SUWANEE, Ga. - The second week of cross-division play in the SCAC saw an even split of the 12 scheduled games. The Western Division jumped out in front by winning four of the weekend's six games only to see the Eastern Division close things out by winning four of the final six games during the weekend of Jan. 21-23.

The Eastern Division now holds a 15-9 record against the Western Division with one last week of cross-division play during the weekend of Jan. 28-30.

AROUND THE SCAC

Austin College team split its two games with Sewanee and Oglethorpe over the weekend, topping the Tigers 51-34 before falling to hot-shooting Oglethorpe 87-62. Against Sewanee, the teams combined for one of the lowest scoring first halves and games in SCAC history but Austin College managed to shoot 56.5% in the second half to top the Tigers behind 17 points from Scott Straley. Jordan Hancock was the only other player to reach double figures in the game, finishing with 11. Austin College held the Tigers to just six first half points. Against Oglethorpe, the Stormy Petrels shot 63.6% from the field in the first half and then hit six of their first nine threes to open the second half to pull away from the ’Roos every time Austin College began to chip away at the lead. Straley scored 16 to lead the ‘Roos and Walter Phillips hit 7-of-8 shots to finish with 15. Austin College (9-8, 5-4 SCAC) hits the road this weekend to take on Centre and DePauw.
 
Birmingham-Southern kept rolling this week with two more wins, extending their current win streak to nine games with victories against Millsaps on Friday and Hendrix on Sunday. BSC is now 14-1 for the best start since the 1997-98 season when the team won 20 straight games to open the year. The Panthers are back at home this weekend, taking on Southwestern, Friday, and Trinity, Saturday. BSC hopes to extend its home win streak, which currently stands at 25 games, dating back to the end of the 2008-09 season.
   
No. 17 Centre won a pair of SCAC road games defeating Southwestern 72-54 Friday night and then winning 73-61 over Trinity Saturday night. In the two games, the Colonels shot a combined 37.7% (20-53) from the floor in the first half for a +2 in the scoring column, as compared to 60.0% (24-40) in the second half for a 27-point advantage in the two games. Centre has now won eight of its last 10 games against both Southwestern and Trinity. Thanks to the Colonels two wins and Rhodes’ two losses, Centre clinched a berth in the SCAC tournament. The Colonels, now 13-3 overall and 8-1 in the SCAC, will play on the road this week against Austin and Colorado.

Colorado College erased a 17-point deficit during the second half as the Tigers recovered from an ice-cold opening 20 minutes in time to post a 64-59 victory over Oglethorpe on Friday night. Nick Rose ignited the comeback by scoring 17 of his game-high 29 points after the break, but the outcome wasn’t decided until Jeremiah Waters and Colin Madden each sank a pair of free throws during the final 15 seconds. Brady Ohlsen went 6-for-6 from the floor and made all three of his free throws to finish with 15 points for Colorado College. The Tigers made 64-percent of their shots from the floor during the first half and had five players score double-figure points while cruising to an 86-62 victory over Sewanee on Sunday. Rose finished with a game-high 20 points, the ninth time he has scored 20 or more points in a game this season. Ryan Milne added 10 points. Colorado College travels to DePauw and Centre Friday and Sunday, respectively.

Hendrix snapped a five game skid and picked up its first conference win of the season on Friday after a dominating 72-55 victory against Rhodes. The Warriors then suffered a 86-63 loss to Birmingham-Southern on Sunday afternoon. Hendrix now stands at 5-12 overall and 1-8 in SCAC action. Hendrix junior Ammon Martin scored 16 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out seven assists with no turnovers, setting the tempo in the Warriors win over Rhodes. Nick Heathscott, Nielsen and first year Colton Primm all scored eight points, while senior James Ewing collected seven points and three assists. Birmingham-Southern used a balanced scoring attack and strong presence down low to outlast Hendrix on Sunday. The Panthers shot 65.9 percent from the field went 21-of-32 from the charity stripe.  at the break. Goodman led Hendrix with 15 points on 4-of-5 shooting from distance.

Millsaps (8-9, 3-6) split their games last week, falling 58-66 to Birmingham-Southern before rebounding against Rhodes 52-40. Friday night, Nick Cortese broke a 10-10 tie with the second of a pair of free throws with 12:58 remaining in the first. The Panthers responded with a 10-0 run of their own to reclaim the lead 18-20 by the 7:53 mark. The Majors did not lead again. BSC closed the half outscoring the Majors 17-7 to go into the break, up 37-25. A Jeremy McLemore jumper pulled the Majors to 58-64 with 2:33 remaining but they did not score from the floor again, falling 58-66. Sunday, the Majors held Rhodes to just five points over the final 11 minutes of the second half to secure the win and snap their losing streak at three. The Majors will return to the road this weekend as they travel over to Oglethorpe on Friday before heading to Sewanee on Sunday for a match-up with the Tigers. Games are scheduled for 8 p.m. and 3 p.m. respectively.

Oglethorpe split road contests this weekend, losing at Colorado (64-59) and winning at Austin College (87-62). Against CC, Oglethorpe trailed CC 53-51 with 4:04 to play. The Petrels managed to come back and tie the game before the SCAC's leading scorer Nick Rose scored seven straight points in 90 seconds to push the Tigers over the top. Todd Ward led Oglethorpe on 10 of 16 shooting for 24 points and 6 rebounds while Pitts contributed 16 points. Against Austin College, the Petrels got off to a blistering start and continued to pour it on in the second half to earn the big road conference victory. The 'Roos cut the lead to 12 points early in the second half but would get no closer as Oglethorpe responded with the next 11 points to gain a 23 point advantage that was insurmountable. The Petrels shot 51% from the field for the game. Sophomore Alec Pitts netted a game-high 21 points on 8 of 14 shooting. Oglethorpe is now 10-8 (6-3) on the season and will host Millsaps Friday night at 8 p.m.
  
Rhodes fell to both Hendrix and Millsaps this weekend in league play. The Lynx have been struggling to score the basketball and only managed to score 55 and 40 points respectively. Sophomore Andrew Galow led the way for the Lynx on Sunday by notching the teams’ first double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Galow finished the week averaging 13.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game. Next week the Lynx finish off games against the West at home with Trinity on Friday and Southwestern on Saturday.  
 
Sewanee found the road to be unfriendly this weekend. The Tigers dropped both games of a western road swing over the weekend, falling 51-34 to Austin on Friday night before dropping an 86-62 decision to Colorado College on Sunday. Against Austin, the Tigers struggled mightily to find their shooting touch, scoring just six points in the first half. As a team, Sewanee went just 14 of 54 from the field and 3 of 24 from he 3-point line. Tyler Brown led Sewanee with eight points while Valentino Bryant and Anvil Nelson each added seven. On Sunday, three different Tigers finished with double-digit scoring outputs against Colorado College, but a slow start and a large first-half deficit were too much for Sewanee to overcome. Brett Bouldin matched his career high, led Sewanee with 17 points. Nelson finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Lewis Affronti chipped in 14 points. The two losses dropped Sewanee to 6-10 overall and 2-7 in the SCAC. The Tigers will host Hendrix and Millsaps this weekend.
 
Southwestern had a tough week of games and dropped both contests and remain in a five game losing streak. The Pirates sit at 4-14 overall, 2-7 in the SCAC, and are one game out of the final playoff spot in the West. Friday night Centre was unstoppable from long range as they made more than half of their field goals from long distance to defeat the Pirates 72-54. Perimeter shooting once again was key to Southwestern's loss as DePauw came into the Robertson Center and shot 51.7% from three point range to win 69-40. Southwestern heads out on an important road trip this weekend, facing East-leading Birmingham Southern on Friday night before taking on Rhodes on Saturday.
  
Trinity split a tough weekend at home, defeating DePauw on Friday, but falling to defending SCAC champion Centre on Saturday night. Trinity won 59-40 over DePauw, holding an opponent to just 40 points for the second time in three games. The Tigers could not finish off the SCAC weekend sweep, though, losing 73-61 against Centre. It marked just the third win for Trinity in the last eight tries against DePauw, while the Tigers fall to 1-8 against Centre since the 2005-06 season. Heath Hopson and Sam Dworkin both averaged 12 points/game over the weekend to lead the Tigers, and both players did so coming off the bench. Luke Caldarera is now tied for 12th at Trinity in career points, needing just 28 more to tie for a spot in the top 10 in school history. Trinity goes back on the road for two more SCAC contests this weekend, taking on Rhodes and Birmingham-Southern. The Tigers have swept both teams the past two seasons, including last year’s wins in San Antonio.

For the complete SCAC Men's Hoops Weekly for Week 9, click here.