CONWAY, Ark. – In Game 3 of the Quarterfinal Round of the SCAC Men's Basketball Tournament at Hendrix College, Millsaps shot a solid 50 percent in the first half to take a 22-point halftime lead and held the league's second-leading scorer Cory Smith to just four points to advance to the semifinal round with a 86-57 defeat of Rhodes.
Rhodes (11-15, 5-9 SCAC) scored its first six points in the paint to take a 6-3 lead before Millsaps found its rhythm from beyond the arc, using four 3s from Chad Songy (2), Chris Sanders and Blake Martinez to start a 20-4 run and give the Majors a 23-10 lead.
Senior forward Edrick Montgomery opened the game with nine of the Majors' first 15 points, hitting 4-of-5 shots en route to a team-high 11 points in the period – less than five away from his 15.8 ppg average. Senior counterpart Rodney Rogan added seven points in the first to add to a commanding 44-22 halftime lead.
Ranked No. 22 by D3hoops.com, Millsaps (23-3, 13-2) had little trouble holding onto its halftime lead, following up 50 percent shooting in the first frame with 43 percent shooting in the second while holding the Lynx to a 37 percent clip.
Montgomery made a strong statement for SCAC Player of the Year by finishing with a game-high 26 points and nine rebounds for his seventh 20-point game of the season, while Rogan finished with 13 and Songy added 11 points and a game-high seven assists.
Reid Hamilton and Nathan Ollie netted 14 points apiece to lead Rhodes on offense, while Jared Hoskins chipped in 12 on a 4-for-13 night from the floor. Smith, the Lynx's leading-scorer, hit the floor hard while attempting to block a shot just 2:30 into the first period and wasn't a factor the remainder of the game after taking only four shots.
Millsaps advances to the semifinal round for a second-straight season and will await the winner of the Hendrix/Oglethorpe game being played at 8 p.m. tonight. Saturday's tipoff is slated for a 3 p.m. start at Hendrix's Grove Gymnasium.
