SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Ryan Milne poured in 34 points and Colorado College's bench came through with 21 more as the Tigers defeated the University of Dallas, 89-81, in the opening round of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship on Friday afternoon.
"Our guys played with a lot of passion," head coach Andy Partee said. "Last week's loss to Dallas was fresh in our hearts and we used that to our advantage."
CC's reward is a Saturday showdown with top-seed and host Trinity University, which cruised to a 78-65 victory over Texas Lutheran University in the first game of the day. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT.
Milne made seven of 17 shots from the floor and sank 19 of 22 free throws to eclipse the 30-point mark for the fifth time in his career. The senior point guard climbed into fifth place on the program's all-time chart with 1,558 points.
Despite playing with three fouls, Russell Clark began the second half by scoring 10 points during an 18-7 run that gave the Tigers a 57-43 lead with 14:02 to play. Unfortunately, he picked up a fourth foul less than a minute later.
The Crusaders pulled to within nine points on one of Blaine Blackburn's four three-pointers, but CC answered with a 13-6 surge to extend its advantage to 16 points.
With Clark, Chris Lesnansky and Daniel Webb all being called for three fouls in the first half and adding a fourth before reaching the midway point of the second, Colorado College needed a strong performance from its reserves to close out the victory.
Tyler Jonas came off the bench to score nine points and grab a pair of rebounds. Mitch Carter finished with six points and four boards, while Jake Tramutolo added five points. All told, the Tigers' reserves outscored their Dallas counterparts, 21-5.
"Every breathing foul was called," Partee said. "I can't remember a game that had 89 free throws, especially when we were playing a 2-3 zone.
"We got big minutes out of Daniel Webb and Tyler Jonas. They held their own defensively. Chris and Russell should be well rested. They'll have a lot in the tank tomorrow, for sure."
Ross Davidson capitalized on CC's foul trouble by scoring 27 points and grabbing nine rebounds for the Crusaders. Aaron Wyatt finished with 18 points and nine boards, while Blackburn hit four of eight three-point attempts en route to a 14-point performance.
Colorado College improved to 17-7, which is the most victories in a single season since the 1992-93 Tigers posted a 17-8 record under head coach Al Walker.
Dallas finished the season with a 12-14 ledger.