2007 SCAC MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - They say what goes around comes around.

While it wasn't quite as dramatic, Centre College officially exorcised the demons of last year's half-court buzzer-beating loss in the SCAC title game with a half-court shot of its own to end the first half and went on to take a 72-57 victory over Trinity University in the Sunday's men's championship game.

Matt Nestheide, the tournament MVP, stole a full-court pass and turned and whipped a 55-foot chest pass shot that touched nothing but the bottom of the net to give Centre a 40-28 halftime lead. Nestheide had 20 points and six three-pointers in the first 20 minutes.

The SCAC Player-of-the-Year did not disappoint, as he finished with a game-high 31 points, including a single-game tournament record eight three-pointers, on 11 of 16 shooting. He also dished out four assists.

Matt Jacobson, who joined Nestheide on the All-Tournament team, had 16 points on 7 of 11 shooting.

Centre blistered the nets to the tune of 57.4% (27-47), including 64.0% in the first half to take the commanding 12-point lead.

Trinity (16-12) came up on the short end for the first time ever in a SCAC tournament final after winning the league's first three tournaments (2003-05).

Brandon York had a team-high 21 points and B.J. Moon followed with 15 points. Both were selected to the All-Tournament team as was DePauw's Austin Brown.

The Tigers managed to cut Centre's lead to eight (51-43) on a layup by Charles Houston with 10:35 remaining, but could get no closer.

Centre led from start to finish, with the exception of two early ties.

The conference championship is the first for the program since the Colonels shared the title with Rhodes in 1992-93. It is Centre's first outright conference title since the 1991-92 season, which was also the school's last NCAA Tournament appearance.

Centre will find out its first-round NCAA Tournament opponent when the brackets are announced later tonight.