DANVILLE, Ky. -- On Friday night, the Millsaps College men's basketball team traveled to take on the first place team in the Southern Athletic Association (SAA). The Majors faced a rematch with the Colonels of Centre College, a team they had just lost to one week ago.
In this second meeting of the year Centre held a 37-30 advantage at halftime, and stretched their lead out to as many as 25 in the second half. In the closing minutes Millsaps fought back hard but unfortunately ran out of time as the Colonels picked up the 68-57 win.
Centre improves to 16-3 overall and 7-1 in the league, while the Majors fall to 10-9 and 2-6 in the SAA.
How It Happened
Millsaps came out of the gate on fire looking to avenge last week's loss.
After Centre scored the opening bucket of the game, the Majors rattled off the next 10 points to grab the early lead. From that point the teams battled back and forth with the Colonels slowly chipping into the Millsaps lead, but it was not until the 6:33 mark of the first half that the Colonels led again.
Centre ended the half outscoring the Majors 13-6 which allowed them to hold a 37-30 advantage at halftime.
The early part of the second half was almost an entire flip of the script. This time it was the Colonels who came out hot, as they scored the first 14 points of the half to open up a 21 point lead. Midway through the second period their lead had grown to 25 with the score at 60-35.
At that point Millsaps responded, thanks in part to their ability to get to the free throw line and some strong shooting from the outside by
Saxton Becker. The Majors got it down to a 10 point game a few times, but despite outscoring the Colonels by 14 points in the final 9 minutes, they ran out of time as Centre held on for the win.
Key Contributors
Becker led all scorers with 20 points on 6-12 shooting, including going 3-6 from beyond the arc.
Justin Van Pelt finished with 9 rebounds to lead Millsaps on the boards, while
Ryan McLaurin finished with a team-high 2 assists.
What's Next?
Millsaps continues their conference road trip with a crucial matchup at Sewanee on Sunday afternoon. Tip off is set for 3:00pm.
To keep up to date with everything surrounding the men's basketball program this year follow the Majors on Twitter and Instagram, like Millsaps Majors Athletics on Facebook or visit gomajors.com.
