For the third straight game, the Centre men's basketball team went into the locker room at halftime with a lead of three points or less, and like the previous two games, the Colonels pulled away in the second half for a double-digit victory, this time defeating Trinity University 67-52 Saturday, Jan. 21 in Danville, Ky.

Centre, which led by one point at the half against Hendrix and three points at the break against Southwestern, saw a five-point lead cut to two points when Trinity's Zach Lambert banked home a three-pointer with four seconds on the clock to cut the lead to 24-22 at the intermission.

Both teams struggled shooting the basketball in the first half as Centre shot only 24.2% in the opening period, while the Tigers didn't fare much better at 32.0%.

As cold as both teams were from the floor in the first half, they were just as hot in the second half. Having combined for 46 points in the first 20 minutes of the game, the two teams scored 40 points in the first ten minutes of the second half.

Centre scored 26 of those 40 points to take a 50-36 lead midway through the second period and did not look back. The lead grew to 20 points (63-43) at the 4:31 mark before the game ended in a 15-point victory for the Colonels.

Centre shot a blistering 66.7% in the second half to finish the game at 42.1% for the game. Trinity hit 57.9% of its second half shots to finish at 43.2%, but the Tigers committed 14 turnovers and were out-rebouned 32-29.

Senior forward Greg Ross (Cincinnati, Ohio) continued to be a presence for the Colonels. Ross finished one rebound shy of his fifth double-double of the season with 20 points and nine rebounds, including making 10 of his 11 free throw attempts. Junior Bryon Ellis (Russell Springs, Ky.) nailed four of his five three-points attempts and finished with 16 points, and sophomore Donovan Whiteside (Knoxville, Ky.) added 10 points and six rebounds off the bench.

Trinity (9-8 overall, 4-4 SCAC) was led by Lambert and Robert Kitzinger. The two players came off the bench to combine of 35 points with Kitzinger scoring 18 and Lambert 17.

Centre, now 12-5 overall and 6-3 in the SCAC, will travel to Sherman, Texas Friday, Jan. 27 to play Austin College. Start time is set for 8 p.m. CST.