HOUSTON – The Celts of the University ended with the regular season with an exclamation mark and a trophy Sunday as they defeated Austin College 84-75.
The Celts (23-2, 16-2 SCAC) were officially crowned Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference champions as conference commissioner Dwayne Hanberry was in attendance to present the UST team with the regular-season conference trophy.
In his last home game as a Celt, Nathan Thormaehlen (Katy, Texas) led UST with 16 points and 19 rebounds; he also handed out four assists in the game.
Cameron Gims (Cypress, Texas / Cy-Fair) scored 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting from 3-point range and blocked three shots for the Celts, while Josh Sanchez (McAllen, Texas / McAllen Memorial) chipped in 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Sanchez has made 15 of his last 16 shot attempts after going 10-for-10 from the field in Friday's win over UDallas.
Freddie Ricks III (Cypress, Texas / Cypress Springs) and Christian Alaekwe (Fresno, Texas / Hightower) scored 15 points and nine points off the bench, respectively, for the Celts.
Lennard Robinson (Houston, Texas / Sam Houston MSTC) scored seven points and handed out three assists for the Celts, while twin brother Kennard Robinson added four points and nine assists Sunday.
The Celts led for nearly 34 of the game's 40 minutes, but it wasn't until late in the first half when they began to pull away from Austin College. UST used a 12-1 run between the 6:58 and 2:10 marks of the first half to stretch a three-point lead to 35-21; Ricks scored seven points during that run.
The visiting Kangaroos (14-11, 11-7 SCAC) scored 10 of the first 12 points in the second half to pull to within three, but another big run by the Celts again gave the home team a comfortable margin. Thormaehlen scored five consecutive points to ignite a 10-2 UST run between the 17:04 and 13:40 marks of the second half as the Celts stretched their lead to 53-42.
UST shot 43 percent (29 of 66) from the field, and made 39 percent (12 of 31) of its 3-point attempts.
The Celts honored six seniors from the 2019-20 season after the game: Thormaehlen, Kennard and Lennard Robinson, Keaton Shaw, Nicholas Perez, and Paul Taulton all played their final home games at UST's Jerabeck Center. The team also honored Michael Alfred, a key contributor to their 2018-19 team, and student assistant and the team's director of media relations Zara Ahmad.
Following the women's game between the two schools, the men's team cut down the nets as part of the Celts' championship ceremonies.
UST is in its first season of transition from the NAIA to the NCAA's Division III, and is ineligible for the SCAC and NCAA postseasons. However, the Celts also hold dual affiliation with the United States Collegiate Athletic Association, and will qualify for that organization's postseason tournament; the Celts are currently the No. 3-ranked team in the USCAA's Division I behind Washington Adventist and Florida National.
Bids for the USCAA Tournament will be announced March 3. Information about the Celts' trip to the postseason will be announced on USTCelts.com and on the athletics Twitter account, @USTAthletics.
Photo caption: UST President Dr. Richard Ludwick and SCAC Commissioner Dwayne Hanberry were in attendance to present the conference championship trophy to the Celts and head coach Anthony Medina.
