LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – After winning a SCAC championship in its second year in the league followed by the school's first-ever appearance in the NCAA tournament, Texas Lutheran University will attempt to defend its conference crown as the league's top six teams descend upon Shreveport, La., and the campus of Centenary College for the 14th annual Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament. Official Tournament Website | Men's Bracket

Texas Lutheran picked up where it left off a year ago and will enter the 2016 SCAC tournament as the top seed after finishing the regular season with a record of 19-6 overall; 11-3 in conference play. Head Coach Jimmy Smith's Bulldogs are averaging 81.0 points per game (second in the SCAC) and lead the conference in both rebounding margin (+4.3) and fewest turnovers per game (11.7). Individually, TLU has a formidable 1-2 punch in junior guards Sterling Holmes and Jordan Kouremetis. Holmes, last season's co-Newcomer-of-the-Year, is currently third in the SCAC in both points (16.5 ppg) and assists (4.1 apg) per game and is seventh in rebounds per game at 6.7 and leads the Bulldogs in all three categories. Kouremetis, who was the MVP of last year's tournament, is seventh in the SCAC in scoring (14.1 ppg) and leads the league in three-point field goals made (65). If he remains atop the league leaders, Kouremetis would become just the fourth player in SCAC history to lead the conference in three-point field goals made in back-to-back seasons. Junior forward Zach Behr has chipped in with 12.6 points per game. The Bulldogs earned a bye for the first round of the 2016 tournament and will face off against the winner of the No. 4/5 battle between Centenary College and Trinity University at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Colorado College will be the No. 2 seed after finishing the season with a 15-10 overall mark; 10-4 in conference play. The Tigers, who lead the league in both field goal percentage (46.3 percent) and three-point field goal percentage (38.8 percent), also have the individual leaders in both categorioes. Senior forward James Lonergan leads the SCAC in field goal percentage (57.8 percent) and sophomore forward John Hatch leads the conference in three-point field goal percentage (54.7 percent). Lonergan leads a balanced offensive attack with 12.5 points per game as four Tigers average double-figures a contest. He is also the team leader in rebounds per contest at 7.4 caroms per contest (fifth in the SCAC). Sophomore forward Andrew Maddock, sophomore guard Eric Houska and Hatch average 11.9, 10.8 and 10.4 points per game, respectively. Houska also averages a team-high 3.6 assists per game (sixth in the SCAC) for a squad that leads the conference with 16.5 assists per game. Colorado College also leads the SCAC in scoring defense (71.3 ppg) which perhaps foreshadows a deep tournament run for head coach Andy Partee's Tigers. Six of the last seven SCAC tournament champions led the league in scoring defense. CC earned its first bye since the 2013 tournament and will take on the winner of the No. 3/6 match-up between Southwestern University and Austin College at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

For the second straight season, Southwestern University enters the tournament as the No. 3 seed as the 2015-16 edition of the Pirates finished the regular season with a record of 13-12 and 10-4 in conference play. Under second-year head coach Janson Hightower, Southwestern boasts the high-scoring offense in the conference. The Pirates currently average 81.6 points per contest which, as it stands, would be the highest single-season team total posted by a SCAC men's team in over a decade. Leading that scoring barrage is sophomore forward Ryan Ogden, who averages 17.9 points per contest (second in the SCAC). He is also second in the league in rebounds per game at 9.1. Three other Southwestern players are averaging double digit scoring, including junior forward Zach Whitlock who is at 14.8 points per game. Junior guard Chris Molina and sophomore Connor Kim average 13.2 and 11.4 points per game, respectively. The Pirates, who enter the tournament with the longest current win streak (5 games) will face No. 6 Austin College in Friday's second quarterfinal match-up. Southwestern swept the 'Roos during the regular season, defeating them in Georgetown, 86-85 on Jan. 8, and again in Kerrville, 89-71 on Feb. 12. This will be the first-ever meeting between the two in SCAC tournament play. Last season, Southwestern played just the third double-overtime game in SCAC men's tournament history, defeating Schreiner, 81-76, in the quarterfinals before falling to Centenary, 87-80, in the tournament semifinals.

Centenary College will play host to the 2016 SCAC Basketball Tournament this year, and enter the weekend as the No. 4 seed after finishing the regular season with a record of 15-10 and 7-7 in SCAC play. The Gents, who have made it to the championship game each of the last SCAC tournaments, will attempt to become just the second host team in the 14-year history of the event to cut down the nets. Centenary's offensive efforts are led by sophomore guard Trevion Kirkendoll, the defending SCAC Co-Newcomer-of-the-Year, who currently leads the SCAC in scoring with a 19.8 points per game average. If he were to hold that crown, it would mark the first time in league history that players from the same program have led the lead in scoring average for four straight seasons. The second-year player also leads the league in steals at 2.0 per contest and is fourth in rebounding at 7.6 caroms per game. Junior forward James Sapp, last season's SCAC Player-of-the-Year, is averaging 15.4 points (fifth in the SCAC) and a league-high 11.2 rebounds per game. He is also second in steals with 1.7 thefts per contest. Gents' head coach Adam Walsh has the only team in the league with five players averaging 10 or more points a game. In addition to Kirkendoll and Sapp, junior forward Kendall Demouchet, freshman guard Treylan Matthews and junior guard Brandon Campbell are averaging 12.9, 11.4 and 10.8 points per game, respectively. The Gents will face Trinity in Friday's first quarterfinal match-up. The two teams split their regular season contests, with each winning on the other's home floor. Trinity defeated Centenary, 72-70, on Jan. 10 in Shreveport and Centenary returned the favor with an 89-74 victory over the Tigers on Feb. 13. 

Trinity University is back in the tournament after a one-year hiatus which marked the only time the six-time tournament champions had not qualified for SCAC postseason play. Head Coach Pat Cunningham's Tigers enter this year's tournament as the fifth-seed with an overall mark of 10-15; 6-8 in the SCAC, and are led by junior forward A.J. Pulliam who is averaging a team-high 14.9 points (sixth in the SCAC) as well as 5.4 rebounds per game. Freshman guard Ben Beatie chips in with 10.2 points and a team-high 6.3 boards per contest while sophomore guard Matt Jones leads the SCAC in assists, averaging 4.9 per game. The two teams split their regular season contests, with each winning on the other's home floor. Trinity defeated Centenary, 72-70, on Jan. 10 in Shreveport and Centenary returned the favor with an 89-74 victory over the Tigers on Feb. 13. The last (and only) time these teams faced each other in SCAC postseason play, Trinity defeated Centenary, 82-70, in the championship game of the 2014 tournament. In regards to tournament history, the Tigers are 10-1 in first round SCAC tournament action and have advanced to the semifinal round 11 times in their 12 previous appearances. The winner of Friday's #4/#5 match-up will move on to face top-seeded Texas Lutheran in Saturday's first semifinal contest.

On the final day of regular season conference play, Austin College picked up a huge 85-78 victory over the University of Dallas, and, coupled with Schreiner University's loss to Trinity, earned the sixth and final seed in the SCAC tournament. The 'Roos, who come into this year's tourney with a 14-10 overall mark; 4-10 in conference play, lead the conference in several defensive categories - including field goal percentage defense (38.3 percent), three-point field goal percentage defense (29.9 percent) and blocked shots (5.2 per game). Individually, junior forward Alan Sullivan paces the Austin College offense and is averaging 15.5 points (fourth in the SCAC) and 6.2 rebounds per game. Sullivan has the single-game scoring high in the SCAC this season as he poured in 40 points in a 79-57 victory over Schreiner on Jan. 29. Junior guard Brian Baehl is next with 13.6 points and 4.0 assists (fourth in the SCAC) per game and senior guard/forward Cedric Hudson adds 12.4 points per game. Austin College will face No. 3 Southwestern in Friday's second quarterfinal match-up. Southwestern swept the 'Roos during the regular season, defeating them in Georgetown, 86-85 on Jan. 8, and again in Kerrville, 89-71 on Feb. 12. This will be the first-ever meeting between the two in SCAC tournament play, but not Austin College's first appearance as a No. 6 seed. Including this one, the 'Roos' last three tournament appearances have come as the sixth seed, including the 2013 tournament when Austin College became the last No. 6 seed to win a first-round tournament game - defeating No. 3 Dallas, 74-58, in San Antonio. 

Tournament action gets underway on Friday beginning at 1 p.m. CT. The entire tournament schedule is listed below.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26
SCAC Men's Basketball Tournament - hosted by Centenary College
Game 1 - No. 4 Centenary College vs. No. 5 Trinity University - 1 p.m.
Game 2 - No. 3 Southwestern University vs. No. 6 Austin College - 3 p.m.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27
SCAC Men's Basketball Tournament - hosted by Centenary College
Game 3 - No. 1 Texas Lutheran University vs. Game 1 Winner - 1 p.m.
Game 4 - No. 2 Colorado College vs. Game 2 Winner - 3 p.m.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28
SCAC Men's Basketball Tournament - hosted by Centenary College
Game 5 - Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner – Noon


PAST SCAC MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS
2015 - Texas Lutheran University (MVP - Jordan Kouremetis, Texas Lutheran)
2014 - Trinity University (MVP - Robert Kitzinger, Trinity)
2013 - Trinity University (MVP - Heath Hopson, Trinity)
2012 - Trinity University (MVP - Zach Lambert, Trinity)
2011 - Centre College (MVP - Greg Ross, Centre)
2010 - Centre College (MVP - Jeff Mullaney, Centre)
2009 - Centre College (MVP - Danny Noll, Centre)
2008 - Millsaps College (MVP - Edrick Montgomery, Millsaps)
2007 - Centre College (MVP - Matt Nestheide, Centre)
2006 - DePauw University (MVP - Austin Brown, DePauw)
2005 - Trinity University (MVP - Sean Devins, Trinity)
2004 - Trinity University (MVP - Sean Devins, Trinity)
2003 - Trinity University (MVP - Jason Morris, Trinity)

*The SCAC did not conduct a postseason basketball tournament prior to the 2002-2003 season; the league champion was determined by regular season finish.