Four players scored in double-figures and the Centre College men's basketball team picked up an 80-76 win over Southwestern University in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference game, Friday, Feb. 17, in Georgetown, Texas.
With the win, the Colonels improve to 17-6 overall and 9-4 in the SCAC, tying them for second place in the conference with Southwestern. The Pirates fall to 17-7 overall and 9-4 in league action.
The first half was back and forth the entire way as the two teams battled to six ties and eight lead changes. Trailing 12-11 early in the game, Centre went on a 12-3 run to take and eight point lead, the biggest by either team in the first period.
Southwestern chipped away and regained the lead at 33-32 with just over seven minutes remaining in the half. The Colonels scored the next four points to take a three-point lead before being outscored 6-3 to end the half with a 39-39 tie.
Centre opened the second half with a 12-2 run to take a 51-41 lead with 15:47 remaining in the game. The Colonels would continue to extend the lead and with 6:50 left would own a 68-52 lead.
Again, Southwestern would fight back. A lay-up by Aaron Bowser would pull the Pirates within six points (75-69) with only 0:44 second left. Sophomore guard Matt Nestheide made five free throws down the stretch as the Colonels hung on the for the four-point win.
Senior center Reggie Magnusson scored a team-high 21 points on 6 of 13 shooting, including 8 of 11 from the free throw line. Magnusson also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. With two more points, the senior center will move ahead of Centre head coach Greg Mason for most career points in Centre men's basketball history.
Nestheide and fellow sophomore guard Thomas Britt finished with 14 points each. Nestheide made only two shots from the field, but was 9 of 10 from the charity stripe. Junior forward Matt Jacobson added 11 points, five rebounds and three assists in the win.
Bowser led all scorers with 23 points on 10 of 17 shooting. The Pirates' Jamonn Little scored 20 points and had five rebounds and Robert Cates added 18 points and eight rebounds to tie Magnusson for a game-high in rebounds.
Centre will conclude regular-season play, Sunday, Feb. 19, when they travel to San Antonio, Texas to play Trinity University. The game will be played as part of a men's/women's doubleheader and is set to tip-off at 1:00 p.m. CST.
Newspaper Box Score Centre College vs Southwestern Univ. 2/17/06 8 PM CST at Georgetown, Texas At Georgetown, Texas CENTRE COLLEGE 80, SOUTHWESTERN UNIV. 76 CENTRE COLLEGE (17-6, 9-4 SCAC) Reggie Magnusson 6-13 8-11 21; Thomas Britt 5-9 2-2 14; Matt Nestheide 2-5 9-10 14; Matt Jacobson 3-7 3-6 11; Coy Zerhusen 4-7 0-0 8; John Patterson 3-4 0-0 6; T.C. Thomason 1-1 0-0 3; Adam Patterson 1-3 1-2 3; Rob Matthews 0-1 0-0 0; Kyle Christopher 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-50 23-31 80. SOUTHWESTERN UNIV. (17-7, 9-4 SCAC) Aaron Bowser 10-17 1-2 23; Jamonn Little 6-12 5-6 20; Robert Cates 8-11 2-4 18; Ty Ragland 1-2 2-2 4; Goran Stojcic 2-3 0-0 4; Danny Franklin 1-3 0-0 3; Casey Gorder 1-2 0-0 2; Mike Powell 1-2 0-0 2; Dan Slezak 0-0 0-0 0; Matt Caplan 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 30-57 10-14 76. Centre College................ 39 41 - 80 Southwestern Univ............. 39 37 - 76 3-point goals-Centre College 7-17 (Thomas Britt 2-5; Matt Jacobson 2-5; Reggie Magnusson 1-2; Matt Nestheide 1-2; T.C. Thomason 1-1; Rob Matthews 0-1; Adam Patterson 0-1), Southwestern Univ. 6-21 (Jamonn Little 3-7; Aaron Bowser 2-6; Danny Franklin 1-3; Goran Stojcic 0-1; Matt Caplan 0-4). Fouled out--Centre College-Coy Zerhusen, Southwestern Univ.-Robert Cates; Aaron Bowser. Rebounds-Centre College 27 (Reggie Magnusson 8), Southwestern Univ. 30 (Robert Cates 8). Assists-Centre College 15 (Coy Zerhusen 4), Southwestern Univ. 19 (Ty Ragland 7). Total fouls-Centre College 17, Southwestern Univ. 25.