Colonels advance in NCAA tourney before falling to Wooster

RELEASED: March 5, 2007

DANVILLE, KY—Playing in its first NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament since 1992, the Centre College men's basketball team made up for lost time, defeating Capital University 69-55 in a first-round game Friday, March 3 in Wooster, Ohio.

The win marked the first NCAA Tournament win by a Centre men's team since the 1989 season, when the Colonels advanced all the way to the Final Four.

The first half was tightly contested with neither team leading by more than five points through the first 15:20 of the game. Trailing by one point (18-17), Centre sophomore guard Ryan Crowdis (Louisville, Ky.) sparked a 13-4 run with six straight points to help Centre take a 30-22 lead into the locker room.

Even more impressive was the fact that Centre played all but seven minutes of the first half without its leading scorer, junior guard Matt Nestheide (Edgewood, Ky.), who left the game due to an injury.

The next night, the Colonels ended its season with a 73-56 loss to the number-two team in the country, the College of Wooster, in the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament. The SCAC champion Colonels ended the season with a 24-4 record, the second-best record in the history of the program.

Leading the way in Saturday's game against Wooster was senior forward Matt Jacobson (LaGrange, Ky.) who had 20 points, two steals and seven rebounds. Other leaders for the Colonels were junior guard Matt Nestheide (Edgewood, Ky.) who added 12 points and three assists to the effort, while senior center John Patterson (Lexington, Ky.) chipped in 10 points and continued his defensive domination by swatting down one shot.

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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

For news archives go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/newsarchive.html.