The Centre College Colonels, the top seed out of the East Division, advanced to their fifth straight Southern Collegiate Athleti Conference championship with a 62-44 semifinal win over the Trinity University Tigers Saturday afternoon.Centre and Trinty last met in the postseason in the semifinals of the 2008 SCAC Tournament where the Colonels got the better of the Tigers, 70-57. The two teams have met a total of five times since the SCAC readopted a postseason conference tournamnent in 2002-03.
Four Colonels, led by Jeff Mullaney's 12 points, scored in double-figures. Teammates Bryon Ellis, Josh Crawford and Danny Noll all scored 10 points in the win. Alex Lloyd led Centre with a game-high 12 rebounds.
Centre used a dominating performace from its post players. The Colonels held a 20-8 advantage in points from the paint. They also were helped by 14 second chance points while out-rebounding Trinity by a 41-28 mark.
Trinity was led junior forward Luke Caldarera's double-double. He tallied team-leading totals in points (14) and rebounds (10). Ryan Beall chippped in with 12 points on 4-for-9 shooting.
Centre jumped to a 23-16 halftime lead as both teams shot a combined 15-for-52 (28.9 percent. The Colonels used a 12-2 run over the first five minutes of the second half to open up a 35-18 lead. Centre led by as much as 20 on three separate occassions in the second half.
With the win, the Colonels improve to 17-8 and will play the winner of the second semifinal between Austin College and DePauw University on Feb. 28 at Noon CT. Trinity finishes the season at 14-13.
After the game SCAC Director of Communications Russell Kramer caught up with both head coaches plus Centre sophomore guard Jeff Mullaney.
To listen to Trinity head coach Pat Cunningham, click here.
To listen to Centre head coach Greg Mason, click here.
To listen to Centre sophomore guard Jeff Mullaney, click here.
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