SUWANEE, Ga. - The Southwestern Pirates continued their solid play as the Pirates extended their winning streak to six games with two wins at the Southwestern University/Trinity University Classic in Georgetown, Texas Dec. 19-20. The wins improved Southwestern to 7-1 overall.

AROUND THE SCAC

Austin College fell 66-63 in a tough loss to East Texas Baptist in their final game before the holidays, with an ice cold second half shooting performance spelling doom for the ‘Roos. Austin College is now 6-2 overall on the season. After leading 28-25 at the half, the ‘Roos hit just 2-of-14 three pointers after the break but managed to grab a 59-58 lead late, but the next basket for the Tigers put ETBU up for good as the ‘Roos fell for the second time this season. Kola Alade had 16 points, three assists and three steals to lead the ‘Roos while Chris Sturtevant was the only other AC player in double digits with 10 points. Kyle Lintelman added nine points as the ‘Roos hit just 36.8% from the floor in the game.

Birmingham-Southern played just one game last week and defeated Rust 99-84 at the Bill Battle Coliseum. Sophomore guard Jasen Jonus paced the way for the Panthers as he tallied a career-high 27 points on 9-of-11 shooting, including 7-of-9 from behind the arc. Jonus grabbed two rebounds and dished out an assist. He was one of three BSC players to score in double-figures along with Roger Williams (11 points) and Blaise White (10 points). The Panthers established 55-40 halftime advantage and never looked back in the second half. BSC shot an incredible 35-of-68 (51.5 percent)from the floor for the game as well as a remarkable 15-of-28 (53.6 percent). The Panthers return to the court on Jan. 1, 2010 when they travel to Atlanta to square off against SCAC rival Oglethorpe University.

Centre won its only game of the week defeating visiting Asbury College 68-49 in a non-conference game. The Colonels shot 44.3% (27-61) for the game and out-rebounded the Eagles 41-35 while also tallying eight steals and four blocks in the win. With the win, Centre has now won its last two straight to up its record to 3-4 after opening the year 1-3. Centre will be off this week and then return to action next week to host its annual holiday tournament.

Colorado College dropped back-to-back games for the first time this season, falling at Division II Regis University and Martin Luther College. Jarrell Sweet paced the Tigers with 14 points, three assists and three steals. Nick Rose added 11 points, while Brady Ohlsen had 10 points and seven rebounds. The Rangers used a 17-4 run midway through the second half to turn a five-point deficit into a 53-45 lead with 1:55 remaining in the game. Waters grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds for CC. On Saturday against the Knights, Colorado College made just three of 15 field-goal attempts during a span of 10:02 as Martin Luther College built a 40-23 lead with just over three minutes remaining in the first half. Sweet had five points during a 13-3 run which saw the Tigers pull to within 48-40 with 12:31 to play, but that was as close as CC would get. Rose paced the Tigers with 15 points and six rebounds before fouling out with 3:46 to play. Sweet tied his season high with seven steals and dished out six assists, while Ohlsen added 11 points. Colorado College concludes its two-game trip to Minnesota at Macalester College on Monday afternoon.

DePauw improved to 7-2 on the season following a 66-55 win at Earlham in the week's lone game. The Quakers dropped to 3-7 with the loss. Earlham held a 29-25 lead at the half, but the Tigers used a 9-0 run to take a 44-35 advantage with 11:08 remaining in the game. The Quakers closed to within 51-48, but Sean Haseley knocked down a three which began an 8-0 stretch and pushed the Tigers' lead to double digits. Haseley paced DePauw and matched a career high with 19 points, while Lemasters added 10. David Gray grabbed a game-high seven rebounds as the Tigers held a 32-27 edge on the boards. Tony James and Tom Callen each had three assists for the Tigers. DePauw shot 47.1 percent from the floor for the game and nailed 59.1 percent of its second half shots.

Hendrix went 2-1 this week with an SCAC win over Millsaps College on Thursday and then a two game split at the Webster University Classic on Saturday and Sunday. The Warriors took down Coe College on Saturday and then lost to Cornell College on Sunday. Hendrix improves to 4-4 overall and now stands at 1-2 in conference action. Thursday was chuck full of career best performances as sophomore forward Nick Heathscott posted a career-high 30 points and senior guard Janson Hightower matched his career high of 11 assists, while senior guard Cal Rose joined the 1,000 career points club to lead the Warriors to a 71-67 overtime home win over the Majors. The Warriors had four players in double digits against Coe to hold on for a 74-73 nail biting victory. Heathscott led Hendrix in scoring for the third straight game and junior guard Ryan Rizos posted a career high 16 points. The Warriors shot just 30.9 percent from the field and suffered a 67-56 loss to Cornell in the final game of the Webster University Classic. Rose was 8-of-16 from the field.

Millsaps (2-6, 0-3 SCAC) split a pair of games this past week, edging Rust 65-62 and falling in overtime at Hendrix, 71-67. Senior guard Blake Martinez posted back-to-back 20-point games to give him four on the early season, knocking down a combined 10 3-pointers on 41 percent shooting. In Thursday’s four-point loss to the Warriors, Millsaps gave up two game-tying free throws to Nick Heathscott with 17 seconds left before falling in overtime. Heathscott finished with 30 points and 10-of-12 shooting, overshadowing a career night from Millsaps sophomore Ben Cooper who chipped in 18 points and 10 boards. The Majors will now take a much needed 16-day break from competition as part of the Christmas Holidays, and will return to the hardwood Jan. 2-3, 2010 in Jackson as part of the Cabot-Lodge Millsaps Holiday Tournament in The Hangar Dome.

Oglethorpe defeated Hanover College on Pinholster Court on Friday night, 77-71. After letting a late 14 point lead slip away, Todd Ward sealed the victory with a savvy baseline move to give the Petrels a four point cushion and the eventual win. Hanover responded with a 12-0 run to make the game 73-71 with only 120 seconds left on the clock. That's when Ward went to work on the baseline to sink an acrobatic reverse layup to open up a four point lead with 35 seconds showing on the clock. Oglethorpe was lifted by the return of senior guard David Allison who showed no ill-effects from missing the first seven games of the season with a knee injury. For the night, Allison led all scorers with 26 points on a deadly 9 of 14 shooting performance. Oglethorpe is now 5-3 on the season and will get set to face Colby at home on December 29 at 5:00 p.m.

Rhodes finished off its 2009 with a road victory over the University of Dallas on Saturday. With the victory the Lynx gained a split with Dallas and raised its record to 5-5 on the season. Reid Hamilton led the Lynx, who placed four players in double digits, with 15 points. Andyshea Saberioon and Andrew Galow had 13 and 10 respectively, while Brad Luckett netted 11 points off the bench. The Lynx dominated the glass with a 45-27 rebounding advantage. Rhodes had six different players grab at least five rebounds on the night, led by Kory Kilpatrick’s team high 8 rebounds. The Lynx defense was stingy all night but especially in the second half as they allowed Dallas to connect on just 28% of their shot attempts. For the game Rhodes held Dallas to just 33% shooting including 23% from the field.

Sewanee hosted the 14th annual Lon Varnell Classic this weekend and came up short, taking losses to Rust and Huntingdon Colleges. Guilford won the tourney with a pair of wins. Sewanee point guard Tony Marelle was named to the All-Tournament Team and scored 21 points on the weekend with an 11-4 assist-turnover ratio. Sewanee is now 3-6 so far and will return to action January 1, 2010 against Rhodes in SCAC action.

Southwestern continued to roll through non-conference action as they improved to 7-1. They faced American Southwest Conference opponents Concordia and Schreiner in the SU/TU Classic on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday's match-up was a fast paced contest that saw the Pirates put up their highest point total of the season, 96 points. Southwestern's hot shooting from the floor continued and they distributed the ball well as all Pirates who played on the offensive end of the floor scored in the contest. Sunday Southwestern survived a cooler shooting night and held off the upset bid of Schreiner. SU never trailed in the second half, but the Mountaineers hung around and kept the game close until they were forced to foul down the stretch of the game. The Pirates will return to action after the holidays in San Antonio on December 28-29.

Trinity competed at the Southwestern University/Trinity University Classic Dec. 19-20. The Tigers posted a 1-1 mark at the tournament by tallying a 59-45 win over Schreiner and then dropping an 81-72 decision to Concordia (Texas). Leading Trinity during the week was sophomore guard Ryan Beall who averaged 12 points per game, four rebounds per game, three assists per game and one steal per game. Beall also connected on 50 percent (9-of-18) of his shots. The Tigers, 2-5 overall and 0-1 in the SCAC, return to action on Dec. 28 and 29 by hosting the Trinity University/Southwestern University Classic. Trinity will take on Illinois Wesleyan on Dec. 28 and then conclude the two-day event by hosting Dominican (Ill.).

For the complete SCAC Men's Hoops Weekly for Week 5, click here.