SUWANEE, Ga. - The upset of the weekend occurred on the Mountain as Sewanee took down defending Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference champion Centre, 85-78. It was the Tigers' first win over the Colonels since December 3, 2005 when Sewanee earned an 81-76 win at home.
AROUND THE SCAC
Austin College moved into first place in the
SCAC West Division with a pair of victories over Colorado College
and Hendrix over the weekend, bringing their overall record to 8-6
and their conference mark to 4-1. The ‘Roos got 13 points, 10
rebounds, seven assists and five steals from Josh Saunders and 18
points from Ransom Okpala in a 75-66 win over Colorado College on
Friday, and on Sunday Walter Phillips led the way with 16 points,
nine rebounds and seven assists coming off the bench. Saunders had
another solid game with 12 points, seven rebounds, five assists,
three blocks and three steals, and Alen Michael, Antoine Thompson
and Jordan Hancock also hit double figures, with Michael just
missing a double-double with 12 points and nine boards.
No. 22 Birmingham-Southern won both games at home
this week, extending their home win streak to 37 games dating back
to the end of the 2008-09 season when they lost the home finale to
Centre on Feb. 8, 2009. On Friday night, BSC defeated Millsaps
89-62. Senior Jasen Jonus led four Panthers in double figures with
23 points on 7-of-9 shooting (including 6-of-8 from three-point
range). The Panthers shot nearly 60 percent from the field and over
57 percent from long range, hitting 12-of-21. On Sunday, BSC downed
Rhodes 70-48. Junior Zac Richards led with 14 points on 5-of-6
shooting. The Panthers are on the road this week, traveling to
Texas to face Southwestern and Trinity.
Centre split their two games this week, winning
at home against Berea on Wednesday and losing at Sewanee on
Saturday. The Colonels shot lights out in the second half against
Berea, scoring 53 points in the period and turning a close game at
the half into a 27-point rout of the Mountaineers. Centre recorded
a season high 21 assists in the game, with seven coming from Jeff
Mullaney. Mullaney also finished with 19 points on the game. Greg
Ross led Centre with 22 points while Collin Lopez added ten. Centre
shot 52% from the field for the game and 53% from three-point range
in the 91-64 win. Centre’s game against Sewanee was a back
and forth affair, but ultimately it was hot shooting from the
Tigers that did the Colonels in. Sewanee hit 11 three-pointers in
the game and shot 56% overall in an 85-78 win. The Tigers hit their
final seven free throw attempts to seal the game. Jeff Mullaney led
all scorers with 25 points, while Greg Ross and Josh Karsner each
scored 19.
Senior forward Jeremiah Waters scored a season-high 16 points,
but Colorado College played from behind most of
the night and saw its share of first place in the West Division
disappear with a 75-66 loss at Austin College on Friday night. CC
took their first and only lead of the contest when freshman forward
Chris Lesnansky sank a pair of free throws with 13:10 remaining,
but the Kangaroos responded with a 15-5 run and the mine-point
deficit proved too much to overcome. Waters poured in a career-high
28 points as Colorado College overcame an early 15-point deficit to
defeat Dallas, 82-64, on Sunday. The Crusaders scored the first 12
points and led 20-5 with only 7:42 expired, but from that point on
the Tigers outscored UD, 77-44. Colorado College plays eight of its
final 12 games at home, beginning this weekend when Centre and
Sewanee visit Reid Gymnasium on Friday and Sunday,
respectively.
Dallas (3-11, 1-4 SCAC) registered a 1-1 record on the
week in SCAC play. Dallas hosted Hendrix on Friday evening. Leading
31-25 at halftime, Dallas notched their first-ever SCAC victory,
defeating the Warriors, 64-56. Joe Stephens led the way for Dallas,
as the sophomore guard accounted for a game-high 16 points. Two
other Crusaders tallied double-figure scoring, as well -- junior
guard Drew Assinesi (11 points) and freshman forward Aaron Wyatt
(13 points). Down 41-31 at halftime to Colorado College, Dallas
could not overcome CC and the hot 3-point shooting of Jeremiah
Waters. The Crusaders fell 82-64 after shooting 40-percent
(12-of-30) for the game, while Colorado managed a mark of
42.9-percent (12-of-28) from the field. Wyatt was Dallas' leading
scorer, contributing 24-points and eight rebounds in 33-minutes on
the court. On tap this week for Dallas are two more SCAC home
contests -- Rhodes (Friday at 8 p.m.) and Millsaps (Sunday at 3
p.m.).
Hendrix went on the road and suffered SCAC
losses in Texas over the weekend. On Friday, the Warriors lost at
Dallas 64-56. Hendrix overcame a 12-point first half deficit and
took a lead late in the second half, but they could not hold on.
Sophomore Colton Primm paced Hendrix with 14 points on 6-of-8
shooting and nine rebounds. Junior guard Jaren Riley recorded 11
points, six rebounds and four assists. On Sunday, Austin College
topped Hendrix 72-61, despite a combined 47 points from seniors
Nick Heathscott and Ammon Martin. Heathscott netted a season-high
27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Martin scored 20 points and
dished out three assists. The Warriors will return home to host
Sewanee and Centre this weekend.
Millsaps struggled this weekend as they traveled to
Birmingham-Southern and Oglethorpe for conference matchups. On
Friday night, the Majors could not slow down an incredible shooting
night by No. 22 Birmingham-Southern as they fell 89-62 on the road.
Junior Taylor Meades led the way for Millsaps with 13 points while
junior Nick Cortese added nine. Sophomore Tully Gilligan led all
rebounders with nine and also led all passers with three assists.
The Majors were back in action on Sunday when they took on
Oglethorpe and again, Millsaps struggled again on the offensive
end, as they could not overcome a 35% shooting day from the field
and fell to the Oglethorpe Stormy Petrel on Sunday afternoon,
65-56. With the loss, the Majors have dropped their third straight
game and fall to 6-7 overall and 1-4 in the Southern Collegiate
Athletic Conference. The Majors go to Sherman, Texas to wrap up
their seven game road trip against Austin College on Friday
before returning on Sunday to take on Dallas.
Oglethorpe went 2-1 this past week, wrapping up
non-conference play by topping Berry College (W, 93-56) before
splitting two SCAC games over the weekend against Rhodes (L, 76-55)
and Millsaps (W, 65-56). Against Rhodes, the Lynx made a remarkable
17-of-19 (90%) first half shots and used a 20-0 run to open up a 27
point halftime lead to remove any doubt early on in this contest.
The night got off to a bad start when Andrew Galow drilled
three-pointers on Rhodes' first two possessions on his way to
scoring 13 of the Lynx first 14 points. Against Millsaps, the
Majors held a brief first half lead that lasted only four minutes
of clock time before Oglethorpe raced in front and never looked
back en route to victory. Oglethorpe is now 6-8 on the season and
1-4 in SCAC play. The Petrels travel to Texas to face Trinity this
Friday at 8 p.m.
Rhodes finished the week of conference play 2-1.
On Monday, Rhodes defeated travel partner Millsaps College 62-46.
The Lynx defense stifled the Majors to under 40% shooting. Three
Rhodes players notched double figures as junior Andrew Galow led
the team with 16 points, four assists, and four rebounds. Theo
Hartwell and Johnny Dunavant added 12 and 10 points respectively.
Rhodes continued their undefeated conference play on Friday as they
beat Oglethorpe 76-55. Galow scored 19 points in the first half and
ended the evening with 21 points, eight rebounds, and five assists.
Sunday saw a different result in conference play for the Lynx as
they lost to 22nd-ranked Birmingham-Southern on the road 70-48.
Rhodes is now 4-1 in the SCAC and 9-5 overall, as they hit the road
again on Friday at Dallas and Saturday at Austin College.
For the first time since December 2005, Sewanee
earned a victory over SCAC rival Centre. On Saturday, after
defeating Covenant College (Ga.) 63-51 Wednesday evening, Sewanee
defeated the Colonels 85-78. In that contest, the Tigers shot a
season-high 55 percent from the floor. Additionally, Sewanee
converted 11 of its 24 shots from behind the arc. That mark, was
also a season best. With the game tied 65-65, Sewanee retook the
lead for good when junior Lewis Affronti hit a three with 3:30 left
to play. On the next two Tiger possessions fellow classmate, Tyler
Brown stepped up. Brown hit a three with 3:18 to play, which gave
the Tigers some much-needed breathing room. After recording a block
on Centre’s next offensive set, Brown hit his second three
with just over 2:00 remaining. From there, sophomore Valentino
Bryant sealed the win with some key free throws and a steal for the
Tigers.
Southwestern (1-12, 1-3 SCAC) had the week off and
returns to action with an SCAC conference match-up with
Birmingham-Southern on January 13th and Oglethorpe on January 14th
at home. Last season, the Pirates dropped an 83-59 decision to
Oglethorpe and lost to Birmingham-Southern 94-58.
Trinity (8-5, 3-1 SCAC) had the week off and will return
to action on January 13 and 14 against Oglethorpe and
Birmingham-Southern in San Antonio. The Tigers lost 78-67 at
Oglethorpe last season, and also lost 82-73 at
Birmingham-Southern.
For the complete SCAC Men's Hoops Weekly for Week
7, click here.
