KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Centre men's basketball team won its fourth straight to begin the 2018-19 campaign as they defeated the Kalamazoo Hornets by a score of 76-56 in tournament action.

The Colonels improve to 4-0 overall while dropping the host Hornets to 2-3.
 
HIGHLIGHTS
- The Colonels trailed 19-16 early, but closed out the first half with a 19-4 run, including 11 straight points on three-pointers by Jarod Griffin and Dustin Gerald, and five consecutive points by Bailey Rakes.
- A long ball by Art Walker and another jumper from Rakes put the Colonels up 35-22 at the half as they put together another strong finish to the opening frame, echoing the performance from the previous night against Cincinnati Christian.
- Centre steadily increased the lead in the second half, not letting the Hornets get closer than nine points the rest of the way. The largest lead of the contest for Centre was the final 20-point margin.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Perry Ayers led the way for the Colonels with a season-high 22 points, with 18 of them coming in the second half.
- Art Walker added 17 points, including 3 of 7 from long range.
- Jacob Bates tied a career high with 13 rebounds as Centre out-rebounded the Hornets 40-36.
- The Centre defense was outstanding, holding Kalamazoo to its worst shooting game of the season thus far. The Hornets, who entered the game averaging 90 points per game, scored 34 points under their seasonal average and 14 points under their season low output for the year. Today's game represented season lows for Kalamazoo in shooting percentage, rebounds, assists and steals.
- Nine different players scored for the Colonels in today's contest.
- Centre shot 52 percent for both halves and limited Kalamazoo to 8-34 shooting in the first half, including just 1-15 from three-point range.
 
NEXT UP
After a successful tournament in Kalamazoo, the Colonels will return to Alumni Gym for their next game as they take on the Franklin Grizzlies on Tuesday.