Jackson, Mississippi ~ Rhodes College lost to Austin College in the first round of the SCAC Tournament tonight, 68-74. The underdog Lynx put a first round scare into the Roos as the contest was close throughout. The game was tied nine seperate occasions and wasn't decided until the final minutes.
Rhodes jumped out strong on the first possession as Andrew Galow (Oswego, IL) connected on a three to open the scoring, and Reid Hamilton (Birmingham, AL) scored two points on the next possession to give the Lynx a quick 5-0 lead. Austin scored the next four points to pull within one before Kory Kilpatrick (Athens, GA) knocked in two free throws giving Rhodes a three point lead with four minutes gone by. Austin tied the game at 9 before two free throws by Nathan Ollie (Memphis, TN) to give Rhodes a slim advantage. A basket by Andyshea Saberioon (Houston, TX) pushed the lead to four before Austin scored four straight to tie the ball game at the 13:43 mark. An old fashioned three point play by Saberioon gave the Lynx the lead again before a Roos' three pointer tied it up on the next possession. Austin took the lead at the 13 minute mark and led 21-18 before a Lynx 5-0 run capped by a Hamilton layup gave the Lynx a two point advantage at the 9:24 mark. Austin proceeded to score eight straight over the next two minutes to push the lead to six before Galow made one of two free throws. A layup by Kilpatrick cut the deficit to four with just over four minutes to play. After pulling within two, Chris Eberle (Cincinnati, OH) stole the ball and fed Saberioon for a layup tying the game for the sixth time in the first half at 31. Each team traded baskets over the next few minutes before Austin closed the half scoring four of the final five points and headed into the locker room with a three point lead.
Austin opened the second half scoring first before a Hamilton layup pulled the Lynx within three. After Austin pushed the lead to six points, Rhodes ran off seven straight to take a 46-45 lead with 12:19 remaining, but Austin had a run of their own, outscoring the Lynx 12-4 over the next three minutes and lead 57-50 with just over nine minutes left. A Kilpatrick free throw cut the deficit to six, and a layup by Galow off an assist by Hamilton pulled the Lynx to within four at the 8:52 mark. Over the next four minutes Austin outscored Rhodes 11-5 to take a 10 point lead and seemed in control. True to Lynx form though, they battled back as Galow connected on two free throws, then Kilpatrick stole the basketball and finished with a nice assist to Hamilton as the Lynx chipped into the lead and trailed by 5 with 2:47 to play. Hamilton connected on one of two free throws to pull the Lynx within four at the 2:12 mark, but sadly Austin scored the next four points and sealed the game, escaping with a hard earned 74-68 victory.
Rhodes was led on the night by Galow's 22 points. Hamilton scored 18 and Kilpatrick added 11 to give the Lynx three double digit scorers. Kilpatrick led the Lynx with 7 rebounds including 5 offensive boards. Galow dished out a game high 4 assists. The Lynx connected on 30 of 38 free throws for the night and shot 45% from the field.
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