February 17, 2007

JACKSON -- After taking care of business 86-71 on the road at Wesley College on Wednesday in non-conference action, Millsaps closed out the 2006-07 regular season with an 88-82 victory over SCAC foe Rhodes College on Saturday evening at the Hangar Dome.

In the win over the Warriors on Wednesday, five different Majors were in double figures with sophomore Chris Sanders leading the offensive attack with a team-high 19 points and eight boards.

Rodney Rogan (17), Chad Songy (17) and Edrick Montgomery (11) were the other starters in double figures, with freshman Chris Ingle coming off the bench to score a career-high 10 points on 2-for-2 shooting from the floor and 6-of-6 free throws.

Millsaps (17-8, 11-3 SCAC) held a 42-40 halftime lead and took advantage of 27 percent shooting from the Warriors in the second half to pull away for an 86-71 win.

The Majors also outrebounded the home team 44-27, knocked down 20-of-26 attempts from the charity stripe and picked up a season-high seven blocks.

Wesley (17-11) was led by Dextor Morris who scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed six rebounds. Morris was on fire in the first half, connecting on 5-of-5 3-pointers for 17 points and a combined 6-of-10 shooting from the floor. He struggled in the second half, as did the rest of his team, only knocking down 3-of-10 shots for six points.

Against Rhodes (8-15, 3-11 SCAC) in the regular season finale on Saturday, the Majors committed a season-low eight turnovers and survived a late run to take the game 88-82.

Songy was lights out for Millsaps, knocking down his first four attempts from 3-point land and scoring a team and career-high 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting.

Montgomery poured in his ninth double-double of the year (21 points, 12 rebounds) and picked up three more blocks to add to his resume, while Cameron Varnado, Ross James, Deonte Oscar and Ingle combined for 21 points off the bench.

The Majors built their lead to as many as 17 in the first half, holding a 33-16 lead with 6:44 remaining, before the Lynx went on a 24-10 run to cut the gap to 43-40 minutes into the second half.

Millsaps rebounded right back with a run of its own, taking their largest lead of the game at 69-49 with 11:36 remaining on a 26-9 scoring streak.

The Lynx would cut the gap to seven points on a 22-9 run late in the game and down to four points with 8 seconds remaining, but that's as close as they would get as Songy knocked down two key free throws to close out the win.

Rhodes was led by Cory Smith who scored a game-high 25 points on 8-of-12 shooting. It was his free throw shooting, however, that proved to be the difference in the game as Smith knocked down only 8-of-15 attempts from the charity stripe.

Millsaps finishes the regular season with an 11-3 overall mark in conference play and will face off with the No. 6 seed Hendrix College at 3 p.m. in the upcoming SCAC Tournament beginning Friday, Feb. 23 from Memphis, Tenn.