Posted: Feb 25, 2011
JACKSON, Miss. - The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Eastern Division advanced three teams to the league semifinals of the SCAC tournament while only one Western Division team made it. Trinity, Oglethorpe, Centre and Oglethorpe will square off for a trip to the championship game on the line on Feb. 26. Official Site | SCAC Blogspot
SCAC Quarterfinal Game One Recap
The West's top seed, Trinity University, used a stifling defensive effort in limiting Rhodes College to just 11 first half points and a 62-42 win in the opening game of the 2011 SCAC Men's Basketball tournament.
With the game tied at 9-9, Trinity went on a 26-2 run to take a commanding 35-11 halftime lead. Rhodes, the No. 4 seed out of the East, went over 13 minutes without a basket as the Lynx shot just 16.7 percent (4-of-24) in the first half.
The Tigers used both a 3-2 zone and 2-3 zone defensively against Rhodes (7-18, 3-13 SCAC) in limiting the Lynx. Rhodes sophomore guard Andrew Galow shot just 2-for-10 and scored six points. Rhodes shot just over 43 percent in the second half to finish 17-of-54 (31.5 percent) for the game.
In the second half Trinity (16-10, 11-5 SCAC) led 53-21 with 9:41 before earning the 20 point win. The Tigers used a balance scoring effort as Kitzinger was the only Tiger to score in double-figures. Senior forward Luke Caldarera (eight points) was one of six Tigers to score four or more points. Zach Lambert also score eight points for Trinity.
With the win, Trinity advances to the SCAC semifinals on Saturday, February 26. The Tigers take on the winner of the DePauw (No. 2 East) and Austin College (No. 3 West) quarterfinal matchup. Trinity will make its fifth straight appearance in the SCAC semifinals and the program's eighth semifinal appearance since 2003. Box Score | Post-Game Interviews
SCAC Quarterfinal Game Two Recap
DePauw University (18-8, 12-4 SCAC) overcame a four point halftime deficit and withstood an Austin College rally late in the second half and advanced to the SCAC semifinals with a 61-56 win Friday afternoon.
Trailing 59-56 with 6.2 seconds left in the game, Austin College had a chance to tie the game. The No. 3 West seed Kangaroos in bounded the ball from underneath its own hoop and had a potential 3-on-2 break away only to be fouled on the inbounds pass. Ransom Okpala missed the ensuing free throw and DePaw's Steve Lemasters grabbed the rebound and iced the game with a pair of free throws.
The Kangaroos (12-14, 7-9 SCAC) shot just under 43 percent in the first half in jumping out to a 30-26 lead. Austin College was led by Walter Phillips' 14 points on 4-for-9 shooting. Also scoring in double-figures for the Kangaroos was Scott Straley who chipped in with 10 points and five rebounds.
DePauw's Michael Wilkison scored a team-high 14 points while teammate Tommy Weakley added 11 points. Wilkison added five assists to go along with four rebounds. Senior Ryan Sever nearly tallied a double-double as he scored eight points and grabbed a team high 10 rebounds, including a crucial offensive rebound with under 10 seconds to play and his team clinging to a 58-56 lead.
SCAC Quarterfinal Game Three Recap
Centre College's Greg Ross scored an SCAC tournament single-game record 38 points on 11-for-19 shooting and added 11 rebounds in leading the East's No. 1 seed to a 54-46 win over No. 4 West seed Hendrix College Friday evening.
Ross broke previous record holder Jon Query's mark of 34 points. Query of Rose-Hulman scored 34 points against Southwestern in a quarterfinal loss back on Feb. 27, 2003.
The Colonels, (19-5, 13-3 SCAC), were held to under 40 percent shooting (18-of-49) but rode Ross' record night to the win. No other Centre player scored more than six points as Ross accounted for 70 percent of Centre's scoring. Senior Alex Lloyd helped add to the Colonels' 50-25 rebound margin by tallying 10 rebounds.
Hendrix was led by Ammon Martin's 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting. He also added four rebounds. James Ewing and Colton Primm both added seven points for teh Warriors (10-16, 5-11 SCAC).
Centre jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead early in the first half before taking a 25-14 lead into the half. Hendrix took its first lead after coming back from a 26-15 deficit. The Warriors put a 17-2 run together midway through the second half to take a 32-28 lead. The Colonels then responded and closed out the game with a 26-14 run.
SCAC Quarterfinal Game Four Recap
Just like their first meeting this season, Oglethorpe had a lead on Colorado College at halftime. However the Stormy Petrels were able to hang on and survive the Tigers' rally and advanced to the SCAC semifinals with a back and forth 61-58 win.
In a matchup of arguably two of the best players in the SCAC in Colorado College's Nick Rose and Oglethorpe's Todd Ward, it was Ward's Petrels who secured the win. Oglethorpe had a 39-30 lead with 12:09 to play only to see Colorado College mount a comeback similar to the teams' regular season meeting back on Jan. 21. This time Oglethorpe was able to hold on for the win, unlike in the previous meeting.
The Stormy Petrels (15-11, 10-6 SCAC) shot a blistering 61.5 percent (8-of-13) in the second half as seniors Joe Kennedy and Ward combined to score 32 of the teams' 61 points. Ward added seven rebounds and now needs just six rebounds to tie and seven to break the all-time SCAC career rebounding record. Also scoring in double-figures for Oglethorpe was Alex Richey (12 points) and Andrew Steioff (11 points).
Colorado College was led by Rose's 18 points and 10 rebounds. He connected on 7-of-17 shooting. Freshman Ryan Milne added 16 points on 6-of-11 including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. Ben Foley had a solid all around game for the Tigers (14-12, 10-6 SCAC) as he scored nine points, dished out six assists, did not commit a turnover and totaled two rebounds.
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