Feb. 20, 2009

Box Score

Southwestern University used a stifling defense and dominated the boards to take a must win game on Friday night in Georgetown defeating Austin College, 55-46.

Southwestern opened the game on a 15-5 run, draining one three and scoring four points in transition to go up by ten with 13:51 remaining. Austin College fought their way back into the game tying it up at 22 for the first time since the opening tip with just over five minutes to play in the first. Austin College went into halftime leading 30-28. AC's Chris Sturtevant had 13 of the Roos' 30 first half points.

The first part of the second half was a seesaw battle culminating in the fifth tie of the game at 36-36 with 12:31 to go. Junior guard Travis Barber drained at three to take the lead, 39-36, and the Pirates would never look back. SU closed out the game at the free throw line and used suffocating defense to hold the Roos at bay. The Pirates allowed just four Austin College points in the final six minutes.

Southwestern out-rebounded the Roos 48-34 and allowed just 5 Austin College offensive rebounds. Barber was a spark all night for the Pirates and led the team with 11 points and 9 rebounds. Junior guard Anthony Cox chipped in ten points in the win and led with five assists.

With the win the Pirates improve to 15-9 overall, 6-8 in the SCAC. They move into a three way tie with Austin College and Millsaps College for the fourth and final spot in the conference tournament. Southwestern will face off against Colorado College in their final regular season home game of the year on Sunday in Georgetown at 12:00 pm.