Men's Basketball Recap (Week 2) - Around the SCAC

Men's Basketball Recap (Week 2) - Around the SCAC

SUWANEE, Ga. - After the first two weeks of the 2010-11 season, Birmingham-Southern and DePauw remain the only two undefeated teams in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. The Panthers picked up wins over LaGrange and New Orleans while DePauw defeated Rockford and Ohio Wesleyan this past week.

AROUND THE SCAC

Austin College went 1-1 on the week, topping Howard Payne 78-71 before falling to Mary Hardin-Baylor 96-74. The 'Roos are now 2-3 on the year. Against Howard Payne, the 'Roos shot 58% from three in the first half to grab a 46-41 halftime lead and had to fend off the Jackets in the second half behind the strong play of Scott Straley, who scored 16 of his 21 points after halftime. In all, Straley accounted for half of the team's points in the second half. Straley added seven rebounds in the game and Jordan Hancock chipped in 13 points. Against UMHB, the 'Roos trailed 36-32 at the break but Mary Hardin-Baylor shot 64.7% from the field en route to 60 second half points to pull away from the 'Roos. Hancock scored a game-high 19 points, Ransom Okpala added 18 points and four assists and Josh Saunders had 15 points in the loss.
 
Birmingham-Southern stayed perfect with two more wins this week, defeating LaGrange on the road, 78-54 Tuesday evening, and beating New Orleans at home on Saturday, 63-59. Junior Jasen Jonus led the way against LaGrange with 17 points, while sophomore Zac Richards led with 7 rebounds. Against UNO, sophomore Kevin Kegarise came off the bench and led the team with 16 points. Sophomore Blaise White led with six rebounds. The Panthers are on the road this weekend to open conference action against DePauw and Centre.
   
Centre dropped its lone game of the week to in-state rival Transylvania 56-51. The Colonels shot a season-low 32.1% (17-53) from the field, including only 2 of 15 (13.3%) from the three-point line. The Colonels out-rebounded the Pioneers (37-33), has fewer turnovers (14-11) and shot better from the free throw line (75.0% - 68.0%), but Transylvania made three more three-pointers and two more free throws for the win. Centre, now 3-1 will open SCAC play this weekend hosting Rhodes Friday and Birmingham Southern Sunday.

Colorado College improved to 3-1 with victories over the University of Dallas and the Finlandia University. Freshman point guard Ryan Milne had game highs of 17 points and eight assists to lead the Tigers to an 82-53 win over UD on Friday night. Nick Rose had 16 points and a career-high 14 rebounds for his fourth career double-double. He became the 32nd player in program history to reach 300 career rebounds and just the 10th to record 300 rebounds and 1,000 points. Colorado College forced a season-high 22 turnovers and knocked down 10 three-point baskets as the Tigers cruised to a 88-59 victory over Finlandia University on Sunday. Rose had 22 points, eight rebounds, four steals and a pair of assists during just 24 minutes of playing time. Colorado College (3-1) visits Division II Regis University on Tuesday night before opening conference play next at Hendrix and Millsaps on Friday and Sunday, respectively.

DePauw improved to 4-0 after capturing the Mike Rokicki Community Versus Cancer Challenge championship. The Tigers opened with a 97-79 win over Rockford and won the title with a 62-49 victory over Ohio Wesleyan. In the win over Rockford, DePauw used a 14-4 run late in the first half to pull away from Rockford and led by 16 early in the second half, but the Regents battled back to within six on a couple of occasions. The Tigers, however, outscored Rockford 13-1 over the final 2:04 for the win. Five Tigers scored in double figures led by career highs of 22 and 20 points from Sean Haseley and Drew Wills, respectively. In Sunday's title game, Joe Bergfeld led all scorers with 20 points and grabbed a career-high 11 boards in being named tournament MVP.

Hendrix outscored LeTourneau 40-16 in the paint and the Warriors had four players score in double figures to spoil the Yellow Jackets’ home-opener Tuesday night at Belcher Gymnasium with an 83-50 victory. The Warriors now stand at 2-2 overall. Junior Nick Heathscott paced Hendrix with 17 points and nine rebounds. Junior Chris Goodman added 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point land, while junior Ammon Martin and sophomore Jaren Riley tallied 10 points apiece. Hendrix controlled the glass and out-rebounded LeTourneau 36-22, including a 13-11 advantage on the offensive end. Hendrix trailed in the opening minutes and managed to hold its deficit to no more than five points, eventually grabbing a lead it would not relinquish on a 3-pointer from Riley with 7:59 remaining before the break. Hendrix came out of the locker room with intensity and a 14-0 run, highlighted by back-to-back trey bombs from senior Dane Nielsen, put the Warriors on top 56-23 with 11:36 remaining in regulation.

Millsaps split a pair of games this week as they prepare for their opening conference weekend. They defeated the University of Dallas 64-55 on Tuesday night in Jackson before cold shooting downed them Sunday night at Huntingdon College 71-43. L.V. Sumler got his third double-double of the season on Tuesday against the Crusaders with 13 points and 10 rebounds, but he fell two points short in Sunday's loss with eight points and 11 rebounds. Millsaps will open conference play this weekend with Austin College and Colorado College coming into the Hangar Dome on Friday and Sunday. Game times are set for 8:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. respectively.

Oglethorpe went 2-1 over Thanksgiving break, topping Piedmont and LaGrange and falling to Maryville. On Tuesday night they knocked off Piedmont College in Demorest, 81-71. Alec Pitts led the Petrels with 23 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and two steals. Senior Alex Richey netted 13 points and posted team highs in rebounds and assists with 8 and 7, respectively. Todd Ward scored 13 and grabbed 8 boards and Joe Kennedy netted 11 to round out the Petrels in double figures. On Saturday, Oglethorpe was bested by Maryville in the opening game of their annual Thanksgiving Classic, 81-75. Ward led the way for Oglethorpe in the loss with 18 points, 6 rebounds and five assists. On Sunday Oglethorpe topped LaGrange in dominating fashion, 77-47. All 14 players on the Oglethorpe roster scored for head coach Philip Ponder in the runaway win. Ward notched yet another strong game despite playing just 5 second half minutes with 14 points and 6 rebounds. Oglethorpe is 3-2 on the season and will travel to face Berry College this Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
  
Rhodes moved to 2-3 on the young season after splitting a doubleheader this weekend. The Lynx fell at home Saturday night to Piedmont, 74 – 65, before claiming the first home win for new head coach Mike DeGeorge Sunday afternoon against Rust. Rust pushed the Lynx into overtime with a last second shot, but Rhodes came out strong in the extra period to win, 78 – 73. Sophomore guard Andrew Galow led the Lynx offensively averaging 22 points, 2.0 assists, 6.0 rebounds and knocked down 17 of 23 free throws. In the win over Rust College, Freshman Johnny Dunavant gave the Lynx the spark they needing of the bench scoring 20 points while connecting on 3 of 5 three-point field goals. The Lynx start the conference season on the road against last season’s divisional champions Centre and DePauw on December 3rd and December 5th.
 
Sewanee was off this week. They will host Johnson Bible College on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m., will travel to Free Will Baptist College on Thursday, and will open up conference play at Oglethorpe on Saturday at 6:00 p.m.
 
Southwestern fell to 1-4 after a tough week of games. On Tuesday the Pirates went to Belton, Texas to face Mary Hardin Baylor and had a slight lead early in the contest. As the game progressed the momentum swung the other direction as the Crusaders went into halftime with a six point lead. The Pirates remained close throughout the game but couldn't seem to get the defensive stop that they needed to overcome UMHB as they ultimately fell 95-81. Logan Hurley led all scorers once again with 22 points while Nick Caputo added in 20. On Friday the Pirates came home for the first time this season, playing host to Wisconsin-River Falls. Cold shooting in the first half and turnovers in the second half doomed the Pirates as they lost 76-56 to the Falcons. Hurley once again led with 17 points in the loss. Southwestern remains at home this weekend as they open up SCAC play against Trinity on Friday night and then look for revenge against the University of Dallas on Sunday.

Trinity went 0-3 over the past week of play, dropping three road games on the West Coast. The Tigers lost to Whitworth on Monday night, followed by losses at Claremont and Pomona at the David Wells Basketball Classic on Friday and Saturday. This marks the first time under Coach Cunningham that the Tigers have opened the season 0-5, and it is also the team’s worst start in the SCAC era (since 1991-92). Trinity will open SCAC play this weekend at Southwestern. The Tigers and Pirates split two regular season games last year, with the road team winning both games. Prior to last season, Trinity had swept the regular season series from Southwestern for four straight years.

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