2012-2013 SCAC Men's Basketball Championship Preview

(Release courtesy SCAC)

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – The 11th annual SCAC Men's Basketball Tournament tips off on Friday, February 22 on the campus of Austin College in Sherman, Texas.

Official Tournament Website

The 2013 men's tournament appears to be as wide open as any of its predecessors as no team enters this year's event with more than a two-game winning streak (the previous low was four back in 2004). And due to a one-year tweak to the conference schedule, each tournament game will feature a fourth match-up between schools – leading to the assumption that with that amount of familiarity, this year's tournament should produce its fair share of close games. Don't be surprised if the 2013 SCAC men's tournament makes a run at the 2004 event for closeness of games. The 2004 tournament set the standard for smallest margin of victory (6.4 points) and four of the seven games that year were decided by four points or less.

Trinity University (12-3 SCAC / 18-7 overall) enters the 2013 men's tournament as the No. 1 seed. The defending champion of the event, Trinity earned a first-round bye and will take on the winner of Friday's first quarterfinal matchup between Southwestern University and Centenary College.

Coach Pat Cunningham and his Tigers are in the SCAC tournament for the 11th consecutive year and look to win their seventh overall SCAC championship. The last time Trinity repeated as league champions was when the Tigers won three-straight conference crowns from 2003-2005. Trinity has advanced to the SCAC championship game five times in the tournament's 11-year history and holds a 4-1 record in championship games. The Tigers will look to junior forward Zach Lambert, who was the 2012 SCAC tournament MVP. Lambert is averaging 16 points (tied for second in the SCAC) and 5.3 rebounds (eight in the SCAC) per game. At 15.8 points per game in five career tournament contests, Lambert is the fifth-leading scorer (by average) in SCAC Tournament history. Senior forward Heath Hopson will look to take some of the burden off of Lambert as Hopson averages 9.9 points (ninth in the SCAC) and 5.8 rebounds (seventh in the SCAC) per game. Junior guard Robert Kitzinger is averaging 9.4 points (10th in the SCAC) and is third in the league in three-point field goals made with 43. Sophomore guard William Young is second in the SCAC with 4.5 assists per game.

The second-seeded Colorado College Tigers (11-4 SCAC / 15-10 overall) also earned a first-round bye and await the winner of the University of Dallas and Austin College quarterfinal matchup.

Colorado College and head coach Andy Partee are in the SCAC tournament for the third straight year, but are seeking their first-ever SCAC tournament victory. The Tigers come into the 2013 tournament following an emotional come-from-behind victory over Southwestern where All-American junior guard Ryan Milne sank a 60-foot shot at the buzzer to give CC a 64-62 victory. The Phoenix native averaged 14.2 points (fifth in the SCAC), 3.4 rebounds and led the league during the regular season with 4.6 assists per game. The Tigers will also look to sophomore forward Chris Lesnansky – the 2011-12 SCAC Newcomer of the Year. Lesnansky averaged a team-best 15.4 points (fourth in the SCAC) and 7.0 rebounds (fourth in the SCAC) per game, and shot a team-best 48.7 percent from the floor (second in the SCAC). Senior forward Ian Rewoldt led the SCAC in rebounding during the regular season (8.4 per game) and also chipped in with 9.1 points per game (13th in the SCAC).

The tournament's third-seed, the University of Dallas (8-7 SCAC / 14-11 overall), is back in the tournament after a first-round loss in its inaugural appearance in 2012. The Crusaders will take on the host school, Austin College, in Friday's second quarterfinal matchup and head coach Jarred Samples and his squad will have a chance to make history in the process. Dallas swept all three regular season meetings with Austin College and a win in this contest would give the Crusaders the distinction of being the first conference team to ever win four games in one season against the same conference opponent – that is, if Centenary College doesn't pull off the feat in the evening's first quarterfinal matchup against Southwestern University. Pacing the Dallas offensive attack is senior forward Tanner Bruffey, who averages a team-best 16 points (tied for second in SCAC) and 6.1 rebounds (sixth in the SCAC) per game. Bruffey is also second in the league in three-point field goals made (46) and fifth in free-throw percentage (75.9%). Junior forward Ross Davidson averages 13.0 points (sixth in the SCAC) and 6.9 rebounds (fifth in the SCAC) per game, and sophomore guard Kym Malone is third in the SCAC in assists per game at 4.1 per game.

Fourth-seeded Southwestern University (6-9 SCAC / 10-15 overall) takes on Centenary College on Friday in the tournament's opening contest. The Pirates will attempt to avoid a fourth loss to the Gents this season, as the Gents swept Southwestern in their three regular season meetings by an average margin of 17 points. Southwestern's offensive attack is led by junior guard Michael Cantu and sophomore guard/forward Travis Kurtz. Cantu averages a team-best 9.3 points per game (11th in the SCAC) while Kurtz averaged 9.0 points per game (14th in the SCAC). Head coach Bill Raleigh and his Pirates will be seeking the program's first SCAC tournament win since 2009.

Centenary College (5-10 SCAC / 9-14 overall) heads into its first SCAC tournament after a last-second win of its own on Saturday. The Gents ended their regular season with a thrilling 73-72 victory over Austin College as junior Jonathan Blount sank a pair of free throws with 0.01 left on the clock to lift his team to the victory. It was fitting that Blount played the role of hero, as the junior led the SCAC in scoring during the regular season at 21.1 points per game and shot nearly 48 percent from the floor (third in the SCAC). Head coach Adam Walsh will also count on production from sophomore guard Caden Cheramie, who chips in with 8.1 points per game, and first-year forward Brett Bell, who averages 7.8 points while pulling down a team-best 7.6 rebounds per contest (second in the SCAC).

Austin College (3-12 SCAC / 6-19 overall) enters the tournament in the unique situation of being the sixth seed out of a six-team field and yet owning home court advantage as hosts of this year's event. In 2006, which was the last time a bottom seed hosted the SCAC Tournament (not counting 2008-2012 when the tournament was seeded by division), eighth-seeded Rhodes pulled off the upset with a victory over top-seeded Trinity. If the Kangaroos are to find their own lightning in a bottle, Coach Rodney Wecker will need solid performances from a number of players, including junior guard Ransom Okpala (10.6 points per game – seventh in the SCAC), senior forward Alen Michael (9.2 points, 7.4 rebounds per game – third in the SCAC), senior forward Walter Phillips (8.3 points per game) and junior guard Jordan Hancock (8.2 points per game).