2004 SCAC MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
SEMIFINALS

#1 TRINITY UNIVERSITY 59, #4 SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 55
(Game Box)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Trinity's men's basketball team held on late to defeat Southwestern University 59-55 in the SCAC Tournament semifinal on Saturday night.

The two teams were tied 32-32 at halftime, which is par for the course in this series as seven of the last eight meetings between these teams have been decided by four points or fewer.

Tiger junior Sean Devins (pictured left), who earned his second straight SCAC Defensive Player of the Year award (as announced at halftime), led the team to the win down the stretch on both ends of the floor. Devins scored the final eight points for the Tigers, as well as making two key defensive stops in the final minute.

After Southwestern's Justin Westmoreland hit a long jump shot to break a 51-51 tie with 2:00 left, Devins hit a jump-hook in the lane with 1:25 to go to even the game once again.  On the next Pirate possession, Devins blocked Aaron Bowser to preserve the tie, and then converted a three-point play on the offensive end to make it 56-53 Tigers. Devins then made another defensive stop, followed by 3-4 free throws in the final 15 seconds. Bowser did cut the lead to just two points with 10 seconds left, but two Devins free throws to seal the game. 

Devins finished with a game-high 19 points to go with seven rebounds and six blocked shots. Peter Murray hit 6-12 from the field for 12 points, while Jason Morris finished with nine points and three assists.

Bowser led Southwestern with 14 points, while Jared Woytasczyk scored nine points and tied Westmoreland with seven rebounds for the team lead. 

Southwestern shot 34.8% for the game, but just 25% (5-20) in the second half. Trinity shot 47.2% from the field for the game. The Pirates led by a large margin on the free throw line, hitting 19-23 foul shots.  The Tigers had just eight total attempts from the line, though they did convert seven of them. 

Trinity advances to face Oglethorpe in tomorrow's SCAC Championship game, with the winner earning the league's automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs.