Danville, Ky. – Rhodes faced a one point deficit halftime, but couldn't sustain as Centre pulled away in the second half for a 70-52 victory on Sunday.
 
In their final tune-up before the Southern Athletic Association conference tournament next weekend, the Lynx dropped the road contest to fall to 14-11 overall and 7-7 in conference play.  Centre reached the 20-win plateau, going 20-4 overall and 13-1 in SAA action.
 
A three-pointer for Donovan Whiteside opened the scoring for Centre on the first possession of the game.  A layup by Johnny Dunavant a few possessions later got the Lynx on the board and made the score 3-2.  Another Lynx layup, this time by Geoff Livsey, tied the score at six with 16:06 to play in the half.
 
Rhodes would go on a bit of a drought that saw Centre climb to a 15-8 advantage with 11:22 remaining.  Next, it was the Colonels turn to go on a scoring shortage that saw the Lynx tie the score at 15-15 with 6:24 left in the first half.  The teams battled down the stretch and headed to halftime with Centre holding a 21-20 advantage. Although Rhodes tied the score on multiple occasions throughout the first half, the Colonels never trailed.
 
The Lynx were lead in scoring by Drew Miller with seven and had six other players who contributed a made field goal in the first half.  Livsey led the way with four rebounds.  Josh Karsner led the Colonels in scoring with six points and five other players all contributed a single field goal. Blake Scinta pulled down four rebounds for Centre as they outrebounded the Lynx 20-14 in the first period of play.
 
Rhodes rallied during the break and came out swinging to start the second half.  A layup by Ryan Van Hoeck and a pair of free throws by Miller created a quick 24-21 advantage for the Lynx and their first lead of the game.  A three-pointer by Centre's Ryan Murray tied the game at 24, but Rhodes regained the lead on a layup by Dunavant the next possession.  A three-pointer by Collin Lopez with 16:16 remaining put the Colonels ahead 29-28, giving them a lead they would never relinquish.
 
Over the next five minutes, the Lynx managed to cut Centre's advantage back to one point on four different occasions.  A three-pointer by Whiteside with 11:16 remaining in the half stretched the lead to four, 40-36, and Rhodes was never able to recover. Centre closed the game on a 30-16 run over the final 11 minutes to seal the Senior Day victory for the Colonels.
 
The Lynx were led in scoring by Miller with 13, including 2-3 from beyond the arc, and Shane Watson chipped in nine. Livsey finished with four rebounds, while Van Hoeck, Dunavant and Luke Collins added 3 apiece.
 
Whiteside and Scinta each tallied double-figure points for the Colonels, at 15 apiece. Scinta was two rebounds shy of a double-double, pulling down eight, and Whiteside added six of his own for a 34-24 rebounding margin to close the game.
 
Rhodes will head back to Danville next weekend for the SAA Conference Tournament hosted by Centre. The Lynx secured the four seed and will face five seed Sewanee on Friday at 2 p.m.  The winner will move on to play in the semifinals Saturday at 5 p.m. against the winner of the Centre and Berry College game.