard Chris Goodman ignited a 25-7 run on a long ball with 10:01 left in regulation against Greenville and senior guard Cal Rose put the game away at the end of the run with back-to-back-to-back three pointers. The Warriors return to action on Dec. 4 when they open up SCAC play by traveling to Austin College and Colorado College on Dec. 6.

Millsaps lost a pair of games on the road this past weekend, falling to the University of Dallas, 63-55, followed by an 81-49 defeat at Division I Southeastern Louisiana. With the losses, the Majors dropped to 1-3 on the early season, with four consecutive road games remaining. Against Dallas, the Majors led by one at the half and by as many as nine late, but the Crusaders rallied to score 32 of the game’s final 47 points to pull away with the victory. Southeastern Louisiana built a 45-19 halftime lead, and got a game-high 20 points from Damon Forest to cruise to a win at the University Center. Senior guard Blake Martinez again led the Majors’ offense, averaging 12 ppg and scoring 19 in the loss to Dallas, while Aaron Caldwell had a career-high 15 vs. Dallas. Senior Cameron Varnado averaged 12.5 ppg and 6 rpg, including a career-high seven boards vs. Dallas. Millsaps will continue a six-game road swing, opening SCAC play at Colorado College on Friday, followed by Austin College on Saturday.

Oglethorpe split two contests in a Thanksgiving Classic hosted by LaGrange College this past weekend. Cold shooting from the field (34%) doomed the Petrels' chances against the Panthers on Saturday, and Oglethorpe struggled from the free throw line (10 of 30) in the 60-51 loss. Junior Joe Kennedy led the Petrels with 14 points on the afternoon and Todd Ward chipped in 11 points and 12 rebounds in the losing effort. Against Maryville on Sunday, the Petrels regained their shooting touch from both the field (48%) and the free throw line (89%) to score the big non-conference win, 79-68. The Petrels had to rally to claim the victory over the Scots as they trailed 39-35 at the half. Oglethorpe held Maryville to only 39% shooting, and scratched out a 40-35 advantage rebounding to claim the win. Junior Joe Kennedy led the way for Oglethorpe with 24 points and 9 rebounds. Classmate Todd Ward poured in 14 points and grabbed 9 rebounds of his own while Alex Richey heated up for 19 points and 6 rebounds. Oglethorpe is now 2-2 on the season and will come home to continue non-conference play this Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m. when they square off with Piedmont College.

Rhodes split two home games this weekend as part of the Rhodes Thanksgiving Classic. The Lynx defeated Principia on Friday night as they overcame a slow start to score 55 points in the second half. Rhodes shot 58.3% from the field for the game due in a large part to 70% in the second half. The Lynx continued to have a balanced scoring attack as five players hit the double digit mark. Larry Cunningham led the Lynx with 16 points. Brad Luckett netted 14 and Reid Hamilton and Andrew Galow each scored 12. On Saturday, Rhodes got off to a great start against Earlham College, holding double digit lead just five minutes into the game. Rhodes struggled in the second half though and fell behind by seven points with just under a minute to play. Rhodes scored on the first possession of overtime, but couldn’t muster any more offense and eventually lost 87-79. Andrew Galow scored a team and career high 27 points in the defeat.

Sewanee was the only team to go 2-0 at the Rhodes Thanksgiving Classic this weekend with an OT win over Earlham Friday followed by a 10-point victory over Principia on Saturday. Garrett Hollingsworth is leading the Tigers so far with 14.3 points per game and 9.5 rebounds per game. Newcomer Andrew Little highlighted Saturday's effort with 18 points. The Tigers will host Tennessee Temple on Tuesday before opening league play on Saturday with a game against travel Partner Oglethorpe on the Mountain.

Southwestern had a light holiday week of action as they traveled to Hardin Simmons University on Tuesday evening. In a game of streaks the Pirates were able to hang on for the 75-72 win after leading by 11 points with 1:40 remaining. Junior Jonathan Brown was a force inside as he led the Pirates with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Junior Nick Caputo chipped in 16 points off the bench for SU while senior Zach Bergstrom was one rebound shy of a double-double, recording 13 points and nine rebounds. Southwestern returns to the court and opens SCAC action on Thursday, December 3rd at Trinity at 8:00 pm.

Trinity returns from a week off for the Thanksgiving Holiday to face Southwestern University in the SCAC and home opener for Trinity. The Tigers have opened the season with a 1-3 record so far, having beaten Schreiner in their last contest. Trinity and Southwestern have played in some very close contests over the past few seasons, and despite Trinity holding a 19-4 record in the series under Coach Pat Cunningham, many of those games have been decided in the final minutes. In fact, 21 of the past 25 meetings have been decided by 10 points or less, with 15 of those coming by four points or less. Only once in the past three seasons has a Trinity/Southwestern game been decided by more than 10 points.

For the complete SCAC Men's Hoops Weekly for Week 2, click here.