James Melloan of Centre College shoots over Millsaps defender Jeff Brown (31) in the first half of the Colonels' 81-44 victory Friday. (Clay Jackson) |
Even with a lot to play for today, there was still no way the Centre College men would be looking ahead Friday night.
The Colonels used a solid performance on both ends of the floor and blew out Millsaps 81-44 at Alumni Gymnasium, setting up a battle for second place in their division today with Rhodes.
Rhodes, which beat Centre 72-58 back in December, won 61-60 at Sewanee on Friday, and the Lynx hold a one game lead on the Colonels in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference East Division.
“They want to be the two seed, it just sounds better. But I told them, it’s not who we play, it’s how we play,”¿Centre coach Greg Mason said. “If we play like we did tonight, then we should be able to make a dent next week (in the conference tournament). “Rhodes is really good, they’re a veteran team, they’re a good team and we’re going to have to play good basketball.”
Josh Karsner led a balanced scoring attack with 16 points, while Collin Lopez had 11, Greg Ross had 10 and Bryon Ellis and Chris Taylor had nine points each.
“I was happy to see Josh Karsner (play well). He hit a little wall late the season. Josh hit some shots in the second half and got his confidence back,”¿Mason said. “And we got a chance to get some guys in that have been working hard in practice. It was good team effort.”
Centre (16-7, 10-5 SCAC) shot 55 percent in the second half to blow the game open, and shot 53 percent (29 for 55) overall.
Up 14 at the break after scoring the final five points, the Colonels opened the second half on a 17-0 run capped off by Lopez’s layup to take a 56-25 lead with 15 minutes, 28 seconds to play. They were 3 for 4 from 3-point range during the run and finished 12 for 28 from behind the arc.
Centre held Millsaps (8-15, 3-12)¿without a field goal for 11:05, from the 4:55 mark of the first half until Sterling Thomas scored with 13:50 to play in the game to make it 56-27. By then, it was too late for any sort of comeback by the Majors.
“We really challenged them at halftime. We’ve had a tendency to come out with not a lot of energy the first little bit. So I thought the fact Bryon Ellis hit a 3 (top open the second half) was big,”¿Mason said.
Two free throws from Taylor capped a 9-0 run that gave Centre its largest lead to that point at 68-32. Mike Geegan’s layup provided the Colonels’ final points and gave them a 37-point win.
Centre took control in the first half by getting hot from long range. The Colonels were 6 for 14 from 3-point range in the first half and 14 for 28 overall from the field.
They were down 7-4 when Donovan Whiteside and Ross scored inside and Taylor had a steal and layup to give them the lead for good.
Whiteside scored inside, and then the Colonels got three straight 3s from Jeff Mullaney, Karsner and Lopez to push their lead to 21-11 with 8:57 left in the first half.
“That really boosted out confidence and deflated theirs,”¿Mason said.
Millsaps was held to 28 percent (16 for 56)¿shooting, and Centre held a 47-29 rebounding edge.
“We wanted to guard Taylor Meads. He’s good shooter. And they don’t have a real post presence, so they rely on the jump shot,”¿Mason said. “We really wanted to come out and guard.”
The Majors made just two of 12 3-pointers, and Mason also liked the fact Centre grabbed 37 of Millsaps’ 44 missed shots.
CENTRE 81, MILLSAPS 44
MILLSAPS (8-15)
Sterling Thomas 4-10 4-6 12, Taylor Meades 4-13 1-1 10, Kyle Kinnear 3-9 4-4 10, Brian Merkel 3-5 0-0 6, Kevin Wilson 1-1 0-0 3, Ryan Berger 1-2 0-0 2, Tim White 0-2 1-2 1, Jeff Brown 0-2 0-1 0, Jayson Montgomery 0-0 0-0 0, Nicholas Botero 0-4 0-0 0, Tully Gilligan 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Cortese 0-7 0-0 0, Antoine Leaks 0-0 0-0 0, Murray Kastner 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-56 10-14 44.
CENTRE (16-7)
Josh Karsner 6-8 0-0 16, Collin Lopez 4-7 0-0 11, Greg Ross 3-9 4-4 10, Chris Taylor 3-5 3-4 9, Bryon Ellis 3-6 0-0 9, Donovan Whiteside 2-2 2-3 6, Casey Jackson 1-3 2-3 5, Jeff Mullaney 2-3 0-0 5, Taylor Newsome 2-3 0-0 4, Matt Lohr 1-2 0-1 2, Austin Sagraves 1-1 0-0 2, Mike Geegan 1-3 0-0 2, Matt Griggs 0-1 0-0 0, Calvin Cahall 0-1 0-0 0, James Melloan 0-1 0-3 0, Spencer Wright 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-55 11-18 81.
Halftime—Centre 39-25. 3-Point Goals—Millsaps 2-12 (Cortese 0-2, Meades 1-5, Brown 0-1, White 0-1, Wilson 1-1, Botero 0-2), Centre 12-28 (Karsner 4-6, Lopez 3-6, Ellis 3-6, Mullaney 1-2, Jackson 1-3, Lohr 0-1, Geegan 0-2, Cahall 0-1, Ross 0-1). Fouled Out—Kinnear. Rebounds—Millsaps 29 (Thomas 6), Centre 47 (Mullaney, Melloan 7). Assists—Millsaps 7 (Cortese, White 2), Centre 14 (Griggs 5). Total Fouls—Millsaps 18, Centre 19. A—558.
The Colonels used a solid performance on both ends of the floor and blew out Millsaps 81-44 at Alumni Gymnasium, setting up a battle for second place in their division today with Rhodes.
Rhodes, which beat Centre 72-58 back in December, won 61-60 at Sewanee on Friday, and the Lynx hold a one game lead on the Colonels in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference East Division.
“They want to be the two seed, it just sounds better. But I told them, it’s not who we play, it’s how we play,”¿Centre coach Greg Mason said. “If we play like we did tonight, then we should be able to make a dent next week (in the conference tournament). “Rhodes is really good, they’re a veteran team, they’re a good team and we’re going to have to play good basketball.”
Josh Karsner led a balanced scoring attack with 16 points, while Collin Lopez had 11, Greg Ross had 10 and Bryon Ellis and Chris Taylor had nine points each.
“I was happy to see Josh Karsner (play well). He hit a little wall late the season. Josh hit some shots in the second half and got his confidence back,”¿Mason said. “And we got a chance to get some guys in that have been working hard in practice. It was good team effort.”
Centre (16-7, 10-5 SCAC) shot 55 percent in the second half to blow the game open, and shot 53 percent (29 for 55) overall.
Up 14 at the break after scoring the final five points, the Colonels opened the second half on a 17-0 run capped off by Lopez’s layup to take a 56-25 lead with 15 minutes, 28 seconds to play. They were 3 for 4 from 3-point range during the run and finished 12 for 28 from behind the arc.
Centre held Millsaps (8-15, 3-12)¿without a field goal for 11:05, from the 4:55 mark of the first half until Sterling Thomas scored with 13:50 to play in the game to make it 56-27. By then, it was too late for any sort of comeback by the Majors.
“We really challenged them at halftime. We’ve had a tendency to come out with not a lot of energy the first little bit. So I thought the fact Bryon Ellis hit a 3 (top open the second half) was big,”¿Mason said.
Two free throws from Taylor capped a 9-0 run that gave Centre its largest lead to that point at 68-32. Mike Geegan’s layup provided the Colonels’ final points and gave them a 37-point win.
Centre took control in the first half by getting hot from long range. The Colonels were 6 for 14 from 3-point range in the first half and 14 for 28 overall from the field.
They were down 7-4 when Donovan Whiteside and Ross scored inside and Taylor had a steal and layup to give them the lead for good.
Whiteside scored inside, and then the Colonels got three straight 3s from Jeff Mullaney, Karsner and Lopez to push their lead to 21-11 with 8:57 left in the first half.
“That really boosted out confidence and deflated theirs,”¿Mason said.
Millsaps was held to 28 percent (16 for 56)¿shooting, and Centre held a 47-29 rebounding edge.
“We wanted to guard Taylor Meads. He’s good shooter. And they don’t have a real post presence, so they rely on the jump shot,”¿Mason said. “We really wanted to come out and guard.”
The Majors made just two of 12 3-pointers, and Mason also liked the fact Centre grabbed 37 of Millsaps’ 44 missed shots.
CENTRE 81, MILLSAPS 44
MILLSAPS (8-15)
Sterling Thomas 4-10 4-6 12, Taylor Meades 4-13 1-1 10, Kyle Kinnear 3-9 4-4 10, Brian Merkel 3-5 0-0 6, Kevin Wilson 1-1 0-0 3, Ryan Berger 1-2 0-0 2, Tim White 0-2 1-2 1, Jeff Brown 0-2 0-1 0, Jayson Montgomery 0-0 0-0 0, Nicholas Botero 0-4 0-0 0, Tully Gilligan 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Cortese 0-7 0-0 0, Antoine Leaks 0-0 0-0 0, Murray Kastner 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-56 10-14 44.
CENTRE (16-7)
Josh Karsner 6-8 0-0 16, Collin Lopez 4-7 0-0 11, Greg Ross 3-9 4-4 10, Chris Taylor 3-5 3-4 9, Bryon Ellis 3-6 0-0 9, Donovan Whiteside 2-2 2-3 6, Casey Jackson 1-3 2-3 5, Jeff Mullaney 2-3 0-0 5, Taylor Newsome 2-3 0-0 4, Matt Lohr 1-2 0-1 2, Austin Sagraves 1-1 0-0 2, Mike Geegan 1-3 0-0 2, Matt Griggs 0-1 0-0 0, Calvin Cahall 0-1 0-0 0, James Melloan 0-1 0-3 0, Spencer Wright 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-55 11-18 81.
Halftime—Centre 39-25. 3-Point Goals—Millsaps 2-12 (Cortese 0-2, Meades 1-5, Brown 0-1, White 0-1, Wilson 1-1, Botero 0-2), Centre 12-28 (Karsner 4-6, Lopez 3-6, Ellis 3-6, Mullaney 1-2, Jackson 1-3, Lohr 0-1, Geegan 0-2, Cahall 0-1, Ross 0-1). Fouled Out—Kinnear. Rebounds—Millsaps 29 (Thomas 6), Centre 47 (Mullaney, Melloan 7). Assists—Millsaps 7 (Cortese, White 2), Centre 14 (Griggs 5). Total Fouls—Millsaps 18, Centre 19. A—558.
