The Centre College men and women advanced to the semifinals of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championships with first-round victories Friday.
The Centre men fought off Austin for a 56-52 win, while the women rolled to a 65-46 victory over Hendrix. Both teams play semifinal games Saturday.
Men
Centre 56, Austin 52 — At Birmingham, Ala., Centre (17-8) squandered a 14-point lead, then rallied in the last 3 minutes to edge Austin (15-11).
Chris Taylor's layup put the Colonels in front to stay at 50-49 with 2:44 remaining after the Kangaroos had wiped out the 45-31 lead they held with 10:45 to play.
Greg Ross stretched Centre's lead to three points with a layup at 1:25, and Donovan Whiteside hit four free throws in the final 31 seconds. Down by two, Austin got one chance to tie or take the lead in the closing seconds, but Kevin Graham missed a jump shot with 11 seconds left, leading to the last two free throws by Whiteside.
"For 30 minutes we played really well. We were defending, rebounding, hitting shots. (Then) we couldn't hit shots, we couldn't hit free throws; it was kind of a tough situation for us," Centre coach Greg Mason said. "We've done it before, and to our credit … we went on a big run at the end and pulled it out."
After Taylor's layup put Centre up 45-31, the Colonels scored only once in the next 8 minutes. Bryon Ellis' 3-pointer was their only field goal in seven attempts during that stretch. The Colonels were also 0 for 3 at the free-throw line during their drought and 8 for 21 overall.
Austin was also dominating the boards. The Kangaroos outrebounded the Colonels 26-14 in the second half after being outrebounded 21-15 in the first.
Centre's defense forced 20 turnovers, however, including three on consecutive possessions after Austin took a 49-48 lead with 3:23 left.
Taylor led Centre with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting off the bench. Ross had eight rebounds and Jeff Mullaney had four steals for the Colonels.
Centre, which has won the last three SCAC tournament titles, plays No. 9 Birmingham-Southern in its semifinal Saturday.
Women
Centre 65, Hendrix 46 — At Homewood, Ala., regular-season SCAC champion Centre (22-3) led Hendrix (7-19) from wire to wire in its first-round win.
The Colonels scored the last nine points of the first half to take a 38-26 lead, and after the Warriors scored to open the second half, Centre used a 10-1 run to take a 48-29 lead that would not be threatened.
"It was a total team effort. We got great runs from everybody that went on the floor," Centre coach Wendie Austin-Robinson said.
Maggie Prewitt scored seven points during that run, and she led Centre with 18 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
Bridget Winstead added 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from 3-point range for the Colonels, who were 7 for 15. Reserve Jane Goatley went 2 for 3 from outside the arc and scored eight points.
"Our shooters got back in rhythm tonight," Austin-Robinson said.
Paige Baechle also had nine points and a team-high nine rebounds off the bench for Centre, which outrebounded Hendrix 48-31.
The Colonels shot 43.6 percent from the field, while the Warriors shot 26.8 percent.
Centre's semifinal game Saturday is against Rhodes, which came from behind to beat the Colonels in their senior day game Sunday.
Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournaments
MEN
CENTRE 56, AUSTIN 52
First Round
At Birmingham, Ala.
CENTRE (17-8)
Greg Ross 4-10 1-2 9, Josh Karsner 2-6 0-0 5, Bryon Ellis 1-6 0-0 3, Collin Lopez 4-10 1-1 9, Jeff Mullaney 3-7 0-7 8, Spencer Wright 0-0 0-0 0, Chris Taylor 6-7 1-3 13, Matt Griggs 0-0 0-0 0, Casey Jackson 0-2 0-0 0, Donovan Whiteside 1-1 5-6 7, Taylor Newsome 0-1 0-0 0, James Melloan 1-3 0-2 2. Totals 22-53 8-21 56.
AUSTIN (15-11)
Ransom Okpala 3-11 0-0 7, Josh Saunders 2-5 1-2 6, Jordan Hancock 0-2 0-0 0, Walter Phillips 4-8 1-2 11, Greg Harrell 0-3 1-2 1, Kevin Graham 0-4 0-0 0, Austin Brewster 0-1 0-2 0, Aaron Anwary 0-2 2-2 2, Antoine Thompson 7-13 4-4 18, Alen Michael 3-3 1-2 7, Tyler Case 0-0 0-0 0, Colton Castle 0-0 0-0 0, Harry Hampden-Smith 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-52 10-16 52.
Halftime—Centre 32-20. 3-Point Goals—Centre 4-18 (Karsner 1-5, Ellis 1-6, Lopez 0-4, Mullaney 2-3), Austin 4-11 (Okpala 1-4, Saunders 1-1, Hancock 0-1, Phillips 2-3, Graham 0-1, Anwary 0-1). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Centre 35 (Ross 8), Austin 41 (Saunders 8). Assists—Centre 9 (Mullaney, Taylor 3), Austin 10 (Saunders 3). Total Fouls—Centre 16, Austin 18. A—NA.
WOMEN
CENTRE 65, HENDRIX 46
First Round
At Homewood, Ala.
HENDRIX (7-19)
Samantha Devlin 2-9 1-2 5, Katy Ashley-Pauley 2-6 2-2 8, Avery Roller 5-11 4-5 15, Maggie Biggs-Scribner 1-4 0-0 2, Jamie Tate 3-8 3-6 9, Anna Roane 2-10 1-2 6, Katie Coughran 0-8 1-2 1. Totals 15-56 12-19 46.
CENTRE (22-3)
Chelsea Benham 2-12 1-2 5, Lauren Huter 3-5 0-0 6, Alyson Burke 1-4 0-0 3, Bridget Winstead 4-7 0-0 12, Maggie Prewitt 6-8 6-7 18, Aubrey Holle 0-0 0-0 0, Maggie Hartlage 1-3 0-0 2, Jane Goatley 3-4 0-0 8, Hillary Moore 0-0 0-0 0, Alexis Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Jenna Mire 0-2 2-3 2, Elizabeth Bressler 0-0 0-0 0, Mary Stough 0-0 0-0 0, Paige Baechle 4-9 1-2 9, Cailynn West 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-55 10-14 65.
Halftime—Centre 38-26. 3-Point Goals—Hendrix 4-16 (Devlin 0-1, Ashley-Pauley 2-5, Roller 1-4, Roane 1-6), Centre 7-15 (Burke 1-4, Winstead 4-7, Hartlage 0-1, Goatley 2-3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Hendrix 31 (Tate, Coughran 8), Centre 48 (Prewitt 7). Assists—Hendrix 7 (Roane 3), Centre 12 (Prewitt 9). Total Fouls—Hendrix 13, Centre 13. A—NA.
