Memphis, Tennessee ~ The men's basketball team dropped its fourth straight game today, a 69-62 decision to Centre College. The loss drops the Lynx to 3-5 overall and 0-2 in the SCAC.
Rhodes will be back in action on Tuesday, December 8th as they travel to Nashville to take on Freewill Baptist College.
Centre opened up the first half by scoring on its first two possessions and had a quick 4-0 lead. A bucket by Andyshea Saberioon (Houston, TX) got the Lynx on the scoreboard and Reid Hamilton (Birmingham, AL) knotted the game at four on the Lynx next possession. After trading baskets with Centre, Rhodes took its first lead off a Saberioon jumper at the 16:42 mark and two free throws by Hamilton gave the Lynx a four point advantage. Both teams battled for the next four minutes and Centre would tie the game at 13 with a little over 12 minutes to play in the half. Centre built a five point lead with 9:30 to play but a 15 foot jumper by Larry Cunningham, JR. (St. Charles, MO) cut the deficit to 3. Saberioon would knock down a deep three a few minutes later to tie the game at 22. The teams once again traded baskets before Rhodes went on a 9-0 run capped by a Cunningham layup. A bucket by Brad Luckett (Cordova, TN) with 50 seconds to go gave the Lynx a six point edge. Centre scored on the last possession of the half, and the Lynx held a slim 4 point advantage at halftime.
On the opening possession of the second half, Hamilton was able to get open and score from the block giving the Lynx a six point edge, but Centre fought back and at the 15:22 mark took a one point lead. An 8-2 run by the Colonels spread the lead to seven points with 12:46 left to play. Luckett scored a bucket at 11:33 to cut the lead to 5. The teams battled hard for the next five minutes and with 6:37 left to go Centre's lead was still standing at 5 points. After a Centre basket, Andrew Galow (Oswego, IL) scored a traditional three point play to cut the lead down to four points. Centre then scored the next four, before a Cunningham free throw trimmed the margin to 7. On Rhodes' next possession Luckett drained a three pointer to cut the lead to four, but Rhodes never got any closer. Centre made 6 of 8 free throws in the final thirty seconds to close out the game and give the Colonels a 69-62 victory.
On the night the Lynx placed four players in double digits, led by Galow's 16. Hamilton scored 14, and Saberioon and Luckett each netted 12. Rhodes was outrebounded by Centre 34-26 for the game. Saberioon led the Lynx with 7 rebounds and Kory Kilpatrick (Athens, GA) grabbed 6.
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