MBB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[pbrooks3]

Centre showing some grit as they're down 12 with 5:30 to play.

[pbrooks3]

Centre is within 8 at the 3:33 mark. 2 good takeaways on defense led to layups. Majors ball.

[pbrooks3]

I'd give star of this game to the smallest man on the court - Chad Songy. He made several key shots at critical points of the game for the Majors. Millsaps wins 69-60. A very solid team performance by Millsaps. Excellent defensive pressure in the half court took Centre out of synch and made the Majors the top team in the SCAC tournament this year. Centre fought the good fight despite shooting miserably today. 2 great teams putting it on the line today and both should be rewarded with additional post-season play.

[DPULefty22]

Tip of the cap to the Majors, a great senior-led team who deserved to go to the NCAA Tournament and now won't have to sweat out Selection Monday.

As for Centre... tough to win when you shoot 28% from the field and 3-for-24 from deep, that's for sure. It felt like their hoop had a lid on it for stretches at a time. I kept waiting for one of Centre's seniors to take over the basketball game, but my theory is that the unselfishness of the Colonels actually worked against them in this one. Britt and Nestheide passed up a lot of open looks in the second half - it looked like neither of them wanted to put the team on their back. Nestheide finally did, cementing my long-held belief that he was the most important player on that team, but it was too little too late.

We'll see them both in the NCAA's that's for sure.

[frank_ezelle]

First off, my thanks to the people from DePauw and Southwestern for allowing me to following the games like it was a televised tournament.  You guys provide a huge service for the SCAC.

Congratulations to Coach Wise and especially to the three seniors who have been there all 4 years, Lorenzo Bailey, Rodney Rogan, and Deonte Oscar.  Over the last 4 years Millsaps has gone from 9-16 to 14-12 to 18-9 and now they are 25-3, tied for the most wins in a season at Millsaps (the 1994-95 NCAA team finished 25-3).  Counting the 14-4 finish last season, Millsaps is now 39-7 over the last season and a half.

Also congratulations to Edrick Montgomery on the tournament MVP award and to Rodney Rogan and Chris Sanders for making the All-Tournament team.  As I have argued all year, Edrick comes up big when the team needs him to have a big game, and this weekend he added the tournament scoring and field goal records to go along with his individual game scoring record (34 points, shared with Jon Query).

And finally, congratulations to the many guys off the bench who made this kind of season possible.  Millsaps lost backup big man Chris Ingle prior to the season and starter Deonte Oscar and sub Ross James during the season due to injuries and a lot of guys stepped up to fill in.  As pbrooks3 mention, the play of Chad Songy has been impressive as a mid-season addition to the starting lineup and the return of Allen Odum for his 4th year was a critical addition to the team, as has been the play of Blake Martinez, Cameron Varnado, and Russell Booth off the bench (it seems like I'm leaving out someone). 

It's been a great season that hopefully will have several more games to go.  Good luck to both Centre and Millsaps in post season play.

[consultant]

Indeed, congratulatons are in order for Millsaps and Centre.  Both teams had an outstanding year and both will be rewarded with a tournament bid tomorrow.  I just spoke to Millsaps head coach Tim Wise, who expressed his appreciation for the season long diligent efforts of the Majors.  He's a mighty proud coach.

[pbrooks3]

Kudos Frank to the entire Millsaps nation of basketball fans.  You guys were the best team out there today.  I would like to have seen Centre put up a better offensive game and make it more competitive than it was.  However, Millsaps played outstanding defense which obviously created some poor shot selection and the low shooting percentage that Centre exhibited today.  The Colonels got a lot of good looks, particularly early in the game, but didn't take advantage of these chances.  Also thought Centre played with the idea that Montgomery or Rogan were going step up defensively and block a shot.  Now Millsaps, like Centre, needs to get ready for word on when and where they play next.  I really hope that we'll see both Millsaps and Centre go deep into the D3 tournament; this would enhance the reputation of SCAC.  Good luck to both squads.

[pbrooks3]

Want to thank Hendrix College for hosting a fine SCAC tournament this year.  Danny Powell, Cliff Garrison and the entire Hendrix athletic department can take great pride in a first class facility and the tremendous hospitality they provided SCAC fans over the weekend.  It was a neat touch to also have the Lindsey's Barbecue wagon outside the gym; heard a lot positives about this.

[Gus Sinski]

 A big "thank you" also needs to go out to the members of the Hendrix booster club board, many of whom volunteered throughout the week in various capacities.

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I am a member of said board. And in that capacity, I'd like to invite anyone who reads this board and attended the tournament - fans, players, coaches, parents - to let me know what areas could have been improved upon. This was a maiden voyage for all involved, and I'm sure this won't be the first time the "WAC" plays host to an event be it the SCAC or some high school deal. So, any thoughts or suggestions, shoot me a PM or let me know here on the board. How can we make your experience at Hendrix better?

[pbrooks3]

If the Hoopsville guys are on target, it looks like Millsaps will travel to Mary Hardin-Baylor (#1 seed for this bracket) to play Whitworth with the winner getting MHB. In this scenario, Centre (#2 seed in the bracket) would host playing Averitt. Winner would play winner of Ohio Wesleyan-Maryville (TN) game.

[lammersk]

Centre and Millsaps both in and both hosting.  Centre starts with Franklin and Millsaps starts with Maryville (that should be a good game).

[lammersk]

Franklin Grizzlies (Centre's opponent) is 18-9 and is Heartland's AQ.  Anyone seen them play this year?

[lammersk]

The only common team Centre and Franklin faced was Transylvania.  Centre beat Transy in their single contest, 66-56.  Franklin faced Transy 3 times, losing the first time 82-77 and winning the other two time 63-42 and 60-53.

Franklin appears to have been on a tear at the end of its season, only losing to Defiance in February and returning the favor by beating Defiance to win the Heartland tournament.

[lammersk]

Millsaps and Maryville have played 3 common teams and both beat them all: Rust, Huntingdon, and Sewanee.

Rust - Millsaps 79-58; Maryville 98-45 & 95-77

Huntingdon - Millsaps 81-71; Maryville 86-64 & 69-61

Sewanee - Millsaps 76-75; Maryville 93-67

[frank_ezelle]

The combined record of Maryville and Millsaps is 49-5.  It should be a terrific game with Maryville's NCAA Tournament experience countering the Millsaps advantage of playing at home.  Here are some links from the Maryville website that will be informative to those who don't know much about Maryville:

NCAA Story:  http://www.maryvillecollege.edu/athletics/news-detail.asp?sportNameID=5&id=2373

Stats:  http://www.maryvillecollege.edu/athletics/stats/MCMSeasonStats24-2.pdf

Roster:  http://www.maryvillecollege.edu/athletics/roster-mn-basketball.asp?sportNameID=5

Men's Sports Homepage:  http://www.maryvillecollege.edu/athletics/mens-sports.asp