First half propels Centre men to 77-52 win
Two days after having its 10-game winning streak snapped, the Centre College men's basketball team rebounded for a 77-52 win over Rhodes College in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) game, Sunday, Jan. 28, in Memphis, Tenn.
The Colonels, which have now won at least 15 games in a season for the sixth consecutive season, improve to 15-4 overall and 7-2 in the SCAC, while Rhodes falls to 7-11 overall and 2-7 in league play.
With Centre ahead 13-11 and 10:18 on the clock, the Colonels took control of the game out-scoring the Lynx 29-4 over the next 8:26 to take a 42-15 lead. Senior forward Matt Jacobson (Lagrange, Ky.) and sophomore forward T.C. Thomason (Russellville, Ky.) combined to score 19 of the 29 points in the run.
Jacobson hit two three-pointers and two jumpers for 10 points while Thomason connected on four jumpers, including one three-pointer for nine points to give Centre a commanding 43-18 lead at the break. The Colonels limited Rhodes to only 17.1% (6-35) from the field, while shooting 53.1% (17-32) for the 25-point lead.
The second half was all Centre, as the Colonels pushed the lead to as many as 31 points (70-39) before finishing the game with a 25-point victory. Centre shot well in the second half as well making 15-29 shots (51.7%) to finish the game shooting 52.5% (32-61).
Jacobson and Thomason finished as the only two Colonels in double figures. Jacobson scored a team-high 14 points and grabbed four rebounds while Thomason added 12 points and four rebounds in the win.
Rhodes' Cory Smith led the Lynx with a game-high 19 points. He also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Jeff Blumenthal added nine points and four rebounds off the bench in the defeat.
Next up for Centre is a rematch with DePauw University, Saturday, Feb. 3. The Colonels fell 73-67 to the Tigers in Greencastle earlier in the season. The SCAC contest will be played as part of a men's/women's doubleheader and will start at 3 p.m. in Danville, Ky.
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