SEWANEE, Tenn. (Feb. 8, 2015) – In front of a standing room only crowd inside Juhan Gymnasium Sunday, the Sewanee men's basketball team now sits atop the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) standings after a 64-61 win over rival Rhodes.
The Tigers are now alone in first place in the SAA with an 8-2 conference record. Sewanee, who is 14-7 overall, has now won four straight games and are 10-1 at home. Rhodes, who is tied for second in the league with Centre, is 14-6 overall and 7-3 in the SAA.
Early on things did not look good for the Tigers. Rhodes came out of the gate strong. En route to making 57.1 percent of their attempts in the first half, the Lynx led by as much as 13, 26-13, after Drew Miller connected on a three.
Down 10, 28-18, with 7:12 left in the first half, Sewanee chipped away at its deficit. A four-point play by Jorden Williams and a jumper by Marcellus Caldwell cut the Lynx lead to seven, 28-21.
The Tigers then pulled to within three after a jumper from Leo Born and two free throws by Clay Born. However, Rhodes closed the half on a 4-0 run to lead by seven, 34-27.
Out of the locker room, Sewanee was more efficient on offense. Back-to-back threes by Williams trimmed the Rhodes lead to 37-33.
A mini run by Rhodes pushed the Lynx lead back to seven, before Caldwell made a layup with 17:23 to play. That opened a 12-2 run by the Tigers. Sewanee took the lead for good when Brody Stone made a pair of free throws with 10:12 remaining. After another three by Williams, Stone hit a jumper which extended the Tiger advantage to six, 50-44.
Rhodes would battled back to within a possession after an 8-4 run. However, ahead by two, Keshonn Carter made a statement with an explosive dunk with 3:58 left. On the play, Caldwell drove to the center of the paint and then sent a bounce pass over to Carter. The junior forward then grabbed the ball, took one step, and slammed home the dunk over Geoff Livsey.
From there, Sewanee would lead by as much as five, 60-55, before some late free throws by Rhodes kept the final score close.
Overall, Sewanee made 46 percent of its attempts. The Tigers were also successful in the paint and off the bench. Sewanee outscored Rhodes 28-22 inside and outrebounded the Lynx 33-26. That included a combined 18 boards by the Tiger reserves.
Individually, Williams led Sewanee with 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Carter added 10 points and seven rebounds while Caldwell pitched in nine points and four boards. Seth Brown (eight points/seven rebounds) Stone (eight points/two rebounds) and Leo Born (eight points/seven rebounds) also played well.
Miller led all players for Rhodes with a game-high 24 points.
Sewanee will now open a four-game SAA road trip with an 8:00 p.m. contest at Millsaps, Friday.
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