The second-seeded Colorado College Tigers led by as much as 26 midway through the second half and held off a furious comeback attempt by the sixth-seeded Austin College Kangaroos for an 81-68 victory and a spot in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship game on Sunday afternoon.
The Tigers got out to a blazing start from the field in the first half, shooting 57.7% from the floor and knocking down four first half threes. At one point early in the second half, the Tigers were hitting better than 60% of their field goal attempts as they raced out to the seemingly insurmountable lead.
With the score 58-32 and under nine minutes to play, Walter Phillips and Ransom Okpala combined to score eight straight to pull the 'Roos to 58-40, but Colorado College's Ian Rewoldt knocked down four free throws as the Tigers pushed the advantage to 64-42. Austin College guard Aaron Anwary buried a pair of threes and Okpala knocked down one of his own as the 'Roos climbed back to withini 13 at 68-55 with 2:46 showing on the clock.
A layup by Phillips trimmed the margin to 71-61 with just over a minute remaining, but Rewoldt made a pair of free throws and Ryan Milne knocked down 4-of-4 in the final minute of the game to close things out for the Tigers. Colorado College shot just 33.3% from the field in the second half, but a 45-27 rebounding edge helped propel them into the championship game. The Tigers grabbed 15 offensive rebounds.
Milne had an outstanding all around game to lead the Tigers, scoring 18 points to go along with seven rebounds and seven assists. Six players, including all five starters reached double figures for the Tigers. Rewoldt posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Justin Bernadino and Chris Lesnansy each scored 12 and Jake Tramutolo and Tyler Jonas chipped in 10.
Okpala led all scorers with 22 points and added five rebounds for Austin College. Phillips came off the bench to score 19 points and had seven boards, and Anwary hit 3-of-4 from long range to finish with nine points.
Colorado College moves on to the SCAC Championship game at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow, where they will square off against top seeded Trinity University. The Tigers won the day's first semifinal game 69-61 over Southwestern. Colorado College and Trinity have met three times this season, with Colorado College taking two of the three meetings.