After seeing a 12-point lead late in the second half disappear, the Centre College men's basketball team used two extra periods to defeat Millsaps College 86-80 in double-overtime in a first round game of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament, Friday, Feb. 24, in Memphis, Tenn.
The win pushes the Colonels record to 18-7 overall, while the loss ends Millsaps season with a 14-12 overall record. The Majors had defeated Centre during the regular season winning 59-56 in Danville, Ky., February 3.
Millsaps opened the game with six straight points to take and early 6-0 lead. The Colonels then outscored the Majors 13-2 to take a 13-8 lead with 13:28 left in the first period.
The Majors came right back and with 9:32 left to play in the half, took an 18-16 lead. Millsaps pushed the lead to six points (31-25) with 1:20 remaining, before going into the half with a 35-31 advantage.
Centre continued to trail early in the second half until the 15:05 mark, when junior forward Matt Jacobson nailed a three-pointer to put the Colonels ahead 40-39. Millsaps was then outscored 20-9 to fall behind 60-48 with just under six minutes to play.
Trailing 62-50 at the 5:18 mark, the Majors closed regulation on a 16-4 run to tie the game at 66 apiece. Millsaps' Edrick Mongtomery scored the final three-points of regulation including a free throw with 0:59 left to tie the game. The Colonels failed to get a shot off in the final minute and a Majors' jumper with 0:06 left wouldn't go down and the two teams went to overtime.
The first point of overtime was scored on a Millsaps' Lorenzo Bailey free throw. Montgomery then made a free throw and a lay-up to put the Majors ahead 70-66 with 2:53 left. With 2:45 left in the first overtime period, sophomore guard Thomas Britt made a three-pointer to pull Centre within one point.
With 0.32 left, sophomore guard Matt Nestheide was fouled and went to the charity stripe with a chance to put Centre ahead. After Nestheide missed his first attempt, the sophomore guard made the second to tie the game at 70-70. Millsaps turned the ball over with their last possession before getting a shot off, and the two teams went to a second overtime period.
Montgomery opened the second overtime with a jumper to put Millsaps ahead 72-70. Following a Britt three-pointer and a Millsaps jumper, senior forward Coy Zerhusen put the Colonels ahead to stay with a jumper at the 3:02 mark.
The Majors made only two of their next six shots, while Centre closed the game making 11 of its 12 free throw attempts for the six point double-overtime victory.
Nestheide finished with a team-high 29 points on 7 of 13 shooting from the field, including 13 of 15 from the charity stripe. He also added six assists, three rebounds and two steals in 50 minutes of action.
Jacobson finished with 15 points and five rebounds. Senior center Reggie Magnusson posted his third double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Britt added 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists and Zerhusen recorded his sixth double-double of the year with 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Mongtomery led three Majors in double figures tying and SCAC Tournament record with 34 points on 15 of 22 shooting. He also grabbed 10 rebounds and added three assists, three blocks and three steals.
Tyler Warren was 10 of 17 from the floor for 28 points. He also added six assists, five rebounds and two steals. Bailey finished with 10 points, three rebounds and two steals in the loss.
For the second consecutive year, Centre will advance to the second round of the SCAC Tournament. The Colonels will play preseason favorite Southwestern University, Saturday, Feb. 25 for the opportunity to play for tournament championship. The game is slated to tip-off at 1:00 p.m. CST, Memphis, Tenn.
Newspaper Box Score Millsaps College vs Centre College 02/24/06 3 p.m. at Memphis, Tenn. - Mallory-Hyde Gymnasium At Memphis, Tenn. - Mallory-Hyde Gymnasium CENTRE COLLEGE 86, MILLSAPS COLLEGE 80 MILLSAPS COLLEGE (14-12) Edrick Montgomery 15-22 4-5 34; Tyler Warren 10-17 5-5 28; Lorenzo Bailey 3-8 3-4 10; Justin LeBlanc 1-4 2-2 4; Allen Odum 0-7 2-5 2; Rodney Rogan 1-7 0-0 2; Morgan Walvoord 0-0 0-0 0; Chris Sanders 0-4 0-0 0; Deonte Oscar 0-2 0-0 0; Chad Songy 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-71 16-21 80. CENTRE COLLEGE (18-7) Matt Nestheide 7-13 13-15 29; Matt Jacobson 5-12 2-5 15; Reggie Magnusson 4-10 6-10 14; Thomas Britt 2-6 4-4 10; Coy Zerhusen 3-12 4-4 10; T.C. Thomason 2-2 0-0 4; John Patterson 2-2 0-0 4; Adam Patterson 0-0 0-0 0; Rob Matthews 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-58 29-38 86. Millsaps College.............. 35 31 4 10 - 80 Centre College................ 31 35 4 16 - 86 3-point goals-Millsaps College 4-15 (Tyler Warren 3-5; Lorenzo Bailey 1-2; Allen Odum 0-4; Rodney Rogan 0-2; Justin LeBlanc 0-2), Centre College 7-19 (Matt Jacobson 3-7; Thomas Britt 2-5; Matt Nestheide 2-5; Reggie Magnusson 0-2). Fouled out--Millsaps College-Lorenzo Bailey; Rodney Rogan, Centre College-None. Rebounds-Millsaps College 37 (Edrick Montgomery 10), Centre College 46 (Coy Zerhusen 13). Assists-Millsaps College 21 (Tyler Warren 6; Allen Odum 6), Centre College 13 (Matt Nestheide 6). Total fouls-Millsaps College 27, Centre College 16. A-250 2006 SCAC Men's Basketball Tournament - Second Quarterfinal