CLARKS SUMMIT, Pa. – Baptist Bible built a nine-point halftime lead and held off a late Centenary College rally for a 69-63 Colonial States Athletic Conference victory on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Defenders (7-12, 4-8 CSAC) led 29-17 with 5:05 to play in the first half, but senior guard Kyle Malavasi's (Asbury, N.J./North Hunterdon) three-pointer ignited a 9-2 Cyclone spurt that helped Centenary within five. Malavasi netted five points during the run.
 
Baptist Bible responded with the final four points of the half to snag a 35-26 edge heading into intermission.
 
The teams traded baskets early in the second half before BBC bulged its lead to 13 following back-to-back baskets from Dan Dodd and Jordan Greve. Centenary began to slowly chip away, with senior Joshua Case (Catasauqua, Pa./Catasauqua) slicing the lead to seven after connecting on a three-point play at the 9:21 mark.
 
Case scored eight of Centenary's next 10 points, including a triple that made the score 58-54 with under five minutes remaining in regulation.
 
Freshman Zachary Duymich (Millstone Township, N.J./Allentown) trimmed the Defenders' lead to just two by sinking a layup with 4:14 to play and Case connected on a pair free throws during the Cyclones' next possession to knot the score.
 
Baptist Bible made six trips to the charity stripe during its ensuing three possessions, making four to retake the lead with under one minute to play.
 
Malavasi was fouled and made 1-of-2 free throws to make the score 66-63 with 15 ticks left on the clock, but Centenary came up empty during its final two possessions and the Defenders sank three free throws to ice the game.
 
Case recorded a 24-point, 10-rebound double-double to pace Centenary, while Malavasi added 10 points. Duymich tallied nine points and senior Tim Brix (Monroe Township, N.J./Monroe) produced eight points and seven boards.
 
The Cyclones shot 39 percent (23-59) and committed just 10 turnovers, while connected on 42 percent (24-57) of its shots from the floor and held a 39-32 rebounding advantage.
 
Luke Peterson drilled all nine of his free throw attempts and led four Defenders in double figures with 22 points.
 
Centenary opens a five-game home stand Monday against Gwynedd Mercy at 7:00 pm.