Sparked by a 20-9 run to end the first half, the University of the South Tigers held on to defeat Rhodes 77-63 in the semifinals of The SAA Men's Basketball Championships played on the campus of Berry College in Rome, GA on Saturday, February 25^th.
Sophomore guard Zavien Williams (Windermere, FL) ignited the Lynx early in the first half connecting on two three-point field goals and scoring 10 first half points giving the Lynx a 19-15 lead with 6:48 remaining in the first half.
However, the Tigers caught fire behind the three-point arc and jumped to a 35-28 halftime advantage. For the day Sewanee connected on 10 of 20 three-point field goals.
After falling behind 49-32 Rhodes used a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to nine with 11:05 left in the contest. However, Sewanee guard Graham Smith hit 4 second half three-point field goals to lead the Tigers to the win.
Freshman Lynx guard Phil Dotson (Memphis, TN) led all Lynx scorers with 15 points and seniors Koki Wiley (Tokyo, Japan) and Jalen Essick (Tucker, GA) added 11 and 10 points respectively. Senior guard Jefferson Walker (Memphis, TN) scored 7 points and pulled down a team best 7 rebounds.
The Lynx finish the year at 18-7, the most wins for a Rhodes men's basketball team since 2014-15. This was also the first time a Rhodes men's basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the SAA since 2016-17.