DANVILLE, Ky. – Centre men's basketball played its final home game of the calendar year as the Colonels hosted the Berea Mountaineers inside Alumni Gym. In a game that delivered the dramatics, the Colonels defeated the Mountaineers 88-85 in overtime.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
- The Colonels got off to a cold start as they missed their first six shots and turned the ball over twice in the opening minutes, allowing the Mountaineers to jump out to a 16-9 lead.
- True to form in the early season games, the Centre bench provided a spark as
Izayiah Villafuerte and
Ryan Shene connected on consecutive threes to cut into the deficit. A layup by
Carson Wooldridge on an inbounds play capped off an 8-0 run to put the Colonels on top for the first time.
- The two teams traded the lead over the next several minutes.
Jaxson Banks sandwiched another Villafuerte three with a pair of baskets to put Centre up by three. Berea hit a pair of three-pointers in the final 90 seconds to take a 38-32 lead going into the locker room at the half.
- The opening minutes of the second half featured big runs by both teams. Berea struck first, scoring on their first three trips of the half to go up by 11 at 45-34. The Colonels chipped away as
Landen Hamilton put a dent into the deficit with a three and then raced to the basket off a rebound to score in transition, drawing a foul to cut it to 45-40.
- Centre continued to carve in the deficit, cutting the Mountaineer lead to a single point after Banks cut to the rack and scored. They did it again when Banks found a wide open
Elijah Decker down low for a dunk to make it 55-54.
- Berea looked to stem the tide as the Mountaineers scored the next eight points to go up by nine with just over eight minutes to go. The deficit remained at nine for the next two minutes as both teams traded baskets before the Colonels staged another rally. Hamilton cut to the basket and scored.
Nolan Wahl crashed the offensive glass and made a free throw. Banks got open from the corner and nailed a three. Hamilton snuck past the defense to put in a Centre miss.
- The Mountaineers led 74-71 when Banks connected again from downtown for the tie. Berea quickly answered with a three. With just over a minute left,
Kalib Thomas got a key offensive rebound and kicked it out to Banks for another three and the tie. Hamilton then gave the Colonels the lead with a steal and score.
- Now trailing 79-77, Berea drew a foul on a three-pointer with 0.3 seconds to go and made two of the three free throws to force overtime.
- Berea scored the opening basket of the overtime period, but Centre retook the lead on layups by Thomas and Hamilton. Berea answered back with four straight points to go up 85-84. The Colonels struck like lightning with a quick hitter three from Banks to go back on top. After a Berea miss, Wahl's free throw made it 88-85 and the Mountaineers missed their final attempt for the tie.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Banks came through in a big way for the Colonels, exploding for a career high 25 points on 10-13 shooting.
- The Colonels shot 50 percent for the game, including 53 percent in the second half and 60 percent in the overtime period.
- Centre enjoyed a 30-24 edge in bench points thanks to a season high 11 points from
Ryan Shene and eight from Villafuerte.
- Wahl led all players with a dozen rebounds.
- The Colonels had 22 assists on their 33 made baskets, led by Hamilton with five.
NEXT UP
The Centre men's basketball team will head to St. Louis over the weekend, where they will participate in the Webster Classic, beginning with a game against host Webster on Nov. 22.
