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March 2, 2008
CONWAY, Ark. – In
the championship game of the 2008 SCAC Men’s Basketball Tournament,
No. 22 Millsaps built a 14-point halftime lead with crisp defense and
made stops when they needed to late to upset the No. 2 Centre Colonels
69-60 and snap the nation’s longest winning streak at 25 games.
In the fourth meeting
between the two teams in the six-year history of the SCAC Tourney,
Centre
entered winning the previous three meetings
in 2003, 2006 and 2007 by an average of 8.6 ppg but shot just 20 percent
in the opening period to fall behind early and dig themselves into a
deep hole that they couldn’t pull out of.
Millsaps won the opening tip and senior forward Edrick Montgomery made
good of his first two attempts, followed by a Chris Sanders 3-pointer
for an early 7-2 lead. Centre fought back to tie the game at 11-11 with
10:15 left in the half, using a Danny Knoll layup, before the teams traded
3s on each end to make it 14-14.
A 14-0 run for Millsaps over the next 7:16 gave the Majors their largest
first half lead of the game at 28-14 before Thomas Britt knocked down
a pair of free throws for the Colonels to end the run with just over
2:30 left in the first half.
The teams traded
the final 14 points and the Majors headed to the locker room with a
35-21 lead,
backed by 12 points from Montgomery and six apiece
from Chad Songy and Sanders off a combined 4-of-5 shooting from beyond
the arc. Centre didn’t have a scorer over four points after shooting
a dismal 5-of-25 from the floor but connected on 9-of-12 free throws.
Centre opened the second half
with the same struggles as the first, missing 12 of its first 14 shots
to fall behind by 21 points at the 12:35
mark, 46-25, off another bucket from Millsaps’ Montgomery in traffic
midway through the second period.
The Colonels got a big 3-pointer from Knoll on the left wing to cap
a 9-2 spurt and cut the gap to 14 just minutes later where the score
stood at 53-39 with 5:51 remaining.
Another 8-2 run from
Centre cut the Millsaps lead to only eight at 55-47 with 3:33 left – the
first time the Colonels got within single-digits in the period – before
a big 3-pointer from Sanders on the other end pushed the lead back
out to 11.
Late free throws
for the Majors capped the win as they prevailed 69-60 and locked up
the automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament beginning
Friday, March 7.
Montgomery led the Majors
with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Songy and Sanders chipped
in 14 points apiece and Rogan added 11. Matt Nestheide
led Centre with 20 points – 16 in the second half – while
Knoll added 14 and SCAC Player of the Year Thomas Britt added six on
a 1-for-8 shooting day.
At the conclusion
of the game the 2008 All-SCAC Tournament Team was announced with Sanders,
Rogan and Montgomery taking the honors for Millsaps
and Montgomery being named the Tournament MVP after averaging 21.7 points
and 8.3 rebounds and shooting 62 percent from the floor.
Millsaps
will find out its destiny tomorrow morning on “Selection
Monday” at 11 a.m CT. To view the live stream click the NCAA
Sports
link and sign up for free to watch.
It will be the Majors'
first trip to the NCAA Tournament since the 2000-01 season and the
fifth-ever appearance in
men's basketball history.
2008 SCAC
Tournament Notes:
Montgomery averaged 21.7 ppg and 8.3 rpg ...
Rogan averaged 13.0 ppg and 7.6 rpg ... Sanders averaged 8.0 ppg and
5.3 rpg ... Songy averaged 10.6 ppg and 5.0 apg ... the bench
contributed 14.6 ppg ... Millsaps traveled the second-largest crowd,
made up of about 100 fans including students, staff, parents
and supporters.
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