LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – All eight Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference men’s basketball teams continued conference play this week.
Schreiner University celebrated the opening of the new Schreiner Athletic & Event Center, kicking the night off with a win over Texas Lutheran University. This game also marked TLU Head Coach Jimmy Smith’s first return to Schreiner since leaving the Mountaineers after the 2013-14 season.
TLU split their games this weekend, and still remain in the top spot in the SCAC with a 4-1 record. Centenary College earned two wins, defeating the University of Dallas and Austin College to move to 4-2.
Southwestern defeated Trinity University and Schreiner in both meetings this weekend to move to 3-2 in the SCAC, which is tied for third with Austin College. The ‘Roos were 3-0 coming into the weekend, but faced tough losses to Colorado College and Centenary.
Schreiner leads the bottom half of the standings with a 2-2 record after splitting their match ups this weekend, while Colorado College holds a 3-3 record.
Dallas and Trinity are in seventh and eighth place, respectively, after both teams failed to procure a win this week.
Austin College
In the ‘Roos’ first match-up of the weekend,
they traveled to Colorado Springs to take on Colorado College.
Jeremy Swisher led the team with 10 points, but AC couldn’t
hold off a hot-shooting Tigers team, and fell 90-65. Austin Freet
led the team on the boards, pulling down 10 rebounds. Alan Sullivan
recorded eight points in the loss, adding three rebounds, two
steals and two blocks. Sunday afternoon, the ‘Roos were in
Shreveport, La. to face Centenary, but couldn’t pull out the
win, falling 82-72. Freet led the team with 19 points, nine
rebounds and two steals. Sullivan put up 17 points and four
rebounds in the game, while Kevin Graham dished out a team-high
four assists. After shooting under .300 against Colorado College,
AC improved to a .400 shooting on Sunday, but it wasn’t
enough.
Centenary College
The Gents swept both Austin College and Dallas over the
weekend, improving to 4-2 on the season. Friday night, the team
hosted Dallas, defeating the Crusaders 70-53. Kendall Demouchet
came off the bench to lead the team with 22 points and nine
rebounds, followed by 14 points from Travion Kirkendoll. Brandon
Campbell added 10 points and a team-high nine assists. The Gents
shot 46.2% in the game, while holding UD to 43.6% from the field.
Centenary held a 35-30 rebounding advantage, and forced 19
turnovers that led to 23 points. The game remained close
throughout, featuring eight ties and 18 lead changes. On Sunday,
the Gents took on Austin College, earning an 82-72 win. Demouchet
had another big game off of the bench, scoring game-high 33 points,
while adding eight rebounds, two steals and three blocks. Travion
Kirkendoll followed Demouchet with 11 points and eight rebounds,
while James Sapp put up 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. The
Gents shot 45.5% from beyond the arc, while holding AC to
26.9%.
Colorado College
The Tigers returned home after two weeks on the road to
host Austin College and Dallas, earning wins over both teams.
Friday night, CC shot .500 from the field and .846 from the charity
stripe to earn a dominating 90-65 win over the ‘Roos. All but
one player for the Tigers marked at least two points in the game,
led by 14 points and six rebounds from Justin Berardino. Chris
Lesnansky followed him up with 12 points of his own, adding four
rebounds, one assist, five steals and a block. Luke Winfield and
Ryan Kell added 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Tigers to
round out the top scorers. CC forced 21 turnovers by the
‘Roos, leading to 25 points, while only committing 13
turnovers. Sunday afternoon, the Tigers faced the University of
Dallas, defeating them in a close 65-58 game. Lesnansky scored a
game-high 21 points, connecting on 10-of-11 free throws. Russell
Clark led the team with seven rebounds and a pair of blocks, also
adding three points. Eric Houska totaled 11 points in the game,
while dishing out a team-high five assists. The Tigers held a 35-29
rebounding advantage over the Crusaders.
University of Dallas
Friday night, the Crusaders traveled to Centenary to take
on the Gents, but fell 70-53. Mark Promberger led the scoring
attack with 14 points, adding 10 rebounds for his second
double-double of the season. Michael Sarrat followed him with 13
points, while Blaine Blackburn added 10 to round out the
double-digit scorers. Kym Malone posted four assists and three
steals in the game, in addition to his four points. The Crusaders
shot .436 from the field, but couldn’t connect from
long-range, shooting .273 from beyond the arc. Sunday, the
Crusaders battled it out with the CC Tigers, but ended up falling
65-58. The game featured two ties and seven lead changes
throughout. Aaron Wyatt led the team with 17 points and six
rebounds, followed by 11 points from Tom Kaiser and 10 from Sarrat.
Kaiser also pulled down six rebounds to lead the team with Wyatt.
Once again, Malone dished out four assists and grabbed three steals
in the game.
Schreiner University
For the opening weekend of the Schreiner Athletic &
Event Center, the Mountaineers split their games, handing Texas
Lutheran the team’s first SCAC loss of the season, but
falling the Southwestern. Friday night, SU pulled out a close 77-72
win over the Bulldogs. Stevan Guerrero and Christian Pena each put
up 18 points to lead the team, followed by 12 points from Wes
Miller. Pena also matched Hollis Robinson for a team-leading seven
rebounds. The Mountaineers held a 36-32 advantage on the boards,
leading to 15 second-chance points. The following night, Schreiner
hosted Southwestern, but fell 74-54 to the visiting Pirates.
Charlie Nunez came off the bench to add 14 points in the game,
followed by 12 from Jared Thompson and 10 by Ryan Evans. The
Mountaineers relied on the bench players for 45 of the team’s
54 points. Guerrero led the starting players with five points.
Thompson and Evans each put up a team-high four rebounds.
Southwestern University
The Pirates improved to 3-2 in the SCAC and 8-6 overall
after winning both games this weekend. Friday night, SU took on
rival Trinity, defeating the Tigers for the first time in almost
two years. Ryan Ogden led the scoring attack against TU, putting up
28 points in the Pirates’ 74-69 win. Ogden connected of
4-of-5 three-pointers and 8-of-8 free throws. Chris Lee was the
team’s only other double-digit scorer, adding 10 points in
the game. Ogden completed his third double-double of his career,
posting a team-high 10 rebounds. Brandyn Hawk dished out four
assists and grabbed four steals to lead the Pirates in both
categories. SU shot .429 from the floor and .591 from beyond the
arc. They also connected of 19-of-22 free throws in the game. The
following night, the Pirates defeated Schreiner 74-54 on the road.
Ogden led the team again with 17 points, making seven of his eight
shot attempts, while shooting a perfect 2-of-2 from long-range. Lee
and Blake Scott each added 10 points in the game, while Scott
marked a team-high six rebounds. The Pirates improved their
shooting to .600 from the field during Saturday night’s game,
while also shooting .467 from beyond the arc. The team was able to
hold their opponent to under .400 in the game.
Texas Lutheran
Friday night, the Bulldogs traveled Schreiner to take on
the Mountaineers, but fell 77-72. Jordan Kouremetis posted 25
points to lead all players in the game connecting on six
three-pointers. He was followed by 11 points from both Donte McGee
and Harris Jowell, while Sterling Holmes rounded out the top
scorers with 10 points. McGee led the team with eight rebounds,
Jowell added seven and Kouremetis had six in the game. The
following night, the Bulldogs earned a win in a double-overtime
thriller against Trinity University. This marks TLU’s first
win over the Tigers in more than 10 years. Austin Pickens scored a
game-high 25 points, shooting 8-of-10 from the field and 7-of-8
from beyond the arc. Donte McGee posted 21 points and 14 rebounds,
marking his sixth double-double of the season. Kouremetis and Zach
Behr each added 11 points to round out the double-digit scorers.
Holmes dished out a game-high nine assists, adding seven points.
The Bulldogs shot .429 from the floor and an impressive .586 from
beyond the arc.
Trinity University
The Tigers couldn’t earn their first SCAC win this
weekend, as they fell in two close games to Southwestern and Texas
Lutheran at home. Friday night, the Pirates pulled out a 74-69 win
over Trinity. Brian Blum led the Tigers with 20 points off the
bench, followed by 13 points from A.J. Pulliam. Joseph Thomas
rounded out the top scorers with 10 points. Nik Oakes led the team
on the boards, pulling down eight rebounds. The Tigers shot .446
from the field in the game, but just .346 from beyond the arc.
Saturday night, Trinity inched closer to a SCAC victory, forcing
double-overtime with Texas Lutheran. After the first half, the
Tigers led 34-28, but the Bulldogs evened things out to end
regulation. In the second overtime period, the Tigers were only
able to mark one point, leading to a 90-84 loss. Pulliam led the
team with 23 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in the game,
followed by 18 points from Matt Selling and 16 from Matt Jones.
Selling also added six rebounds, three assists, two steals and a
block in the game.
