DANVILLE, Ky. – The Millsaps men's basketball team competed extremely hard but fell to Centre College in the Southern Athletic Association Quarterfinal, 72-59 inside Alumni Gym on Sunday.
Junior Caleb Kent led the Majors with 23 points, while adding 11 rebounds, one assist and a block to his accolades.
The Madison, Miss., native recorded his eighth double-double of the season and shot 11-of-19 against the Colonels.
Senior Nicholas Ughovwa registered 12 points and four rebounds. The forward went 5-of-9 from the field and 2-of-2 at the charity stripe.
Junior Dakota Gasca finished with 11 points, four rebounds and three assists. He shot 4-of-7 from the floor, including 2-of-4 from beyond the arc.
No. 6 seed Millsaps (5-21) bettered No. 3 seed Centre (16-9), 38-32 from points inside the paint.
The Colonels led the Majors in fast break points (13-10), in bench points (25-8), points off turnovers (10-7) and in second chance points (9-8).
Centre took an early 9-0 lead after holding the Majors scoreless on their first seven shot attempts.
However, back-to-back Kent and Gasca layups put the Majors on board, down 12-4.
With 11:37 remaining in the opening half, freshman Samuel Holt (three rebounds) drained a three-pointer from beyond the arc to keep the contest within single digits at 18-10.
Kent continued to remain hot with four consecutive layups and a jumper to bring the game down to a two-point margin at 22-20.
Moments later, Ughovwa's quality defense forced a Colonel layup attempt out of bounds as the teams when in the under-eight-minute media timeout.
Right out of the break sophomore Cameron Lumar (three points, four rebounds, three assists) stole the ball on defense and Ughovwa finished the rest at the rim to tie the game at 22-22.
Centre's strong three-point shooting allowed the hosts to regain its lead at 30-24, with 3:58 remaining in the first half. The Colonels shot 38.5 percent from long range (5-of-13) before intermission.
Ughovwa snapped a Colonel 11-0 run off another layup with 1:06 to go. The Centre advantage grew to 36-26.
Lumar closed out the first half with a three-pointer to help Millsaps go into halftime down by seven at 36-29.
The Majors started the second half off strong as back-to-back interior makes by Ughovwa cut the deficit to 38-35.
Centre pushed back ahead of the Majors, 44-36 before Gasca drove the ball into the basket with 13:30 on the clock.
The teams traded made buckets as Centre held a 57-46 margin at the media stoppage, with 6:52 left to play.
Back-to-back treys gave the Colonels their largest lead to that point, making it 63-47.
Centre grew its advantage to 17 points, but Kent continued to compete hard for Millsaps. Kent made a nifty driving layup with 2:11 left.
Gasca sank a couple three-pointers of his own down the stretch, but the Colonels held on for a 72-59 win in the SAA First Round.
The Majors will next await to see who is named to the All-SAA Team early next week.
To keep up to date with everything surrounding the Millsaps men's basketball program follow the Majors on Twitter and Instagram, like Millsaps Majors Athletics on Facebook or visit gomajors.com.
Founded in Jackson, Mississippi in 1890, Millsaps College is a national liberal arts college dedicated to academic excellence, open inquiry and free expression, the exploration of faith to inform vocation and the innovative shaping of the social, economic and cultural progress of our region. Consistently ranked as one of the best values in higher education, Millsaps has been praised by Colleges That Change Lives, The Princeton Review, Forbes Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, The John Templeton Foundation, and The Fiske Guide to Colleges.
