Centre Wins Third Straight SCAC Men's Basketball Championship

The Centre College Colonels survived a furious DePauw University second half comeback attempt and earned the school's third straight Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship with a 75-63 win over rival DePauw. Box Score

With the win, the Colonels (21-5, 13-3 SCAC) earn the SCAC's automatic bid to the 2011 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship.

Appearing in the SCAC championship game for a sixth-straight year, Centre won its fourth championship in that span thanks to a 23 point performance from junior forward Greg Ross. Ross, the tournament's MVP, broke the SCAC tournament scoring average by scoring 23.7 points per game. Sophomore guard Bryon Ellis joined Ross on the All-Tournament team.

Against DePauw, Ross scored 23 points on 7-for-13 shooting and added eight rebounds. Sophomore teammate Bryon was 3-of-3 from beyond the arc and finished the tournament shooting a remarkable 84.6 percent from 3-point range (11-of-13 total).

Centre jumped out a commanding 34-18 lead thanks in large part to outstanding shooting and superb defensive effort. The Colonels connected on 14-of-23 from the field (60.9 percent) and limited a DePauw offense to 6-of-24 from the floor (25 percent).

The second half was a different story as the Tigers (19-9, 12-4 SCAC) shot over 62 percent (18-of-29) and trimmed Centre's lead to three with seven minutes remaining in the game. DePauw couldn't quite comeback as Centre was too much down the stretch.

The Tigers were led by junior Sean Haseley's 20 points and 10 rebounds. Ryan Sever chipped in with 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Both Haseley and Sever were named to the All-Tournament team. Oglethorpe senior guard Joe Kennedy rounded out the All-Tournament team performers.

After the game SCAC Sports Information Director Jeff Debaldo caught up with both head coaches along with sophomore guard Bryon Ellis and junior forward Greg Ross of Centre.

To listen to DePauw head coach Bill Fenlon, click here.

To listen to sophomore guard Bryon Ellis of Centre, click here.

To listen to junior forward Greg Ross of Centre, click here.

To listen to Centre head coach Greg Mason, click here.

Centre Advances to Face DePauw in SCAC Title Clash

Centre College, the East's No. 1 seed, advanced to its sixth consecutive Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship game with a 70-57 semifinal win over division rival and No. 3 East seed Oglethorpe University.

Sophomore guard Bryon Ellis led Centre (20-5, 13-3 SCAC) as he scored a game-high 28 points on 9-of-11 shooting, including an SCAC tournament record eight 3-point field goals. Ellis was 8-of-10 from beyond the arc. He matched former Centre standouts Matt Nestheide (Feb. 25, 2007) and Kris Bentley (March 1, 2009) as the only three to make at least eight shots from 3-point range in SCAC tournament history (since 2003).

Oglethorpe raced out to a 36-34 halftime lead on the strenght of shooting nearly 56 percent (15-of-27) in the first half. The Stormy Petrels (15-12, 10-6 SCAC) could not keep up their hot shooting as the Colonels limited Oglethorpe to 28 percent shooting (7-of-25) in the second half. Centre came into the SCAC tournament as the nation's second leading scoring defense, giving up an average of just 55.3 points per game.

Centre's Greg Ross, a night after scoring an SCAC tournament single-game record 38 points, added 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Colonels. Heading into the championship game, Ross is averaging 24 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.

Oglethorpe was led by senior guard Joe Kennedy's 18 poins, four rebounds and one steal. He shot 7-of-18 from the floor. Also chipping in for the Stormy Petrels were classmates Alex Richey (15 points) and Todd Ward (11 points).

The turning point of the game came on an Ellis three-pointer which gave Centre a 60-50 lead with 6:28 left in the game. From there, the Colonels were able to extend the lead to 68-54 with just over one minute remaining before earning the win.

Centre advances to the SCAC championship game for the sixth consecutive year and will look for its fourth SCAC championship in the last five years. The Colonels square off against yet another divsison rival in DePauw. These same two teams played for the conference championship a year ago with Centre prevailing 60-56. This will mark the third time that Centre and DePauw meet with an SCAC championship on the line. DePauw won the 2006 championship with a 64-61 win over Centre.

After the game SCAC Sports Information Director Jeff DeBaldo caught up with both head coaches along with sophomore guard Bryon Ellis of Centre.

To listen to Oglethorpe head coach Phil Ponder, click here.

To listen to Centre guard Bryon Ellis, click here.

To listen to Centre head coach Greg Mason, click here.