SEWANEE, Tenn. - The University of the South men's basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the 2023 Southern Athletic Association (SAA) Tournament, eliminating Oglethorpe University, 87-74, Sunday afternoon in Juhan Gymnasium. It was Sewanee's first home postseason game since hosting the 1997 NCAA Championships.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final Score: (3) Sewanee (17-9) 87, (6) Oglethorpe (10-16) 74
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HOW IT HAPPENED
-The Tigers got out to a 7-1 lead after a
Tre Corrigan 3-pointer and a
Colin Kahl layup.
-Oglethorpe would take its first lead of the game on an Uba Ezigbo fastbreak layup, 11-9, at the 15:31 mark in the first half.
-OU took advantage of Sewanee's seven turnovers in the first 20 minutes, scoring eight points off of those miscues.
-The Petrels had a seven-point advantage over the Tigers, 30-23, at the under-12 media timeout, but the nerves shown by the home team were wiped away quickly, as the Tigers went on an 8-2 run to tie the game at 31.
Russ Marr's layup on a second-chance opportunity gave the Purple and White new life, despite the visitors having the 38-35 edge at the break.
-The Petrels had the 43-37 advantage with 18:38 left in regulation, but the Tigers went to work and immediately erased the deficit thanks to Kahl. From that point in the second half, the Roswell, Ga. native scored 16 of the Tigers 20 points in almost a seven-minute span. More impressive, he scored 14 straight points that gave Sewanee the lead. His triple with 13:20 left in the ballgame pushed the momentum back to the Purple and White. From there, he, and the Tigers, did not look back.
-With under nine minutes to go,
Luka Avaliani made it a seven-point lead, 65-58, the biggest of the afternoon for the Tigers.
-With one last gasp, OU did make it a four-point game at the under-8 media timeout, Sewanee traded shots with the visitors, but they would push the lead up to double digits on a Corrigan shot from downtown with 2:27 to go.
POST-GAME INTERVIEW
-Following Sewanee's win, hear from head coach
Brian Emerson and
Colin Kahl on their thoughts as the Tigers move on to the semifinals.
SEWANEE KEY STATISTICS
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Colin Kahl scored 16 points in the second half and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the field en route to a 26-point performance on 10-of-13 shooting. The senior posted back-to-back games of 10 field goals made or better, and he has scored 25 or more points in three of his last four games.
-On ball control, Kahl had nine rebounds, three assists and two blocks.
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Russ Marr shot 6-of-12 from the floor and knocked down five shots from the charity stripe to finish with 18 points.
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Luka Avaliani contributed 16 points, also on 6-of-12 from the field, and added eight boards and three assists.
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Tre Corrigan dropped 11 points and added five dimes, while
Graham Smith posted 10 points and picked up eight rebounds.
-As a team, Sewanee could not get the shots to fall from beyond the arc, but the Purple Tigers adjusted and still finished the game shooting over 50% from the field. In the second half, the Tigers shot 17-of-22 (77.2%) from inside the arc.
OGLETHORPE KEY STATISTICS
-Uba Ezigbo scored 20 points for the Petrels in his final collegiate game.
-Jackson Kemp added 17 points and eight boards.
UP NEXT
With Berry's win over Centre in the quarters, 86-64, the Vikings, who finished with an undefeated regular season in league play, will host the semifinals on Feb. 25 and championship on Feb. 26.
For Sewanee's next opponent, it will be a big rematch with the Lynx of Rhodes, who thumped Millsaps in Memphis on Sunday, 100-73. The Tigers and Lynx split the regular season series, with the home team garnering the win in each matchup.
The semifinal matchup will take place in the Cage Center in Rome on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. CT. The first game will feature Berry and Birmingham-Southern, who cruised to a 94-67 victory versus Hendrix in the Magic City.
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