MIAMI – Centre College took control late in the first half and never looked back en route to a 73-53 men's basketball victory over Stevenson University at the HoopMIA D3 Holiday Shootout at Florida Christian School Sunday afternoon.
Blake Scinta led Centre (6-2) with 23 points, going 6-12 from the floor and 10-12 at the free throw line while also grabbing 12 rebounds and handing out three assists. Carson Ebert went 6-9 from three-point land and added 18 points.
Senior Erik Fisher narrowly missed his second straight double-double for Stevenson (3-7), notching 18 points and grabbing nine rebounds while going 8-18 from the floor. Classmate Christian Roberts added nine points, while sophomore Sean Mayberry and freshman Korey Hayman, Jr. chipped in with six points apiece.
Centre outscored Stevenson 13-2 over the final five minutes of the first half to take a 35-24 lead into the locker room. Tied 22-22, the Colonels reeled off 11 straight points before a Fisher basket with 1:53 left made it 33-24. Centre scored the first nine points of the second half to extend the run to 22-2 and take a 43-24 lead just over two minutes into the second half.
Stevenson held the Colonels to one field goal over a five-plus minute stretch, outscoring Centre 9-2 to pull within 12, 45-33, with 11:31 to play following a Fisher basket. The Mustangs got no closer, as Centre countered with an 8-2 run to push the lead back to 18, 53-35, with 8:46 left. The Colonels maintained a comfortable margin and led by as many as 23 down the stretch.
The first half saw five ties and four lead changes before Centre went on its late run. Stevenson took a 12-8 lead at the 14:39 mark on a basket by Mayberry before the Colonels used an 8-1 spurt capped by back-to-back threes by Ebert to go up 16-13 with 11:28 to go.
Centre knocked down 11 three-pointers on the afternoon, going 11-33 from long range, while the Mustangs connected on three of their 14 three-point attempts The Colonels finished 22-27 at the free throw line while Stevenson was 12-21 at the charity stripe. Centre also held a 41-27 rebounding advantage that led to a 15-4 lead in second chance points and shot 39.2%, while the Mustangs shot 37.3% from the floor.
Stevenson is idle until Tuesday, December 29, when the Mustangs face the University of Scranton in the first round of the Captains Shootout hosted by Christopher Newport. Tipoff is set for 5:30 pm.