LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Six of the eight Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball teams began their season this weekend, posting an overall record of 7-3.
Colorado College, the University of Dallas and Schreiner University each earned two wins this weekend.
Centenary College split their games, falling to Lewis & Clark at the buzzer Saturday, but defeating Linfield College Sunday.
Centenary College
The Gents of Centenary began the 2014-15 season with a west coast road trip, traveling to Portland, Ore. for the Bon Appetit NWC Tipoff Classic. The Gents faced the Lewis & Clark Pioneers in the first game, keeping things close throughout. The Gents fell to the Pioneers 71-69. The two teams went into halftime tied at 29 after Kendall Demouchet hit a jumper with less than a minute left. After Demouchet notched the first basket of the second half, the Gents held onto a lead for the next 18 minutes of play. With 1:32 left in the game, the Pioneers made back-to-back free-throws to tie the game 64-64. Lewis & Clark tried a three-pointer with three second left, but it hit the rim. Demouchet marked a career-high 31 points in the win. A Pioneer player grabbed the rebound threw up a quick jumper to end the game. The Gents rebounded on Sunday to earn their first win of the season, defeating Linfield College 70-66. Brooks Pawsat led three Gents in double figures with 16 points while James Sapp added 12 and Demouchet rounded them out with 10. After leading36-35 at the half, the Linfield Wildcats went on a 19-6 run, taking a 54-42 lead with 11 minutes remaining. The Gents responded with a run of their own to reclaim the lead. The Gents finished the night shooting 43.6% from the field and 36.7% from behind the arc. Centenary forced 27 turnovers by the Wildcats which led to 24 points.
Colorado College
The Tigers started their season by winning the Colorado College Tip-Off Invitational after defeating Blackburn College and George Fox University. Saturday, the Tigers took down Blackburn 81-64 to open the season. Senior forward Chris Lesnansky notched 18 points in the game, shooting 8-11 from the floor nad 2-2 from the charity stripe. Junior Luke Winfield marked 13 points in the game and James Lonergan was the third Tiger to score in the double-digits with 11 points. Justin Berardino pulled down a team leading seven rebounds in the game. The Tigers had to overcome an early deficit in the game, but were able to use an 8-1 run to take a 34-27 lead in the first half. CC ended the half with a 45-34 lead and used the momentum to start the second half with a 12-0 run. The Tigers built a 75-55 lead with 6:19 left to play and held strong, earning the win. Sunday, CC defeated George Fox University in the championship game of the Invitational, 98-90. Lesnansky earned MVP honors of the two-day event, scoring a team high 23 points in the game, while grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out five assists. Winfield was named to the all-tournament team and marked a new career-high with 21 points. Lonergan had another double-digit night, scoring 16 points and grabbing 11 rebounds to mark his first career double-double. Berardino added 14 points in the win.
University of Dallas
The Dallas Crusaders swept their opponents this weekend, defeating the University of California-Santa Cruz Saturday and the University of Redlands on Sunday. Against the Banana Slugs, the Crusaders were down 31-34 at the break, but outscored UCSC by 10 points in the second half to earn a 64-57 win. Senior Aaron Wyatt and sophomore Tom Kaiser each led the team with 15 points, while Kaiser was just shy of a double-double, marking eight rebounds to lead the team. Michael Sarrat and Blaine Blackburn each added nine points and Mark Promberger put up seven. The Crusaders forced 23 turnovers, which led to 22 points. They also proved to have a deep lineup, earning 20 points from the bench. To cap off the perfect opening weekend, Dallas defeated Redlands in a close 75-73 overtime game. Redlands held a one-point advantage at halftime, leading 38-37, but Dallas tied the game up at 66 to end regulation. The Crusaders were able to get out to a 50-38 lead in the second half, but a 22-9 run by the Bulldogs would put them back on top. The second half ended as Blackburn drained a three-pointer with 19 seconds left. In overtime, Sarrat broke a tie with a pair of free-throws with 25 seconds left, before grabbing a steal on the next possession to end the game. Four players for UD put up double-digit numbers, led by Blackburn with 16 points. Wyatt marked a double-double, putting up 15 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
Schreiner University
The Mountaineers began their season under new head coach Connor Kuykendall in Forest Grove, Ore. against Pacific University. Schreiner earned wins in both their games to begin the season 2-0. SU posted a solid win at Pacific University, 65-58, Saturday, led by sophomore Wes Miller who marked a team-leading 16 points and added five rebounds and junior Christian Pena who marked 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench. After the first half, Schreiner held a 33-29 lead, but the Boxers took their biggest lead of the game early in the second half, 37-34. After SU regained the lead, they didn't look back. PU was able to pull back within one-point with under eight minutes remaining, but the Mountaineers quickly pushed the lead back out to six. The Schreiner defense only allowed the Boxers to shoot 34% from the field while the Mountaineers shot 50% from behind the arc. Sunday, SU faced Willamette on the road, earning a 69-57 win over the Bearcats. The Mountaineers got out to their largest lead of the first half, 12, after Jared Thompson hit a three-pointer with under four minutes remaining. The Bearcats closed up the game, allowing Schreiner just a three-point lead at halftime, 33-30. The teams traded points to begin the second half, but the Mountaineers quickly took control, stretching their lead out to 11 with 12 minutes to play. The SU lead didn't waver and a 10-2 run earned the win. The Mountaineers had another impressive game from behind the arc, shooting 48% . Steven Guerrero led the team with 18 points, adding nine assists, two steals and six rebounds. Thompson put up 13 points for the Mountaineers, while Pena and Maverick Harris each added 11 points. Pena led the team with nine rebounds.
Texas Lutheran University
The Bulldogs began their season under new head coach Jimmy Smith this weekend, but fell to the No. 22 Comets of the University of Texas-Dallas. UTD began the game on a 7-0 run, but TLU got back within one point with 15 minutes remaining in the half. The Comets continued to lead, allowing the Bulldogs to tie the game up twice in the first half, before taking an eight point lead into the break. The two teams combined to shoot 84 free throws in the game, with the Bulldogs finishing 26-of-34 from the line. Jordan Kouremetis led the team with 20 points, shooting 10-of-11 from the charity stripe. Two newcomers also finished in the double-digits with Zach Behr marking 11 points, three rebounds and two steals and Sterling Holmes adding 10 points, four assists, four rebounds and three steals.
Trinity University
The Trinity Tigers fell 100-74 Saturday to Hardin-Simmons to open up the 2014-15 season. The Tigers shot 49% from the field, but the defense allowed the Cowboys to shoot 57% overall. HSU led the Tigers 36-52 at halftime, after falling behind by 24 points and rallying to cut the lead to 16. Matt Selling led three Tigers in double-figure scoring, shooting 5-of-8 from the field and 3-of-5 from behind the arc for 14 points. Josh Ingram nailed 4-7 in the game for 10 points, also marking a team best three assists. Brian Blum came off the bench with 11 points in his collegiate debut, hitting 3-4 three-pointers. Matthew Bender led the Tigers with six rebounds.
