For the first time since the 1996–97 season, the Sewanee men’s basketball team has started its conference season with a perfect 4-0 start. The Tigers are now 4-0 in Southern Athletic Association (SAA) play with a convincing 77-52 victory over rival Centre College at home on Jan. 16.
The 1996–97 team finished 19-7 overall and 11-3 in conference play.
This season Sewanee is now 11-4 overall after remaining perfect in SAA play. The win over Centre is the first time since the 1997–98 season that the Tigers have swept Centre twice in a season. The visiting Colonels fell to 10-5 overall and 2-2 in SAA play.
Sewanee wasted little time building its lead in the game on Jan. 16. After Centre took an early 6-2 advantage, the Tigers answered back with a 13-3 run over the next seven minutes.
Eventually, the Tigers took a 12 advantage, when Sewanee closed the first half on an 11-5 spurt. A big reason for the Tigers’ early success was a combination of great outside shooting and strong defense. The Tigers made six threes in the first half on just 13 attempts. Defensively, Sewanee limited Centre to a 34.8 field goal percentage and six turnovers in the first half.
After the intermission, Sewanee kept rolling. The Tigers outscored Centre 44-31 in the final 20 minutes, which allowed Sewanee to build its largest lead of the game, 27 points, when freshman Chris Kuelling hit a corner three.
Overall, Sewanee made an impressive 49.0 percent of its shots. The Tigers also outrebounded Centre, 31-27.
Individually, Sewanee’s balanced offense was led by junior Brody Stone and senior Seth Brown. Both players finished with 12 points. They were joined by freshman Cody Jones and junior Clay Born, each with nine points. As a team, 11 of the Tigers’ 14 players recorded at least two points.
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