SCAC Tournament Championship
Photo By Mark Temple
Such a beautiful sight to see.
As soon as I was made aware that the SCAC Tournament would be hosted in the Gold Dome, I pictured us hoisting up that trophy in front of our home crowd. But before we get that deep let’s start with Friday.
The Gents finished third in conference play, just missing a first round bye, therefore having our first game on Friday night, unlike first and second-seed Trinity and St. Thomas. We opened the SCAC Tournament against the Schreiner Mountaineers, a team that we couldn’t steal a win from in the regular season. Despite probability stacked against us, we survived Friday to advance to Saturday. With the help of a box of rally towels (graciously donated by The Art of Success) the Maroon Mob showed up and showed out despite the large void left by the typical appearance of our Diamond Gents in the crowd. They were busy handling business on the road, they’ll make their comeback later in this essay.
Our Saturday game was against arch-rival St. Thomas. If I’m being completely honest, I didn’t question this game for one second. We’d beat UST so handedly during their last visit to the Gold Dome that I humbly assumed that we wouldn’t have a problem with them this time. Survive again. Advance again.
And it all comes down to this… Championship Sunday. The Centenary Gents and The Maroon Mob faithful vs. the Colorado College Tigers. A close, back-and-forth game, with the home team pulling away late with what felt like the whole school behind us. The Diamond Gents came in numbers. Lacrosse came in helmets. KA came shirtless. I’d never felt the Gold Dome so electric. Behind a tournament final-record 33 points from senior Tykeem Singleton, The Gents are SCAC Champs!
I would never do the Championship feeling justice with words only. The state of euphoria that came over my team and I was a culmination of both all of our good times and rough times together. I’d be lying if I said that it was an easy accomplishment. People had to take on roles that they never had before. Our coach is handling 15 people that want to play on a court that allows for only five per team. We had losing streaks that forced questions upon our perseverance.
None of that matters now. It only ever matters the moment it’s happening. If you have a goal set in your mind, then nothing should be able to turn you away from it. Regardless of how I felt during the season about my own situation, who cares? I’m a Champion.
