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Defending Champ Centre Defeats Trinity Men's Hoops in SCAC Semifinals
Jackson, Miss. - The defending champion Centre College Colonels beat the Trinity University Tigers men's basketball team 62-44 Saturday in the semifinals of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament at The Hangar Dome at Millsaps College.
Trinity, the No. 2 seed from the conference West Division, completed its season with a 14-13 record. Centre, No. 1 in the East, improved to17-8 and will take on DePauw (No. 2 East) Sunday for the SCAC Championship. The Colonels beat the Tigers 57-50 on Jan. 22 in Danville, Ky.
The Tigers, who beat Oglethorpe (No. 3 East) 61-52 in Friday's opening round, were paced by junior forward Luke Caldarera's double-double against Centre. Caldarera, from Houston (Katy Taylor), scored a game-best 14 points, and pulled in 10 rebounds. he also had three steals and two assists. Caldarera also went over the 1,000-points plateau, becoming the 23rd Tiger player to reach the mark.
Sophomore guard Ryan Beall of Santa Barbara, Calif. (Dos Pueblos), scored 12 points, and picked up five rebounds. Junior forward Sam Dworkin of Portland, Ore. (Lincoln), added six points and a blocked shot. Senior center Peter Garatoni of San Antonio (MacArthur), also had two blocks, while scoring four points.
The Colonels led 23-16 at halftime, coming back from an early 6-0 run by the Tigers. Centre took over the lead (13-12) with 7:31 left in the first half, and never trailed again. The Tigers closed to 13 points (22-35), on a free throw by senior guard Michael Tobolowsky of Dallas (Greenhill School) at 12:42, but did not come closer in the game. Centre led by as much as 20 points in the second half, including a 59-39 lead with two minutes on the clock. The Colonels shot 52 percent in the second half, and Trinity went 31 percent.
Centre had four players in double figures, led by Jeff Mullaney, with 12 points and five assists. Alex Lloyd led the game with 12 rebounds, while scoring seven points.
Trinity, which advanced to the semifinals for the fourth straight year, shot 31 percent (15-49) from the field, and Centre hit 40 percent (23-58). The Colonels led 41-28 in rebounding.
