Following a 16-day lay-off, the Centre College men's basketball team returned to action for the first time since the beginning of the month and earned a 76-56 win over Thomas More College, Monday, Dec. 18, in Crestview Hills, Ky.
The Colonels, which have now defeated the Saints in five straight meetings, improve to 5-3 overall, while Thomas More remains winless and falls to 0-9 on the season.
The Saints led early in the first half. A Brad Buckner jumper with 14:57 on the clock gave Thomas More a 9-8 lead, but that would be the last time the Saints would lead in the game as the Colonels went on an 8-0 run to take a 16-9 lead with 12:07 left in the first period.
Thomas More cut the lead to three points (16-13) with under 10 minutes left, only to see Centre close the half on a 19-5 run to take a 17-point lead (35-18) into the intermission.
The Saints opened the second half with a run of their own, outscoring the Colonels 10-2 to pull within nine points (37-28) less than five minutes into the half. Centre pushed the lead back to double digits and continued to control the game and midway through the second period, the Colonels put the game away with a 15-2 run.
The Colonels led by as many as 25 points (71-46) before finishing with the 20-point victory. Centre shot 50.0% (27-54) on the night, while limiting Thomas More to 42.3% (22-52).
Senior forward Matt Jacobson (Lagrange, Ky.) led three Colonels in double figures with a season and game-high 27 points on 10 of 15 shooting from the floor. Jacobson made five of his six three point attempts and also grabbed six rebounds in the win.
Junior guard Matt Nestheide (Edgewood, Ky.) scored 19 points with four assists, and senior center John Patterson (Lexington, Ky.) added his second double-double and fifth double-digit rebound effort of the season with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Buckner was the lone Saint in double figures scoring 18 points and grabbing four rebounds. Ed Thornton and Matt Tierney both added seven points each in the defeat.
Centre will return home for only the second time this year when it hosts Transylvania University, Wednesday, Dec. 20. Tip-off for the non-conference game is set for 7:30 p.m. in Danville, Ky.
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