Danville, Ky.  - In a bid for each team's first win of the season, Rhodes College men's basketball succumbed to Centre College Saturday evening 80-70. The Lynx are now 0-3 on the season while Centre is 1-2. 

The Lynx trailed by just three points before Centre went on a couple of runs to lead by 20 points (37-17) with 4:20 left in the first half. First year Jayson Williams, who stuffed the Colonels twice in the span of a minute and a half, secured a layup which sparked a Lynx 13-2 run to close out the half. Williams stepped to the free throw line for the first time this season, and sank both attempts which ignited a 9-0 run for the Lynx in the final three minutes of the first half. Jackson Hiester sank Rhodes' first trey of the game, before Koki Wiley drove through traffic for a left-handed layup and Hiester finished the half with a last second layup, cutting Centre's lead to nine (39-30) at the break.

Centre opened the second half on a 12-4 run which included three treys. With 9:41 to play, Centre led by 16 points (63-47) when Hiester sank back-to-back three-pointers. Teammate Kevin Shen made it three in a row for the Lynx who pulled within seven points of the Colonels with 8:39 remaining. After a pair of Centre free throws, Shen drained another trey. The Colonels went ahead by 10 points before Rhodes secured seven straight points on four free throws and another Shen three-pointer, to cut Centre's lead to three with just under six minutes to play. Centre tallied four points from the charity stripe to lead 73-66 before a span of two and a half scoreless minutes. Centre's Williams nailed his final three-pointer and the game's final field goal of the night with 2:29 remaining.

Shen led Rhodes with 14 points going 3-of-5 from long range while Wiley added 12 points and Essick 11 points. Hiester recorded his first collegiate double-double while also hitting career-highs of 11 points and 11 rebounds. Shen added another eight rebounds for the Lynx. Hiester sank all three of his three-point attempts while Essick went 4-of-5 in the field.

Centre's Williams tied the game-leading 21 points with Dawson Crump. Williams was on fire behind the arc, hitting 6-of-7 three-pointers. Three Colonels recorded eight rebounds.

Rhodes recorded a .355 shooting percentage in the field and went 6-of-19 from long range including 5-of-10 in the second half. Overall, the teams combined for 45 made free throws. The Lynx committed 29 fouls with five Lynx tallying four or more while Centre recorded 25 total and had four Colonels with four or more fouls.

The two teams will square off Sunday at 1 p.m. ET inside Memorial Gymnasium on the campus of Centre College.