Sophomore guard Josh Bell scored a career-high 18 points to lead the Centre College men's basketball team to an 83-56 win over LaGrange College, in the second game of the Papa John's/Country Hearth Inn Tournament hosted by Centre College, Wednesday, Dec. 29, in Danville, Ky.
In the first game of the tournament, Heidelberg College defeated Wabash College 81-74 to advance to the championship game.
Bell led three Colonels in double-figures making six of his 10 shots from the floor, including two of four from beyond the three-point arc, and four of seven from the charity stripe. He also added four rebounds and three assists.
Junior forward Coy Zerhusen scored 15 points on seven of nine shooting. He also grabbed seven rebounds to go along with two assists and a steal. Freshman guard Matt Nestheide added 10 points in the win.
Brian Darracott and Scott Flemming led LaGrange in the loss. Darracott and Flemming each scored nine points off the bench for the Panthers.
The Colonels used a 27-7 run in a 10-minute span to take a 35-18 lead. Centre would go into the half with a 41-26 advantage.
The Panthers would not get closer than 12 points (47-35) the remainder of the game and would trail by as many as 34 points (83-49) in the half.
Twelve Colonels scored in helping the team improve to 8-2 overall on the year. LaGrange falls to 4-5 on the season.
Centre will play Heidelberg in the championship game, Thursday, Dec. 30, at 7 p.m. LaGrange will play Wabash in the consolation game at 5 p.m. Both games will be played in Alumni Gymnasium, in Danville, Ky.
Newspaper Box Score LaGrange College vs Centre College 12/29/04 7 pm at Danville, KY At Danville, KY CENTRE COLLEGE 83, LAGRANGE COLLEGE 56 LAGRANGE COLLEGE (4-5) Darracott, Brian 4-9 1-2 9; Fleming, Scott 3-6 2-2 9; Render, Demetris 3-4 1-2 7; Lefebvre, Kyle 2-4 3-4 7; Maddox, Antoine 2-7 2-2 6; Jackson, Corie 3-6 0-0 6; Lawrence, Robby 2-8 0-0 5; Podbielski, Ben 2-5 0-1 4; Kelly, Kevin 1-3 0-0 2; Hodges, Justin 0-2 0-0 0; Patterson, Michael 0-3 0-0 0; McDowell, Roger 0-3 0-1 0. Totals 22-60 10-18 56. CENTRE COLLEGE (8-2) Josh Bell 6-10 4-7 18; Coy Zerhusen 7-9 1-3 15; Matt Nestheide 4-5 0-0 10; Reggie Magnusson 4-11 1-1 9; Matt Jacobson 3-9 0-0 7; Adam Patterson 2-4 0-0 5; Kyle Roby 2-4 0-0 5; Thomas Britt 1-4 2-2 4; John Patterson 2-3 0-0 4; Stuart Rutledge 1-2 0-2 2; Andy Placido 1-2 0-0 2; Kyle Christopher 1-1 0-0 2; Chris Smith 0-1 0-0 0; Bennett Clark 0-2 0-1 0. Totals 34-67 8-16 83. LaGrange College.............. 26 30 - 56 Centre College................ 41 42 - 83 3-point goals-LaGrange College 2-15 (Fleming, Scott 1-2; Lawrence, Robby 1-6; Lefebvre, Kyle 0-1; Maddox, Antoine 0-3; Jackson, Corie 0-2; McDowell, Roger 0-1), Centre College 7-22 (Josh Bell 2-4; Matt Nestheide 2-3; Matt Jacobson 1-7; Adam Patterson 1-1; Kyle Roby 1-2; Andy Placido 0-1; Bennett Clark 0-2; Thomas Britt 0-1; Reggie Magnusson 0-1). Fouled out--LaGrange College-None, Centre College-None. Rebounds-LaGrange College 34 (Lawrence, Robby 6), Centre College 47 (Matt Jacobson 7; Coy Zerhusen 7). Assists-LaGrange College 10 (Hodges, Justin 3), Centre College 15 (Josh Bell 3). Total fouls-LaGrange College 14, Centre College 12. A-210 - Game 2 of the Papa John's/Country Hearth Inn Tournament - Centre will play Heidelberg in the Championship game, Thursday, Dec. 30 at 7 p.m.