SUWANEE, Ga. - Trinity continued its strong play as the Tigers won their third straight game with a SCAC sweep of Millsaps and Hendrix this past weekend. The wins improved Trinity to 6-7 overall and 3-2 in the SCAC and into a tie for second place in the SCAC Western Division. The Tigers have won six of their past seven games.

AROUND THE SCAC

Austin College split its two games during the week of Jan. 3-9 The Kangaroos picked up a 75-61 road win at the University of Dallas on Jan. 5. Walter Phillips scored a team-high 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting to go along with four rebounds, three blocks and three steals. Austin College then dropped its only SCAC game of the week to Colorado College (95-73) at home. Against the Tigers, Austin College’s Scott Straley scored a game-high 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting. He also added 10 rebounds, two blocks and one steal in the loss. With the split, the Kangaroos pulled their record to 7-6 overall and 3-2 in the SCAC. The ‘Roos return to action on Jan. 14 and Jan. 16 when they travel to Birmingham-Southern and Rhodes, respectively.
 
Birmingham-Southern was at home for a single game this week and defeated Rhodes on Saturday, 70-56. Seniors Patrick Price and Mark Messenger led with 13 points each, sophomore Kevin Kegarise posted 12 points, and sophomore Zac Richards led with 10 rebounds. The Panthers have now won 23 straight home games, a streak dating back to the end of the 2008-09 season. The team is on the road for a mid-week game against New Orleans, Tuesday evening, before returning home to face Austin College, Friday, and Colorado College, Sunday.
   
Centre split a pair of SCAC road contests defeating Sewanee 65-51 Friday night before falling 64-59 to Oglethorpe Sunday afternoon. The Colonels shot 55.0% (22-40), including 9-16 (56.3%) from beyond the three-point arc against the Tigers, but struggled to put the ball in the basket against Oglethorpe making only 33.3% (22-66) from the floor and only 7 of 35 (20.0%) from long distance. The loss snaps an 12-game winning streak against conference opponents dating back to last year and including the conference tournament. Centre, now 9-3 overall and 4-1 in the SCAC will host Hendrix and Millsaps this week.

With a share of first place in the Western Division on the line, Brady Ohlsen recorded his third double-double of the season to lead Colorado College to a 95-73 victory at Austin College on Saturday. He paced a balanced offense that saw five Tigers reach double-figure points. Nick Rose finished with 19, while Ryan Milne scored 15 and dished out eight assists. Rose scored 29 points to help Colorado College extend its winning streak to four games with a 68-59 non-conference victory at the University of Dallas on Sunday. The Tigers improved to 5-1 on the road despite having to play twice in less than 24 hours. CC swept the home-and-home series against the Crusaders. Ohlsen recorded his second straight double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Milne finished with seven points and four assists. Colorado College travels to Rhodes and Birmingham-Southern Friday and Sunday, respectively.

Hendrix went 0-3 this week after a loss to Rust on Tuesday and then a pair of SCAC road losses to Southwestern and Trinity on Friday and Saturday. The Warriors drop to 4-9 overall and 0-5 in conference action. Hendrix and Rust battled through 11 lead changes and seven ties in a nip and tuck contest, 68-64. The Warriors carried their lead into the first 10 minutes of the second half. The lead changed hands five times over the next 10 minutes before Rust knocked down the go-ahead jumper with 2:53 remaining. Southwestern jumped out to a 17-2 lead after just five minutes of action and never looked back, leading by at least 10 points the rest of the way for a 88-68 victory. Trinity scored 16 second-chance points off 14 offensive rebounds and had four players score in double digits to take a 73-57 victory over Hendrix. Trinity jumped out to a 16-6 advantage after the first seven minutes and never looked back. The Tigers led the entire game and eventually owned a 41-31 lead at intermission.

Millsaps split a pair of road games this weekend coming off the break. They fell at Trinity on Friday before pulling off a thrilling come-from-behind win at Southwestern in double overtime after trailing by 19 at the half. Trinity took control of the game in the second half after the Majors' shooting dropped to just 28-percent in the frame to set the 69-55 final. Sunday's game with the Pirates marked the largest comeback of the season for the Majors, who overcame a 21 point deficit to force double overtime. They even overcame a nine point hole in the second overtime to steal the road win, 84-82 in Georgetown. Millsaps will stay on the road this week as they travel up to Greencastle to take on DePauw on Friday before heading over to Centre on Sunday in Danville.

Oglethorpe went 1-1 this past week, falling to DePauw on Saturday (73-61) and besting Centre on Sunday (64-59). The Tigers used hot shooting (53% FG, 53% 3-pt FG) to dispatch the Petrels on their home floor. Against Centre, the Petrels used an active 2-3 zone to flummox the Colonels into 7 of 35 shooting from long distance and hand Centre their first SCAC defeat of the season. In what has become a customary closely fought battle with Centre, Oglethorpe played all but one possession of the game in a 2-3 zone that paid off with the victory. The Colonels were 22 of 66 from the field (33%) and struggled mightily from downtown. Todd Ward scored a game-high 22 points. The Petrels are now 7-7 (3-2) on the season and will face Southwestern this Friday night at 8 p.m. on Pinholster Court.
  
Rhodes fell in its only contest this week to Birmingham-Southern, 70 – 56. The Lynx fell behind at the end of the first half in which they were outscored 21 – 2 in a span of 10:08. Freshman guard John Dunavant led the Lynx with 16 points, but was able to shut down Birmingham-Southern’s leading scorer, Jonus, to just two points. It is a quick turnaround for Rhodes as they battle the University of Dallas on Tuesday January 11th and finish the week with Colorado College on Friday and Austin College on Sunday.  
 
Sewanee battled through two tight contests on Friday and Sunday, but both Centre and DePauw were able to pull away in the final minutes as the Tigers went 0-2 on the weekend. Sewanee was grasping a two-point lead at halftime on Sunday against visiting DePauw and were up by as many as four late in the second half. But DePauw nailed back-to-back 3-pointers and connected on six free throws in the final minutes to take home a 60-55 win. Anvil Nelson led Sewanee with 15 points and five rebounds. Tyler Brown added 11 as the Tigers turned the ball over a season-low five times. On Friday, Sewanee trailed by just four at halftime but Centre pulled away, going 11 of 17 from the field, on their way to a 65-51 victory over the Tigers. Brown recorded his first collegiate double-double in the game, scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. The two losses drop Sewanee to 5-7 overall and 1-4 in the SCAC. The Tigers return to action on Friday when they play host to Trinity at 8 p.m.
 
Southwestern split home conference games this week to move to 4-10 on the year and 2-3 in the SCAC. Friday night Southwestern started out hot on both ends of the floor and mounted an 18 point lead in the first half and never looked back to defeat Hendrix 88-68. The Pirates continued their exciting play in the first half on Sunday against Millsaps and led by 19 at halftime, but the Majors came out of the break a different team. MC slowly chipped away at the lead until pulling even 60-60 with less than four minutes to play. Regulation ended with the score tied and SU started the first overtime strong and went up by four, only to see their lead dwindle again. With the score tied at 73-73 it would take a second overtime to decide the contest. Southwestern came out strong and started on a 9-0 run to open overtime #2, but Millsaps closed the game on a run of its own, 11-0, to take the 84-82 victory. The Pirates move into a tie with Millsaps for fourth place in the West and look to rebound on the road as they head to Oglethorpe on Friday and Sewanee on Saturday.
  
Trinity fought its way into a tie for second place in the SCAC West Division standings, following a pair of SCAC wins in San Antonio last weekend. Trinity defeated Millsaps 69-55 on Friday night, and then took a 73-57 win over Hendrix on Saturday. The Tigers started the season with six straight losses, but have rebounded to win six of the past seven games – including three straight in SCAC play. Luke Caldarera led the team in scoring in both games this weekend, and has led the Tigers in points for five consecutive games. He finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds against Millsaps, followed by 18 points and seven boards against Hendrix on Saturday night. He has also moved into 13th in Trinity history with 1,183 career points and is just 66 points from entering the top 10 in Tiger history. Trinity will face off against Sewanee and Oglethorpe on Friday and Sunday, respectively.

For the complete SCAC Men's Hoops Weekly for Week 7, click here.