DANVILLE, Ky. – The Centre men's basketball team closed out its four-game home stand with a rivalry matchup against the Rhodes Lynx. The Colonels won their third straight game as Landen Hamilton's driving basket with four seconds left gave Centre a thrilling 66-64 victory.
 
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
 
- The Colonels struggled from the outside early on as Rhodes took a 13-9 lead in the opening minutes.
- Centre created a few easy scoring opportunities with their defense as steals led to points. Carter Baughman put Centre on top 20-17 with a three-pointer
- The game stayed close for the rest of the half, with neither team ever leading by more than five at any point. Centre held the lead for the majority of the final minutes thanks to the hot shooting of Baughman, who nailed five threes in the half, but a buzzer beater by Rhodes made it all square at 35-35 at the break.
- The second half turned into a defensive struggle as both teams used zone defenses to clamp down the opposing offenses. Centre took the early edge thanks to some strong offensive rebounding as a putback by Jaxson Banks made it 43-39. Rhodes forced turnovers to get back in the game, scoring the next eight to take a four-point lead of their own.
- As the game got tighter and more physical, Centre picked up their rim protection as Banks and Caleb Maul blocked several shots inside. The Colonels regained with nine minutes left thanks to a three from Blake Stewart.
- Rhodes crashed the offensive glass for consecutive buckets to retake the lead at 57-55 with five minutes left. Free throws by Hamilton and Riley Mastin tied the game at 57-57. After a pair of Lynx free throws put Rhodes back on top, Hamilton's steal and score tied the game again with three minutes on the clock.
- Centre grabbed the lead back as Chez Moore caught the defense napping for a dunk on the baseline. A wild sequence saw the Lynx tie the game with the shot clock running down, but Baughman found Moore inside for another score to make it 63-61.
- The Lynx fought back to regain the lead at 64-63 and had free throws with 15 seconds to go, but a missed front end gave Centre a shot at the lead, and Hamilton took it to the rack and scored, drawing a foul. His free throw put Centre up 66-64 and the Colonels stood their ground as Rhodes's final shot at the tie fell off the rim.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
 
- Baughman led all players with 19 points, with 15 of them coming in the first half.
- Mastin finished with another double-double, scoring 15 points and grabbing a game high ten boards.
- In addition to the game winner Hamilton had another full box score with eight points, four rebounds, five steals and a season high ten assists.
- The Colonels had a season high eight blocks on the day, led by Maul with four.
- The game featured 11 lead changes and 13 ties.
 
NEXT UP
 
Centre basketball will go back on the road next week for rematches against Hendrix and Rhodes, starting with Rhodes on Friday. The Colonels defeated the Warriors 75-56 on Jan. 19.