HACKETTSTOWN, N.J. – Centenary College shot a season-best 54 percent from the field and received a career-high 29 points from sophomore point guard Clayton Roker (New City, N.Y./Clarkstown South) during a 95-91 men's basketball Senior Day victory over Keystone on Saturday.
Centenary reached the 95-point mark for the first time since a 102-89 victory at Baptist Bible on Feb. 6, 2010. The Cyclones scored 54 of their points during the final 20 minutes and saw four players reach double figures.
Roker shot 10-of-12 from the floor, bucketing the most single-game points by a Cyclone since Ryan Kearney poured in 31 on Feb. 18, 2010. He canned four triples and added three steals on the defensive end.
Centenary overcame a game-high 37 points from Duncan Lunsford, who drilled 13-of-17 field goal attempts. Lunsford also pulled down 11 rebounds and dished out four assists.
Senior Tim Brix (Monroe Township, N.J./Monroe Township) matched his career high with 17 points and grabbed seven boards, while classmate Kyle Malavasi (Asbury, N.J./North Hunterdon) added 14 points and five assists. Junior Djovan Beausejour (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East) recorded 13 points and six rebounds.
The Giants led by nine with eight minutes to play in the first half before the Cyclones caught fire from the field. Centenary connected on 7-of-9 field goal tries during a 19-5 run spanning five minutes that vaulted the Cyclones into the lead.
Roker canned a three-pointer that knotted the game at 26 and then gave Centenary its first lead of the game with another triple 70 seconds later. Roker netted 12 points during the surge and added a layup just before the halftime buzzer off a feed from Malavasi to give Centenary a 41-36 advantage at the break.
Malavasi's triple at the 14:30 mark pushed the Cyclone lead to 13 and seven minutes later, freshman Kyle Smith (Warwick, N.Y./Burke Catholic) buried his third shot from beyond the arc during a five-minute stretch to give Centenary its biggest lead at 73-56.
The Giants narrowed the gap to six following Darien Wingate's jumper, but five-straight points from Roker, including a long three ball with the shot clock running out, pushed the lead back to double figures with 1:25 to play.
Malavasi sank six free throws during the final 30 seconds to secure the victory.
Centenary drilled a season-best 12 triples and overcame 17 turnovers to move to 7-16 (6-10 CSAC). The Cyclones held a 32-28 edge on the glass.
Lunsford buried 7-of-9 three-point attempts, while Dan Candemeres added 17 points.
Centenary closes out its home slate Monday against Gwynedd Mercy at 7:00 pm.