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 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 scored eight points with three assists and two steals while junior guard Thomas Britt and sophomore forward T.C. Thomason 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.
Newspaper Box Score Centre College vs Austin College 2/9/07 8pm at Hughey Gym -- Sherman, TX At Hughey Gym -- Sherman, TX CENTRE COLLEGE 56, AUSTIN COLLEGE 37 CENTRE COLLEGE (17-4/9-2) Matt Jacobson 7-15 0-1 18; Matt Nestheide 2-5 2-2 8; Thomas Britt 1-4 4-4 6; T.C. Thomason 2-6 1-2 6; Danny Noll 2-4 1-4 5; John Patterson 2-6 1-2 5; Kyle Christopher 0-0 3-4 3; Kris Bentley 1-1 0-0 3; Stuart Rutledge 1-1 0-0 2; Ross Herman 0-1 0-0 0; Beau Braden 0-2 0-0 0; Ryan Crowdis 0-2 0-0 0; Rob Matthews 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-47 12-19 56. AUSTIN COLLEGE (5-16/0-11) Adam Bishop 2-5 3-3 7; Kola Alade 2-7 2-2 7; Jason Burton 1-5 2-2 5; Chris Sturtevant 2-7 1-2 5; Kyle May 2-9 0-0 4; Emmanuel Nwelue 1-4 1-2 3; Mark Foster 1-3 0-0 2; Kyle Lintelman 1-1 0-0 2; Taylor Beatty 1-3 0-2 2; Jason Jorgenson 0-1 0-0 0; Spencer Burke 0-1 0-0 0; Michael Todd 0-0 0-0 0; Arron Mewbourn 0-3 0-0 0; Brian Hambrick 0-3 0-0 0; Hunter Mandeville 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-52 9-13 37. Centre College................ 27 29 - 56 Austin College................ 15 22 - 37 3-point goals-Centre College 8-22 (Matt Jacobson 4-7; Matt Nestheide 2-5; T.C. Thomason 1-4; Kris Bentley 1-1; Beau Braden 0-1; Ryan Crowdis 0-1; Thomas Britt 0-3), Austin College 2-14 (Kola Alade 1-5; Jason Burton 1-2; Kyle May 0-4; Mark Foster 0-1; Brian Hambrick 0-1; Chris Sturtevant 0-1). Fouled out--Centre College-None, Austin College-None. Rebounds-Centre College 38 (John Patterson 9), Austin College 35 (Jason Burton 8). Assists-Centre College 10 (Matt Nestheide 3), Austin College 6 (Brian Hambrick 1; Kyle Lintelman 1; Spencer Burke 1; Kyle May 1; Jason Burton 1; Kola Alade 1). Total fouls-Centre College 12, Austin College 18. A-200