SUWANEE, Ga. - Centre College won its third straight Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship with a 75-63 victory over DePauw University in the championship game. With the win the Colonels earned the SCAC's automatic bid to the 2011 Division III Men's Basketball Championship.
AROUND THE SCAC
Austin College saw its season
come to an end with a 61-56 loss to DePauw University, who went on
to finish as runners-up, in the Southern Collegiate Athletic
Conference tournament quarterfinals. The Kangaroos jumped out to a
30-26 halftime lead before allowing the Tigers to outscore them
35-26 in the second half in the win. Walter Phillips led the
‘Roos with 14 points (4 of 9 shooting), six rebounds, two
assists and two blocks. Teammate Jordan Hancock also chipped in
with 10 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. With the
loss Austin College finished the season 12-14 and 7-9 in the
SCAC.
Birmingham-Southern dropped a game on the road
this week to New Orleans - a make-up game from Jan. 11 that was
postponed due to winter weather in central Alabama. The Panthers
now stands at 21-4 heading into its final games of the year at the
NCAA Provisional Tournament this weekend, hosted by Franciscan
University in Steubenville, Ohio.
Centre won its third straight SCAC Tournament
Championship defeating Hendrix (54-46), Oglethorpe (70-56) and
DePauw (75-65). It was the sixth straight trip to the conference
tournament championship and second straight in which the Colonels
defeated DePauw in the title game. Centre, which improved to 21-5
overall, has now won nine straight SCAC Tournament games and 16 of
its last 18. This year will also mark the fifth straight year the
Colonels will participate in the NCAA Tournament and 21st overall
in school history.
Colorado College erased a
nine-point deficit in the second half, but could not get the
go-ahead basket and dropped a 61-58 decision to Oglethorpe in the
quarterfinals of the SCAC Tournament. The Tigers tied the game at
52-52 when Ben Foley sank the first of two free throws, but Joe
Kennedy put OU ahead for good 27 seconds later. While CC made just
two of six shots from the floor during the final three minutes, the
Stormy Petrels converted on seven of 10 free throws to secure the
victory. SCAC Player of the Year Nick Rose finished with 18 points
and a game-high 10 rebounds to record his fifth double-double in
the final game of his career. Ryan Milne made four of six shots
from behind the arc en route to a 16-point performance. CC finished
the year with a 14-12 overall record, its first winning season
since 2003-04. The Tigers also earned their first appearance at the
SCAC Tournament after posting an 8-8 conference record. Colorado
College could return as many as three starters and nine veterans,
including Newcomer of the Year Milne at point guard.
No. 4 West Hendrix suffered a 54-46 loss to No.
1 East Centre in Friday’s SCAC Quarterfinal match-up.
Centre’s Greg Ross scored a tournament single-game record 38
points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Colonels. Centre jumped
out to a quick 10-0 lead early in the first half before taking a
25-14 lead into the locker room. 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 responded and closed out the game with a 26-14 run.
Hendrix was led by junior Ammon Martin's 18 points on 7-of-16
shooting. He also added four rebounds. Senior James Ewing and first
year Colton Primm both added seven points for the Warriors.
Warriors’ junior Nick Heathscott was selected to the All-SCAC
Second Team for the second consecutive season. Hendrix wrapped up
the 2010-11 slate with a 10-16 overall record and 5-11 SCAC
mark.
Millsaps dropped a pair of SCAC road contests to
finish out the regular season portion of their schedule.
Unfortunately for the Majors, they finished one game back of
Hendrix for the final SCAC Tournament berth out of the West
Division. Millsaps dropped a 62-54 contest to Austin College and
was led by Taylor Meades’ 19 points on 6-of-14 shooting
(3-of-7 from three point range). Millsaps outrebounded the
Kangaroos, 37-36 but could not overcome the white-hot shooting of
Austin College. AC shot an astounding 61.9 percent (13-of-21) in
the second half and finished the game shooting 53 percent. Against
Colorado College, Millsaps fell behind 40-17 at the half and could
not recover in losing 74-56.
Oglethorpe concluded its season by losing to
Centre in the semifinals of the SCAC Tournament on Saturday. The
Petrels topped Colorado College in the quarterfinals to earn their
first postseason win since 2004. Todd Ward became the all-time
leading rebounder in SCAC history, surpassing Centre’s Coy
Zerhusen in the process. The Petrels finish the season at 15-12
with their fourth consecutive season of at least 15 wins. Only
Centre and DePauw have matched that feat in the same time span.
Rhodes dropped a 62-42 decision to Trinity
University in the Lynx’s Southern Collegiate Athletic
Conference quarterfinal matchup with the Tigers. With the game tied
9-9, Trinity went on a 26-2 run to take a commanding 35-11 halftime
lead before earning the 20 point win. Rhodes shot just 4 of 24
(16.7 percent) in the first half. The Lynx were led by Shane
Watson’s 10 points. Andrew Galow, John Dunavant and Josh
Arant each chipped in with six points. Rhodes finished the season
7-18 overall and 3-13 in SCAC play.
Sewanee closed out the regular season this week
by splitting its two contests during the week of February 14-20.
The Tigers topped visiting Free Will Baptist College handily
Tuesday night before falling to SCAC rival Oglethorpe on Saturday.
Sewanee rolled to an 87-44 win over the Flames of Free Will, as
every Tiger found the scoring column and six finished in
double-figures. Sam Martin led Sewanee in the win, grabbing 15
points and six rebounds, as the Tigers shot over 50% in the
contest. Tyler Brown finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while
Lewis Affronti and Anvil Nelson each had 12 points. Trent Williams
chipped in 11 points and Bryan Beviacqua added 10 to round out the
double-figure scorers. Unfortunately for the Tigers, Sewanee faced
a different fate against the Stormy Petrels of Oglethorpe. The
Tigers wrapped up the 2010-11 season with a 9-16 overall record and
a 3-13 showing in the SCAC.
Southwestern closed out the season with a loss at
Trinity, ending the year at 6-19 overall and 4-12 in the SCAC. The
game was tight the entire night and Trinity made just enough free
throws down the stretch to seal the 73-68 final. Robbie Hanley had
a fantastic outstanding final game as a Pirate, posting his first
double-double of the season with 23 points and 10 rebounds. This
marks the end of Hanley, Nick Caputo and Jon Brown's collegiate
careers.
Trinity finished 1-1 at the SCAC Tournament, falling to
eventual runner-up DePauw University in the SCAC Semifinals.
The Tigers defeated Rhodes 62-42 in the opening round, then were
edged 58-56 by DePauw to snap a seven-game winning streak. Trinity
swept Rhodes this season, and split with DePauw after winning 59-40
in the regular season. The loss was also the first to DePauw in
SCAC Tournament play, having won each of the two previous meetings
in the tournament. Luke Caldarera finishes his career in seventh
place in career scoring for the Tigers, amassing 1,376
points. He also tied for fifth in career steals (130), and is
fifth in rebounding (733) as well.
For the complete SCAC Men's Hoops Weekly for Week
14, click here.
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