LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference teams opened up the 2012-13 conference portion of their schedules the week of Nov. 26-Dec. 2. Trinity went 2-0 in league play while Centenary and Southwestern each went 1-1. Austin College went 0-2.
AROUND THE SCAC
Austin College went 0-3 last week, dropping games to University of Texas-Dallas and Southwestern before falling to Trinity in a game in which the Tigers pulled away in the game’s final 10 minutes to break open what had been a one point game. Against UTD, the ‘Roos trailed by just one point at the half before UTD pulled away in the second half to hand the ‘Roos a 61-50 loss. Against the Pirates, the ‘Roos rallied from a 12 point deficit but were unable to get over the hump, falling 59-57. The ‘Roos fell 84-66 to Trinity to close out the weekend, trailing by only one point with just over 12 minutes to play, but the Tigers hit 5-of-7 threes down the stretch to pull away from the ‘Roos. Alen Michael averaged a double-double for the week, scoring 13.3 points and grabbing 11.3 rebounds per game on 50% shooting to lead the ‘Roos.
Centenary snapped its three game winning-streak
and ended up going 1-2 this past week as it fell 93-62 to McNeese
State, 64-56 to Trinity, and defeating Southwestern 79-48.
Centenary (4-2, 1-1 SCAC) opened conference play and played its
home opener Friday night against Trinity. A slow start doomed the
Gents in this one as a 13-0 Trinity run midway through the first
half allowed them to go up for good on the night. The Tigers were
up 33-25 at half-time. Centenary threatened at the end, pulling as
close as 4, but the Tigers were able to capitalize on key plays to
hold on. The Gents were without leading scorer Jonathan Blount in
both conference games this weekend, who is averaging 24.5 ppg.
Sophomore Caden Cheramie was the only player in double figures for
the Gents, leading them with 16 points. Against Southwestern,
Centenary got back on track to snap a two game losing skid.
Sophomore JaColby Hardin-Crawford led the Gents with 16 points for
a season high. Also notching a season and career high was freshmen
Simeon Brinkley with 13 points, 9 of which came in a big first half
for the Gents. The Pirates did not score from the field after the
9:16 mark in the first half, and would trail 41-17 at halftime. The
Gents were on a 25-4 run during that time and scored 25 of their 41
points off 19 Pirate Turnovers.
Colorado College built a 25-point lead midway through the
second half and coasted to a 72-61 victory over Wartburg College in
a non-conference game on Saturday at Reid Arena. The Tigers led
64-39 after junior guard Ryan Milne scored two of his 12 points
with 8:18 remaining in the game, but the Knights closed the gap
with a 22-8 run. Freshman guard Justin Berardino led CC's balanced
attack with a game-high 19 points, 15 of which came on seven
attempts from behind the arc. Senior forward Ian Rewoldt added 16
points and a team-high nine rebounds. Sophomore forward Chris
Lesnansky finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and a career-high
five assists. Milne added 12 points and ties his season high with
seven assists. The Tigers set season highs with 40 rebounds and 18
assists. Colorado College (2-3) begins conference play this week
when it plays host to Austin College for back-to-back games on
Friday and Saturday night.
Dallas (3-2) went 3-0 on the week. Tuesday evening brought
Southwestern Adventist University to Irving, Texas, and the Maher
Athletic Center. Led by a pair of double-doubles from Tanner
Bruffey and Ross Davidson, the Crusaders notched a 90-65 rout of
the Knights. Up next for Dallas was the Citizens Bank Classic in
New London, Conn. Head coach Jarred Samples' squad achieved a 78-64
victory over Connecticut College on Friday to advance to Saturday's
championship game. In the title bout, Dallas took down Wheelock
College (Mass.) in a 58-54 affair to be crowned tournament
champions. Kym Malone was named most valuable player, while
Davidson was also pegged to the all-tournament team. Malone
averaged 11 points and 6.5 assists in both games. Dallas is idle
until Saturday, Dec. 15, when they open SCAC-play at home versus
Centenary College of Louisiana.
Southwestern went 1-2 in action this week,
opening SCAC conference play with a win at Austin College and a
loss at Centenary. Tuesday night, SU played their home opener
against Wayland Baptist. Despite an outstanding defensive effort,
the Pirates fell 66-55 as WBU pulled away from the free throw line.
Southwestern struggled from the floor, shooting only 32.1% from the
field and 34.8% from three point range. The Pirates regrouped and
opened conference play on the road in Sherman. Southwestern fended
off the 'Roos final push and used their 12 point lead to their
advantage to earn the 59-57 win. The shooting troubles returned on
Saturday, however, as a scoring drought late in the first half was
too much to recover from leading the Pirates to fall 79-48 to
Centenary. Southwestern moves to 1-5 on the season and 1-1 in the
SCAC after the week. They return to action at home on Tuesday
night, facing Schreiner University at 7 p.m.
Trinity (4-3) played four times over the past week,
winning three out of four games overall, and sweeping the opening
weekend in SCAC play at Centenary and Austin College. The Tigers
opened with a 62-57 home win over future SCAC member Schreiner,
then lost 56-57 on a buzzer-beating three-pointer against Mary
Hardin-Baylor. Trinity won 64-56 and 84-66 against the Gents and
‘Roos over the weekend. Trinity will be off until after
finals, resuming play on December 17 and 18 at the Southwestern
Classic in Georgetown, Texas. The Tigers will face Howard Payne and
SUNYIT in the tournament.
To view the entire SCAC Hoops Weekly for Week 3,
click here.
