ST. LOUIS – The Centre men's basketball team had an offensive explosion in the first half as they tied the school record for three-pointers in a game, dismantling the Westminster Blue Jays by a score of 100-64.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
- Centre jumped out to the hottest of starts, scoring the first 11 points of the game as
Kalib Thomas and
Landen Hamilton combined for three three-pointers.
- A Westminster three broke the momentum for a split second and then the Colonels went right back to work as they scored the next 12. Thomas and Hamilton stayed hot from long range to help Centre extend to a 23-3 lead.
- The Centre bench did their part as
Hunter Coleman and
Ryan Shene hit long balls off the bench to put the Colonels on top by a 34-8 margin.
Jaxson Banks, having the best week of his career, reentered the game and scored eight consecutive Centre points. Another Banks three with four minutes to go gave the Colonels their biggest lead of the half at 54-20 and Centre entered the locker room at halftime with a commanding 59-31 lead.
- Banks kept his personal hot streak going as he scored the first five Centre points of the second half. The three-point barrage continued for the Colonels as a bomb by
Carson Wooldridge off the bench made it 74-40, followed shortly by another one from
Izayiah Villafuerte as the second unit picked up where the starters left off.
- The Colonels went up by 40 for the first time at 92-52 as Wooldridge connected once again from long range for Centre's 20th and final three-pointer of the afternoon. Centre went up by as many as 44 points at 98-54 before things finally cooled off in the final minutes.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- With 20 three-pointers, Centre tied the school record held by the 2019-20 team in the SAA Tournament semifinal round against Millsaps.
- It is the first time Centre has scored 100 points in a regulation game since 2019-20, when the Colonels set the program record with 132 points against Greenville.
- Centre had 30 assists on 37 made baskets, the most by a Centre team in a game since the Colonels dished out a program record 40 assists in that same November 2019 game at Greenville.
- Banks led all players with 22 points in just 22 minutes, his second game of 20 or more points this week after hitting his career high in the win over Berea on Tuesday.
- Hamilton had a full box score in just 18 minutes of play, finishing with 16 points, four rebounds, a game high seven assists and three steals.
- The Colonels shot 63 percent from the floor (22-35) in the first half, including a staggering 64 percent (14-22) from three-point range to build their gigantic halftime lead.
NEXT UP
Centre men's basketball will hit the road again on Nov. 30 as they travel to Louisville to face Spalding.
