LAGRANGE, Ga. - The Centre men's basketball team played the first of two games of tournament action at LaGrange, playing the host LaGrange Panthers on Saturday night. Both teams shot well, but the Panthers got the win 87-77 thanks to a hot second half.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

- The Colonels dug themselves an early hole at 14-7, but battled back with eight straight points, taking the lead on a bucket by Chez Moore and holding the advantage for nearly the rest of the first half.
- In the late stages of the half, Centre made a nice push, outscoring LaGrange 15-4 to take a 42-30 lead, with Cade Stinnett and Noah Ring scoring multiple baskets during the stretch. The Panthers battled back to make it a 46-40 game at the half.
- To start the second half, the two teams traded baskets for a few minutes before LaGrange finally made a run to take the lead at 60-59 with 11 minutes left in the game.
- Over the next seven minutes, the lead changed hands multiple times as Ring and Izayiah Villafuerte made clutch threes to keep the Colonels in the game.
- Following a Landen Hamilton free throw to tie the score at 75-75, LaGrange went on their biggest run of the game, scoring seven straight points and icing the game at the free throw line to secure the win.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

- Stinnett led five Centre players in double figures with a game high 23 points.
- Freshman Riley Mastin pulled down a game high and career high 11 rebounds while adding seven points.
- While both teams shot over 50 percent from the field for the game, LaGrange's 68 percent shooting in the second half was a difference maker in the outcome.
- Another difference came from long distance, where LaGrange shot 52 percent for the game compared to 29 percent for the Colonels.

NEXT UP

The Colonels will wrap up the LaGrange Classic on Sunday afternoon as they battle the Huntingdon Hawks.