For the second time this season, the Centre College men's basketball team earned a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) win over Austin College, this time defeating the Kangaroos 56-37, Friday, Feb. 9, in Sherman, Texas.
The win improves the Colonels overall record to 17-4 and its SCAC mark to 9-2, while Austin falls to 5-16 overall and remains winless in conference play at 0-11. Centre won the season's earlier meeting between the two teams 84-60 in Danville, Ky. back on January 12.
Ahead 11-9 at the 13:33 mark in the first half, Centre went on a 13-2 run to push its lead to 24-11 with 6:34 left to play in the first period. The two teams combined for only two made field goals and a made free throw the remainder of the half and the Colonels held a 27-15 advantage at the break.
The closest Austin would come in the second half was within nine points (28-19) at the 16:58 mark. Centre used a 13-3 run from there to extend its lead to 41-22 and with the lead eventually growing to as many as 21 points before ending in a 19-point Centre win.
The Colonels defense continued to dominate opponents, limiting the Kangaroos to only 25.0% (13-52) shooting from the field. Centre's last three opponents have now finished a game under 30.0% shooting and in 13 of the Colonels' 21 games, only eight teams have shot above 40.0%.
Senior forward Matt Jacobson (Lagrange, Ky.) led all scorers with a game-high 18 points on seven of 15 shooting, including four of seven from beyond the three-point arc. Jacobson also grabbed eight rebounds in 27 minutes of action.
Junior guard Matt Nestheide (Edgewood, Ky.) scored eight points with three assists and two steals while junior guard Thomas Britt (Louisville, Ky.) and sophomore forward T.C. Thomason (Russellville, Ky.) added six points apiece in the win.
Austin's Kola Alade and Adam Bishop paced the Kangaroos with seven points each. Jason Burton had five points and a team-high eight rebounds in the loss.
Centre will return to action, Sunday, Feb. 11 to play the Hendrix College Warriors. The SCAC contest will be played as part of a men's/women's doubleheader and will start at 1 p.m. in Conway, Ark. |
