Though Centre defeated Birmingham Southern in the teams' first meeting, the Panthers were victorious the second time around, handing the Colonels an 81-64 loss Friday in Birmingham, Ala.

After Centre gave Birmingham Southern its only loss of the season by the score of 72-65 on Dec. 16 in Danville, the Panthers have rolled off 14 straight victories and moved up to the No. 10 ranking. Birmingham Southern kept its momentum going Friday, pulling away on a first half run and never looking back.

The lead changed hands seven times as the teams traded baskets early, but with Centre holding a 14-12 lead at the 13:17 mark, Birmingham Southern took off on a 19-4 run over the next six minutes. The Panthers used outside shooting to pull away, going 4-of-5 during the stretch and 12-of-21 for the night while holding the Colonels to a 1-of-13 performance from 3-point range.

Birmingham Southern was up 31-18 by the time Jeff Mullaney (Louisville, Ky.) put in a layup for Centre with 6:00 left in the half. The Panthers continued to gradually extend the lead, going up 44-27 at the half and increasing it to as many as 29 points on two occasions in the second half. A late 14-2 run by Centre helped cut the final margin to 81-64.

Centre's Greg Ross (Cincinnati, Ohio) went on to lead all scorers with 17 points while Chris Taylor (Louisville, Ky.) came off the bench to add 10. Birmingham Southern put four players in double figures with Zac Richards leading the way with 16 and Jasen Jonus, Kevin Kegarise and Colin Henry each adding 10. 

Birmingham Southern held a 36-24 edge on the boards and a 52 percent (28-of-54) to 44 percent (24-of-55) advantage from the field.

Centre falls to 14-7 overall and 8-5 in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play while Birmingham Southern improves to 21-1 overall and 13-1 in the conference. Centre returns to the court Sunday at Oglethorpe at 3 p.m.