Texas Lutheran Win Third Straight SCAC Championship - Feb 27, 2017
Texas Lutheran jumped out to a 16-point first half lead and held on down the stretch to fend off Schreiner as the Bulldogs pulled out an 83-70 victory in the championship game of the 2017 SCAC Men's Basketball Tournament Sunday afternoon on the campus of Southwestern University. Official Tournament Website The championship is the third consecutive men's title for TLU and earns them the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
HOW IT HAPPENED Texas Lutheran blistered the nets in the first half, shooting 63.6 percent (14-22) to take a 43-35 halftime lead. The Bulldogs finished at 51.0 percent (25-49) for the game. The halftime lead could have been larger had it not been for Schreiner's Keenan Gumbs (6'4''-G) who scored the last eight points of the first half to cut the TLU lead down from 43-27. Schreiner's bench outscored TLU, 21-16, and held a 15-9 advantage in second chance points. Texas Lutheran was nearly automatic from the charity stripe, converting on 23 of 25 attempts (92.0 percent).
NOTABLES The all-tournament team consisted of Ryan Ogden of Southwestern; Keenan Gumbs (6'4''-G) and Blake Kelley (6'7''-F) of Schreiner University; and Jordan Kouremetis (6'0''-PG-94), Zach Behr (6'5''-F) Sterling Holmes (6'0''-PG) of TLU. Jordan Kouremetis was named tournament MVP. This is the third straight SCAC men's tournament title for Texas Lutheran. The last three programs to take home the men's title won three straight championships in the process - Centre College in 2009, 2010 and 2011; Trinity University in 2012, 2013 and 2014 and Texas Lutheran in 2015, 2016 and 2017. TLU's win as the third seed represents the first non top-seed (either overall or divisional) to win a SCAC Men's Basketball Tournament championship in 10 years. Centre College won as the No. 2 seed in 2007. The tournament was seeded by division from 2008-2012. Schreiner University ends its season with a 15-12 record.
All-Tournament MVP: Jordan Kouremetis (6'0''-PG-94) of Texas Lutheran Player of the Year: James Sapp (6'4''-F-94) of Centenary, LA Defensive Player of the Year: John Hatch (6'7''-F) of Colorado Coll. Newcomer of the Year: Danny Rivara (6'7''-F) of Trinity, TX Coach of the Year: Connor Kuykendall of Schreiner
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