JACKSON, Miss. - The top four seeds advanced to the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament semifinals with wins on day one. One seeds Austin College and Centre College will take on two seeds DePauw University and Trinity University, respectively, on Saturday in the semifinal round.
Defending SCAC champion #1E Centre College used a huge 3-pointer
from guard Bryon Ellis to extend the Colonels lead 10 points late
in the second half and Centre earned a tough 65-49 win over
tournament host, #4W Millsaps College at the Hangar Dome.
Senior forward Danny Noll paced the Colonel offense as he tallied
17 points, six rebounds, two assists and two blocks in the win on
6-for-10 shooting. Teammates Josh Crawford (13) and Alex Lloyd (10)
also chipped in with double-figures while Ellis scored six points,
both on 3-point shots.
Millsaps was led by junior guard LV Sumler's 16 points while
teammates Blake Martinez and Chris Ingle scores 14 and 10
respectively.
Centre advances to Saturday's semifinals where they will play the
winner of the #2W Trinity vs. #3E Oglethorpe game at 1 p.m.
Central.
Trinity University, the #2W seeded team, used a huge performance
from junior forward Luke Caldarera to beat #3E Oglethorpe
University, 61-52 in an SCAC quarterfinal.
Caldarera scored 26 points on 8-of-17 shooting and fell one rebound
shy of a double-double in the winning effort. The junior made a
number of closely defended and clutch shots to help the Tigers
erase a seven point Stormy Petrel lead with 6:48 remaining in the
game.
The lead changed four 10 times and was tied on four separate
occasions as both teams struggled shooting all afternoon. Trinity
actually shot better from beyond the arc (36.4 percent) than they
did from the field overall (24.1 percent) in the first half.
After Oglethorpe forced a 10-second violation, the Stormy Petrels
got 3-pointers from Alex Richey and David Allison to increase its
lead led to seven, 49-42 with just under seven minutes to play.
Trinity then responded with an 8-0 run over the next four and a
half minutes to take a 53-52 lead and did not relinquish it the
remainder of the game.
The Tigers' Michael Tobolowsky scored 14 points on 4-for-10
shooting (2-for-5 from beyond the arc).
Oglethorpe was led by Wade Weldon's nine points and Richey's seven.
Four Petrels (Todd Ward, Allison, Erik Strong and E.C. Williams)
scored six points. Oglethorpe held an 18-7 edge in bench points and
out-rebounded Trinity 38-36.
Senior point guard Kola Alade scored 23 points and fell one
rebound shy of a double-double as the #1W Austin College Kangaroos
earned the school's first-ever 20 win season with a 74-68 win over
#4E Rhodes College.
Alade was 8-for-20 from the field (7-for-8 from the free throw
line) and five of his nine rebounds were offensive rebounds. The
'Roos relied on a steady does of second chance opportunities in the
win. Austin College held a 26-6 margin in second chance points and
out paced Rhodes by a 36-3 mark in points off the bench.
Teammate Josh Saunders chipped in with 16 points on 7-for-10
shooting and tallied eight rebounds while Nick Wade scored 14
points while shooting 4-for-7 from 3-point range.
The game was a tight affair throughout, evidenced by the nine ties
and seven lead changes. The 'Roos were able to build a 37-34
halftime lead even though the Lynx shot 50 percent (10-for-20) in
the first half.
Rhodes trimmed the Austin College lead to just four, at 59-55, with
7:27 remaining after a pair of Nathan Ollie free throws. However,
the 'Roos went on a 9-3 run to build a 10 point lead (its largest
of the night) with 3:26 left in the ball game.
The Lynx stayed in the game thanks in large part to their free
throw shooting as Rhodes went to the line 22 more times than Austin
College. Rhodes sank 30-of-39 from the charity stripe while the
'Roos shot 70.6 percent (12-for-17).
Rhodes was paced by first-year guard Andrew Galow's 22 points.
Galow hit 13-of-15 from the line while shooting 4-for-6 from the
floor. He also added four rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Also leading Rhodes was Reid Hamilton (18 points) and Kory
Kilpatrick (11 points).
In a rematch of last year's SCAC quarterfinal, the second seeded
DePauw University Tigers survived a furious comeback attempt from
the third seeded Southwestern University Pirates, and advanced to
the 2010 SCAC semifnals with a 67-60 win Saturday night.
DePauw's Steve Lemasters was one of four Tigers who scored in
double-figures. He led the team with 18. Tom Callen (13), David
Gray (13) and Tomm Weakley (12) rounded out the quartet. Lemasters
added six rebounds, one assist and shot 5-for-12 from beyond the
arc.
The Tigers jumped out to a 45-26 halftime lead thanks in large part
to outstanding shooting. DePauw shot a sizzling 57.7 percent
(15-for-26) from the floor, including making 10-of-18 3-point
attempts (55.6 percent). DePauw closed the half on a 24-6 run that
seemed to put the game out of reach.
Southwestern, however, did not go quietly in the second half. After
trailing 50-30, five minutes into the second half, the Pirates
responded with a 17-4 run over seven minutes to cut DePauw's lead
to 54-47. Southwestern got to within six points with just under two
minutes left before the Tigers put the game away.
DePauw out-rebounded the Pirates a 36-24 count while also holding a
decisive 18-4 edge in points off the bench. Southwestern was able
to convert 19 Tigers turnovers into 19 points.
Southwestern was led by a trio of Pirates who scored in
double-figures. Leading the group was senior guard Travis Barber.
Barber poured in 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting and added two
rebounds, two assists and two steals. Senior guard Anthony Cox
posted a solid night with 14 points, five rebounds, three steals
and two assists while junior forward Jonathan Brown chipped in with
14 points on 7-of-11 shooting (63.6 percent). He also added four
rebounds, two steals and a block.
With the win, DePauw now faces #1W seeded Austin College in the
semifinals Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. Central.
For exclusive interviews with student-athletes and head coaches, please visit the SCAC Blog.
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