The Centre men's basketball team used a critical 18-5 run to close the first half and help pull away to a 90-74 win over the Berry Vikings in the first round of the 2015 SAA Tournament in Memphis, Tenn.

Josh Karsner (Frankfort, Ky.) led four Colonels in double figure scoring with a game high 24 points, including 6-8 from three-point range. Mike Geegan (Bowling Green, Ky.) added 17 points, while Blake Scinta (Louisville, Ky.) chipped in with 16 points and Sam Gruber (LaGrange, Ky.) scored 11. Karsner and Tyler Wesley (Crestwood, Ky.) each led Centre with seven rebounds, while Matt Gump (Bellefontaine, Ohio) recorded a career high eight assists. Tyler Harville led Berry with 17 points.

For the game the Colonels shot 65.9% from the floor on 29-44 shooting for one of their best shooting games of the season. They also hit on 12-24 three-pointers for 50% and dished out 21 assists – one of the highest team assist totals of the year for Centre – versus only eight for Berry. Interior defense was also an important key to the game for Centre. The Colonels' swarming defense in the post held Berry's Owen Jacobs to 3-14 shooting for the game. Many of those misses were blocks, as Centre was credited with eight blocks for the game, four by Scinta and two each by Karsner and Wesley.

The two teams played evenly for the first few minutes as Centre picked apart the Berry 2-3 zone for early long range shots, but the Vikings were able to answer early on as Harville scored 13 first half points. A three by Bryan Repishti (Louisville, Ky.) broke a 16-16 tie. After a pair of Lee McCloud free throws made it 23-20 Centre, Wesley hit Karsner for a backdoor layup that started a huge run for Centre in the final six minutes. Karsner, Geegan and Gruber all hit three-pointers during the run and after a Geegan three-point play and a layup by Scinta, the Colonels had outscored Berry 18-5 to enter the locker room at halftime up 41-25.

Centre picked up where they left off to start the second half as Berry switched to an aggressive full-court press and the Colonels were able to break through it for easy baskets. A three-pointer by Geegan gave the Colonels their biggest lead of the game at 53-27 with just under 15 minutes remaining. From that point, Centre held off every Berry run, converting on 19-25 free throws in the second half as well as a few timely baskets, most notably a long fadeaway three-pointer by Josh Karsner at the end of the shot clock to make it 88-69.

The SAA Tournament will continue on Saturday evening as the Colonels will face sixth-seeded Hendrix, a 73-71 upset winner over third-seeded Sewanee, at 5 p.m. CST. The Colonels swept Hendrix this year, winning 70-41 at home and 65-62 in Conway.