BEREA, Ky. - The Centre men's basketball overcame a cold shooting night with a strong performance defensively and on the glass as the Colonels knocked off the Berea Mountaineers by a score of 76-58.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
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Kalib Thomas fired the opening salvo with a three-pointer as the Colonels kept Berea off the scoreboard for the first five and a half minutes of the game.
- The first half lead reached as many as ten points at 19-9 when
Riley Mastin absorbed contact in the paint and scored.
- Berea slowly chipped away over the next eight minutes as Centre battled foul trouble and eventually tied the game at 26-26, but
Nolan Wahl scored the final four points of the half for the Colonels and Centre went into the locker room up 30-26.
- Centre got off to a hot start to open the second half and went up 46-33 on consecutive threes from Thomas and Izaiyah Villafuerte. Another transition three from Wahl made it 51-36.
- Berea scored six points in a row to cut the Centre lead to 54-48, but Villafuerte delivered a clutch three and Berea never got within more than seven points the rest of the way as the Colonels iced the game from the free throw line.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Centre enjoyed a balanced effort on offense as Mastin led all players with 18 points, with Wahl, Thomas and Villafuerte all scoring in double figures.
- For the second game in a row, the Colonels dominated the boards, outrebounding the Mountaineers 49-33, including a 19-5 edge on the offensive glass.
Johnny Djema finished with a game high eight rebounds off the bench. This also helped Centre enjoy a 16-2 advantage in second chance points.
- The Colonels made all 12 of their free throw attempts in the second half to help put the game away.
NEXT UP
The Colonels will play their home opener on Monday when they host Mount St. Joseph.
