SUWANEE, Ga. - Birmingham-Southern and Sewanee remain the only undefeated Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball teams after the opening two weeks of the season. The 19th-ranked Panthers extended their home winning streak to 33 games, dating back to the end of the 2008-09 season.
AROUND THE SCAC
Austin College (2-3, 0-0 SCAC) dropped a pair
of games to Texas-Dallas (82-58) and Texas-Tyler (59-58) during the
week. Against Texas-Dallas, the Kangaroos were led by Jordan
Hancock. Hancock scored a team-high 11 points on 4 of 13 shooting.
Against Texas-Tyler, Austin College was led by Josh Saunders’
18 points. Saunders also added seven rebounds and shot 54.5 percent
(6 of 11) from the floor in the one point loss. The Kangaroos
return to action on Saturday, December 3 when they travel to nearby
Irving, Texas for their SCAC opener with Dallas.
No. 19 Birmingham-Southern played only one game
this week and won big again at home, defeating LaGrange 96-65 on
Tuesday. Junior Zac Richards, senior Jasen Jonus, and sophomore
Nick Murphy all led with 12 points each, and Richards led all
players with 14 rebounds. Juniors Blaise White and Kevin Kegarise
had three assists apiece, and freshman Larry Thomas led with three
steals. The win marked the 33rd straight home victory for the
Panthers, a streak dating back to the end of the 2008-09 season.
BSC is at home again this Wednesday, facing Huntingdon College, and
then opens conference play on Saturday in Atlanta against
Oglethorpe.
Centre played two games this past week, winning
one and losing one. The Colonels headed to Lexington, Ky. to take
on Transylvania. Centre fell behind late in the first half against
the Pioneers and could not make up the deficit in the second half,
losing by 12 points, 74-62. Senior Greg Ross led the way for Centre
with 20 points and eight rebounds. Freshman Josh Karsner added 17
points and five rebounds, while senior Jeff Mullaney chipped in
with ten points and five assists. Centre then headed to Franklin,
Ind. on Saturday to take on the Franklin Grizzlies. The Colonels
prevailed 78-62 behind a balanced scoring effort, as four Centre
players scored in double figures. Mullaney led all scorers with 19.
Ross scored 17 points and grabbed ten rebounds. Karsner added 16
points, while freshman Chris Taylor scored 11 points and handed out
four assists. Centre shot 54% for the game against the
Grizzlies.
Colorado College continued play against Division
II opponents last week, dropping a game to No. 10 Metro State
College, 71-43 during a midweek game in Denver, Colo. The Tigers
are now 0-3 on the season, with all of their losses coming by
Division II schools from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
Junior Ian Rewoldt led CC with 17 points and also picked up a
team-high six rebounds against Metro State. Freshman Chris
Lesnansky added 14 points to the Tiger offense on 7-of-9 shooting
from the floor. Sophomore guard Ryan Milne ran the offense dishing
out a team-high three assists. Colorado College will play at home
for the first time this season as it opens conference play on
Friday against Southwestern University at 8 p.m.
Hendrix lost to Rust 101-81 on Tuesday in the
Warriors' only game of the week. The host Bearcats out-rebounded
the Warriors 47-24 in the game. Hendrix shot a season-best 54
percent (30-of-56) from the field and made 11 three-pointers.
Junior guard Jaren Rile was one off his career best with 21 points.
Riley shot 8-of-14 from the field and was 5-of-6 from three-point
range. Senior Chris Goodman had 15 points and also drained five
outside shots. Senior guard Ammon Martin had 15 points and four
assists and sophomore forward Colton Primm added 13 points, six
rebounds, four assists and three blocks. The Warriors open SCAC
play at home with Trinity on Friday and Southwestern on Sunday.
Millsaps played only once this week and it was
one of the most complete games of the young season as they shot 61%
in the first half and 53% for the game to knock off the Huntingdon
Hawks 74-64 in their home opener. Millsaps wasted little time out
of the game as they rushed out to a 28-8 lead as seven different
Majors got into the scoring column early on. Junior Taylor Meades
led Millsaps with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field. The
Majors improve to 3-1 with the win on Sunday night. They return to
action this Friday as they open up conference play with the Centre
Colonels, a team who was picked to with the Southern Collegiate
Athletic Conference Eastern Division. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. They
return the following Sunday to take on Sewanee at 3 p.m.
Oglethorpe men split two contests in a
Thanksgiving Classic hosted by Maryville College this past weekend.
The Petrels fell to Maryville (L, 94-66) on Saturday and topped
LaGrange (W, 83-68) on Sunday to run their record to 2-3 on the
season. The Scots wound up achieving a 20 point lead early in the
second stanza and held the Petrels at bay from that point forward.
After falling at the Panthers in the season opener, the Petrels
exacted a measure of revenge on Sunday by dominating the second
half on their way to victory. The Panthers regrouped to score 11 of
the final 14 points of the stanza to take a 44-41 lead into the
locker room. Senior Andrew Steioff led the charge for Oglethorpe by
netting 12 of his 18 points for the contest in the first 20
minutes. Leading 57-53 with 11 minutes left, Oglethorpe put
LaGrange away with a decisive spurt that began with a Branden
Jovaag three-ball to up the lead to 7. Tyler Cerone buried another
three moments later to push the lead to 9 before Jovaag connected
again outside the arc to open up a 13 point cushion with 7:19 to
play. Oglethorpe will host Piedmont Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Rhodes finished a busy week going 2 –
1. The Lynx got their first victory of the week on Tuesday as
they hosted Covenant College. Led by Geoff Livsey, Rhodes used
a 9-0 run to finish the game and notch the first home court
victory. A short turnaround saw the Lynx hosting the 2011
Rhodes College Thanksgiving Classic (sponsored by Crowne Plaza
Downtown) on Friday and Saturday. It was a team effort on
Friday as Rhodes took an early advantage and never looked back in
their 77 – 43 win. In the championship game, the Lynx
faced off against Ohio Wesleyan. Behind by as many as 14 in
the first half, the Lynx settled in and grabbed a ten point lead,
55 – 45, with ten minutes remaining. Foul trouble
plagued Rhodes as Kory Kilpatrick and Andrew Galow both picked up
their fourth fouls with 8:43 on the clock. With under two
minutes remaining the game was tied at 65, but OWU finished on
their own 9 – 0 run to take the championship. Galow and
Johnny Dunavant paced the Lynx with 13 and 19 points
respectively.
Sewanee (3-0) did not play last week. The Tigers
are off to their best start since the 2001-02 campaign. Sewanee
returns to action on November 29 when the Tigers travel to Covenant
College before opening up Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
play on December 2 (at Rhodes) and continuing December 4 (at
Millsaps).
Southwestern continued through its difficult
schedule over the holiday break and fell to 0-6 on the season. Mary
Hardin-Baylor came to town on Tuesday night and Southwestern wasn't
able to find their offensive rhythm as they fell 82-56. SU headed
out of state for the holidays to face Randolph-Macon and Virginia
Wesleyan on Friday and Saturday night. It was a tale of two halves
in both contests and the Pirates fell behind early but played well
in the second half but were unable to overcome the deficit.
Southwestern fell 94-65 to RMC and 73-58 to Virginia Wesleyan. This
weekend Southwestern remains on the road to open SCAC conference
action on Friday night against Colorado College and then heads to
Hendrix on Sunday to take on the Warriors.
Trinity went 1-2 over the holiday week,
defeating Texas Lutheran on Tuesday, but losing to top-ranked
Virginia Wesleyan and Randolph-Macon over the weekend. The Tigers
are 3-3 so far this season, and will open up SCAC play this
weekend. Trinity will play at Hendrix and Colorado College on
Friday and Saturday. Last season, the Tigers swept Hendrix in two
games, but split with Colorado College.
For the complete SCAC Men's Hoops Weekly for Week
2, click here.
