Another year where the SCAC Tournament is shaping up to be a barnburner yet again... I just want to take some time to write about it.
#1 Trinity should be the favorites baring injury, the only team they've lost to in conference is St. Thomas. If Trinity does lose, I'd be shocked if they weren't one of the first teams of the board for Pool C. Christian Green has had quite the freshman season to say the least (and may lead the nation in D3 dunks). Pair him with Jacob Harvey and Tanner Brown being the go to guys for 3 pointers and Braxton Barry supplementing the starting unit with his presence in the paint makes Trinity a handful in to many ways to count. Oh yeah, did I mention Dean Balo? He's been a bit overshadowed by Green, but he's another Freshman that's been making an impact in pretty much every game he's in. The only question mark is if the Tigers can find a way to beat the Celts, since they seem to be the team with their number consistently.
#2 St. Thomas has had a very weird run through conference, they dropped both games to Dallas, one to Southwestern (they caught a case of the injury bug to be fair) and one to Centenary. I think St. Thomas does have a path to a Pool C bid, but if they want to have any chance of that happening they can't go one and done. Even though the path has been tough for the Celts, they are still a team that can easily win the Conference Tournament. Calvin Williams and Nick Anderson have been the dynamic duo that has been propelling St. Thomas offense to great heights. The Celts have also been adept pickpockets with almost 18 forced turnovers per game, and are the only team to hand Trinity not one, but two losses this year.
#4 Colorado College vs #5 Dallas is great one to kick off the Tournament. The regular season series was split, with both road teams winning their respective games against one another. Dallas has a really good Starting 5, with Jack Boyle being the headliner, but Kelton Coleman has been stellar from the arc off the bench. Colorado has been excelling with their defense this year, and they've used it to hold some really good offenses under their season average. They lead the conference in field goal defense, 3 point defense and blocks per game. Some of that may be thanks to them playing in Colorado, but they've proven that they can travel with that defense. Dinari Boykin leads the team on the offensive side of the ball in terms of scoring, and Edgar Romero is having a nice season from beyond the arc.
Expert (not actually an expert) prediction: Dallas, I guess? It's a tossup, but Colorado has had a tendency to struggle on offense more than Dallas has near the end of the season.
#3 Centenary vs #6 Schreiner is a fun matchup. Schreiner swept the regular season games, and Kamden Ross is an absolute stud of a player that's complimented by guys like Dylan Mackey and Beau Cervantes on the outside. Centenary being at home is definitely a benefit for them (8-3 at home this season), but superstitions isn't what the gents rely on. Seth Thomas is probably a lock for first team All-SCAC, and they have 4 players (Craig Collier, Jakobi Greenleaf, Quentin Beverly, and AJ Hall) averaging 9 or more points per game. The Gents also lead the SCAC in 3 pointers per game (which I didn't expect).
As for a winner? It's a tossup, but I like Schreiner to win this one.
No matter the outcome, we've got a great weekend of games coming up!
#1 Trinity should be the favorites baring injury, the only team they've lost to in conference is St. Thomas. If Trinity does lose, I'd be shocked if they weren't one of the first teams of the board for Pool C. Christian Green has had quite the freshman season to say the least (and may lead the nation in D3 dunks). Pair him with Jacob Harvey and Tanner Brown being the go to guys for 3 pointers and Braxton Barry supplementing the starting unit with his presence in the paint makes Trinity a handful in to many ways to count. Oh yeah, did I mention Dean Balo? He's been a bit overshadowed by Green, but he's another Freshman that's been making an impact in pretty much every game he's in. The only question mark is if the Tigers can find a way to beat the Celts, since they seem to be the team with their number consistently.
#2 St. Thomas has had a very weird run through conference, they dropped both games to Dallas, one to Southwestern (they caught a case of the injury bug to be fair) and one to Centenary. I think St. Thomas does have a path to a Pool C bid, but if they want to have any chance of that happening they can't go one and done. Even though the path has been tough for the Celts, they are still a team that can easily win the Conference Tournament. Calvin Williams and Nick Anderson have been the dynamic duo that has been propelling St. Thomas offense to great heights. The Celts have also been adept pickpockets with almost 18 forced turnovers per game, and are the only team to hand Trinity not one, but two losses this year.
#4 Colorado College vs #5 Dallas is great one to kick off the Tournament. The regular season series was split, with both road teams winning their respective games against one another. Dallas has a really good Starting 5, with Jack Boyle being the headliner, but Kelton Coleman has been stellar from the arc off the bench. Colorado has been excelling with their defense this year, and they've used it to hold some really good offenses under their season average. They lead the conference in field goal defense, 3 point defense and blocks per game. Some of that may be thanks to them playing in Colorado, but they've proven that they can travel with that defense. Dinari Boykin leads the team on the offensive side of the ball in terms of scoring, and Edgar Romero is having a nice season from beyond the arc.
Expert (not actually an expert) prediction: Dallas, I guess? It's a tossup, but Colorado has had a tendency to struggle on offense more than Dallas has near the end of the season.
#3 Centenary vs #6 Schreiner is a fun matchup. Schreiner swept the regular season games, and Kamden Ross is an absolute stud of a player that's complimented by guys like Dylan Mackey and Beau Cervantes on the outside. Centenary being at home is definitely a benefit for them (8-3 at home this season), but superstitions isn't what the gents rely on. Seth Thomas is probably a lock for first team All-SCAC, and they have 4 players (Craig Collier, Jakobi Greenleaf, Quentin Beverly, and AJ Hall) averaging 9 or more points per game. The Gents also lead the SCAC in 3 pointers per game (which I didn't expect).
As for a winner? It's a tossup, but I like Schreiner to win this one.
No matter the outcome, we've got a great weekend of games coming up!