Men's Basketball News
Centre men win home and SCAC-opener 78-64 over DePauw
In a match up of two teams picked to finish atop the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) standings this season, the Centre College men's basketball team won its first home game of the season and SCAC-opener 78-64 over DePauw University Saturday, Dec. 1 in Danville, Ky.
The Colonels, which tied DePauw for first in the SCAC Preseason Poll, improve to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the SCAC, while the Tigers fall to 4-1 overall and 0-1 in league action.
The game was tightly contest in the early going with neither team leading by more than five points for the first 9:02. With the score tied at 15-15, Centre scored seven straight points to go ahead 22-15. The Colonels would not trail the remainder of the game, pushing the lead to 10 points (42-32) by halftime.
DePauw opened the second half with a 6-0 run to pull within four points (42-38), but Centre responded following a timeout with an 8-0 run to take a 12-point lead (50-38) with just over 17 minutes to play.
The Colonels continued to extend the lead pushing it to as many as 19 points (67-48) over halfway through the period. The Tigers made one last run out-scoring Centre 9-1 to get within 11 points (68-57), but would get no closer in losing their first game of the season.
The Colonels shot 54.2% (32-59) from the field on the day, including 58.1% (18-31) in the first half, while forcing 24 DePauw turnovers. The Tigers finished the game shooting 47.9% (23-48).
Senior guard Thomas Britt (Louisville, Ky.) led three Colonels in double figures with 16 points and five rebounds. Junior forward T.C. Thomason (Russellville, Ky.) had 15 points, five steals, three blocks, two rebounds and two assists, while senior guard Matt Nestheide (Edgewood, Ky.) added 14 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Steve Lemasters paced DePauw with 17 points off the bench. Stephen Schott had 13 points, five rebounds and three steals and Mike Moore finished with 12 points and five assists in the defeat.
Centre will take a week from game-competition for finals and then return to action Wednesday, Dec. 12 for a home contest against the University of Cincinnati-Clermont. The non-conference game is set to start at 7:30 p.m. in Danville, Ky. |
