SHERMAN, Texas - The No. 4 seeded Southwestern University
Pirates and the No. 6 seeded Austin College
Kangaroos earned quarterfinal victories in the 2013 Southern
Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament on
Friday evening and advanced to the tournament semifinals.
Official Tournament Website | Live Video
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SCAC Quarterfinal Game One Recap
The SCAC Men's Basketball Tournament opened up with fourth seed
Southwestern University taking a 74-67 win over fifth-seeded Centenary College on Friday
evening. Box Score
Southwestern (11-15) built a 36-29 halftime lead, which turned out to be the difference after both teams posted 38 points in the second half of play. The game was marked by more than 60 fouls overall – including 40 in the decisive second half, slowing down the pace of play. The two teams also combined to shoot 75 free throws in the game.
Centenary (9-15) took an early 10-5 lead over Southwestern, but the Pirates took control shortly after, using a 17-5 run to go ahead by 12 with less than three minutes remaining until the half. The Gents cut the lead to seven by halftime, thanks in large part to a 47.4% shooting performance in the period.
In the second half, Centenary was able to keep it close despite 33% shooting. The Pirates never trailed after the break, though the Gents did tie the game several times in the period. The last tie came at 58-58 with just under five minutes to play, and Southwestern promptly responded by scoring six of the next seven points to take a 64-59 lead with 2:24 to play.
Centenary had the lead down to three (66-63) with 1:08 to play, but Southwestern hit 6-8 free throws in the final 46 seconds to secure the win down the stretch. Michael Cantu hit all six of his foul shots in that time, as well as 11-12 overall in the game.
Overall, Southwestern scored 25-38 (65.8%) from the free throw line, while Centenary knocked down 27-37 (73%). The Pirates also shot 45% from the field in the second half – including 2-3 three-point shots.
Cantu was Southwestern's only play to reach double figures in the game, finishing with 18 points in his 27 minutes. Blake Scott added nine points off the bench, while Chase Kocher and Nicholas Atiee chipped in with eight points each.
Jonathan Blount led all scorers with 20 points on 6-13 shooting, as well as tying for the team lead with seven rebounds in his 37 minutes. Caden Cheramie and JaColby Hardin-Crawford scored 15 points each for the Gents. Cheramie hit 11-13 free throws, while Hardin-Crawford connected on 6-9 from the field and 3-5 from distance.
Southwestern advances to the SCAC Semifinals tomorrow, facing off against top seed Trinity University, who received a first-round bye. The Tigers and Pirates will play for the fourth time this season at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday evening. Trinity won two of the three games against Southwestern during the regular season.
The sixth-seeded Austin College Kangaroos stunned the third-seeded University of Dallas Crusaders 74-58 in the quarterfinal round of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament on Friday night in Hughey Gym. Box Score
Austin College got out to a hot start from the field, shooting 58.3% from the floor in the first half, and kept that offensive momentum going in the second half. The 'Roos finished the game knocking down 55.1% of their field goals overall. Both teams got off to a slow start on the offensive end before an 11-2 run for Austin College made it 21-10 in favor of the 'Roos with 5:30 left before halftime.
Two three pointers from Drew Assinesi quickly cut the margin to 28-20 with 2:37 left before the break, but Austin College would respond by scoring seven unanswered to push the margin to 15 before Assinesi scored twice in the final minute of the half to send the Crusaders into the locker room trailing 35-24.
The winner will face either top seeded Trinity University or fourth-seeded Southwestern University in the SCAC Championship game on Sunday.
Ransom Okpala (AC) interview | Rodney Wecker (AC) interview | Jarred Samples
(UD) interview
