SEWANEE, Tenn. - The University of the South men's basketball team kept pace in the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) standings with a 75-69 victory over Birmingham-Southern College in front of a packed house inside Juhan Gymnasium.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final Score: Sewanee (13-6, 6-2) 75, Birmingham-Southern (11-8, 4-4) 69
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HOW IT HAPPENED
-A see-saw battle for 40 minutes, no team had more than a one-possession lead until Martise Jackson made it a 15-10 lead for the visitors with 12 minutes left in the opening half.
-Sewanee quickly responded with a
Luka Avaliani jump shot and a
Rashaun Williams 3-pointer to tie the game again at 15.
-The Panthers again had a five-point edge, 26-21, with less than six minutes to go in the period, but an 8-0 run by the Tigers quickly erased that deficit and gave the home team the lead. After an
Eli Holland layup and a
Russ Marr fastbreak layup off a Williams steal, Marr knocked down a jumper with four minutes to go in the period.
-The visitors had a 32-31 lead at the break, and the back-and-forth battle continued for a second act. For a third time, BSC had a five-point lead, and the Tigers clawed back to retake the lead, 45-44, with a Marr fastbreak layup with 13 minutes left in regulation.
-Tied at 56 with less than seven minutes remaining, Sewanee reclaimed the lead and never looked back. A Marr triple fueled a big run by the sophomore, as he scored the next 13 points to give the home team the biggest lead of the game on either side, nine points, 69-60, with 1:16 to go.
-Coming out of a timeout by Sewanee with 50 seconds left in the game, a baseball pass by Avaliani to Smith in the front count sealed the dub for the Purple and White.
NOTES AND NUGGETS
-For the University of the South, it is the first regular season series sweep over Birmingham-Southern College since 2018. It is the third time since 2007-08, when the Panthers moved from Division I to Division III, that the Tigers have swept the regular season series (2008-18-23).
-Sewanee's win on Friday kept pace for second place in the SAA standings, as the Tigers, who are 6-2 in league play, hold a one-game advantage over Rhodes. Top-seeded Berry keeps its two-game lead after a 74-51 victory versus Hendrix in Rome.
SEWANEE KEY STATISTICS
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Russ Marr recorded his sixth 25-point game of the season with a 29-point performance on 10-of-14 shooting and five triples. Totaling four boards, Marr added three thefts and two blocks.
-In his first start of the season,
Graham Smith had a big night for the Purple Tigers. Matching a career-high 13 rebounds, the sophomore grabbed 10 on the defensive end.
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Luka Avaliani matched his conference best with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting and four dimes.
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Tre Corrigan added 12 points and three assists for the Tigers, while
Colin Kahl had eight points and boards each.
BIRMINGHAM-SOUTHERN KEY STATISTICS
-Kaleb Green led the visitors with 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting, while Nolan Dean added 14.
-Josh Childers, BSC's leading scorer, was limited to just seven points on Friday, but he made up for it on the ball control, grabbing seven boards and swatting away five shots.
UP NEXT
Sewanee will next host Millsaps College on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. from Juhan Gymnasium.
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