Box Score DANVILLE, Ky. (CentreColonels.com) – The Centre men's basketball team fell by a score of 66-61 to first-place Birmingham Southern in a Southern Athletic Association matchup on Friday night at Alumni Gymnasium. The Colonels drop to 12-8 on the season and 4-5 in SAA action, while the Panthers win their 10th consecutive game and boost their record to 14-6 overall and 9-0 in conference play.
In the first half, Birmingham Southern went ahead by 15 points at 32-17 with just under four minutes showing on the clock when Centre used an 8-0 run capped by four straight points by freshman guard Tucker Sine (Bowling Green, Ky.) to shrink the Panthers' lead to 32-25 with 1:16 remaining in the opening period.
Birmingham Southern scored the final four points of the half to gain a 36-25 advantage at the break, before opening the second half with an 8-0 surge to build a 44-25 lead with 17:46 to play in the game.
The Panthers held a 15-point advantage at 55-40 with just under 11 minutes remaining, when the Colonels went on a 12-2 run ignited by a pair of baskets by senior forward Blake Scinta (Louisville, Ky.), cutting the Birmingham Southern lead to five points at 57-52 with 4:16 to play in the game.
That is as close as Centre would come, as the Panthers pushed their lead to eight points before holding on for the 66-61 victory.
Sine stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, five rebounds and six assists. He shot 5-of-9 from the field and 6-of-7 from the charity stripe.
Scinta notched a double-double with a game-high 18 points and 13 rebounds. He connected on 9-of-13 field goals for the Colonels.
Freshman guard Carson Ebert (Willard, Ohio) dropped in 11 points off the bench on 4-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-8 from behind the arc.
Alex Avery neared a triple-double with 14 points and game-highs of 14 rebounds and eight assists. He shot 5-of-9 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line to go along with three steals.
Ross Welch added 11 points for Birmingham Southern, while Matty Rudak contributed eight markers off the bench.
The Panthers outshot Centre 46.9 percent (23-of-49) to 38.6 percent (22-of-57), including 41.2 percent (7-of-17) to 20.7 percent (6-of-29) from behind the arc.
The Colonels connected on 73.3 percent (11-of-15) of shots from the charity stripe, while Birmingham Southern made 68.4 percent (13-of-19) of free throw attempts in the win.
The Panthers edged the Colonels in the rebounding column 35-31.
Centre forced 14 Birmingham Southern turnovers resulting in a 15-7 advantage in points off turnovers.
The Colonels are back in action on Sunday, Feb. 7 hosting Millsaps in another SAA contest at Alumni Gymnasium at 3 PM.
