Box Score
JACKSON - After only scoring two points in the first half, senior \#Blake Martinez\# caught fire in the second half scoring 25 points to lead the Millsaps College men's basketball team to a berth in the 2010 SCAC Tournament with a 60-56 come-from-behind victory over Austin College at The Hangar Dome Sunday afternoon.
Trailing by one at the half, the Majors rallied from a six-point deficit with under eight minutes to play to come away with the victory over the top team in the SCAC East Division.
Freshman \#Quinn Lemieux\# opened the scoring for Millsaps with a jumper but AC responded by scoring the next seven points for an early 7-2 advantage.
The 'Roos continued to apply pressure to the Majors and took a 19-10 lead after a 3-point basket from Kyle Lintelman midway through the first half for their biggest lead of the game.
Millsaps answered with a 10-2 scoring run to cut the deficit to one and the teams traded baskets in the final two minutes as Austin College carried a 23-22 lead into the break.
The Majors shot just 29 percent from the floor and went 0-for-6 from behind the arc in the opening half while the 'Roos shot 43 percent from the floor and went 3-for-6 from 3-point range.
Austin College was able to maintain its slight advantage through the opening 10 minutes of the second half and took a 44-38 lead with seven and a half minutes to play.
A 3-point basket by Martinez cut the deficit in half and what happened next turned out to be the turning point in the game with just under six minutes to play.
AC's Spencer Burke was called for fouling Martinez while attempting a 3-pointer and subsequently received a technical for arguing the call with the referee.
That sent Martinez, the best Millsaps free throw shooter, to the line for a total of five attempts which he made good on all of to give the Majors a 46-44 lead, their first lead since the game's opening basket.
Millsaps held its slim lead until AC's Scott Straley put back a missed free throw attempt to even the score 53-53 with 37 seconds to play.
After a timeout from head coach Tim Wise, Martinez got the ball coming off a screen and he drained a 3-pointer from in front of the Millsaps bench with 15 seconds to play to give the Majors a 56-53 lead.
Martinez then made four free throws in the final four seconds to seal the conference victory 60-56 and send the fans into a frenzy knowing they had clinched a spot in the playoffs after learning of Colorado College's loss at Hendrix earlier in the day.
The Majors held the 'Roos to 31 percent shooting in the second half while hitting on 35 percent of their own shots.
Martinez finished with a game-high 27 points with 11 coming from the charity stripe where he was perfect on the day.
\#Ben Cooper\# added eight points off the bench and \#Chris Ingle\# pulled down nine rebounds for the Majors.
Kola Alade led the Kangaroos with 18 points and was also a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line while Burke finished with nine rebounds to go with six blocks.
Millsaps' season will continue when they face the \#1 seed from the East Division Centre College Friday afternoon in the opening game of the 2010 SCAC Tournament beginning at 1:00 p.m.
