Danville, Ky. - Rhodes College men's basketball recorded a .458 shooting percentage on day two of competition inside Alumni Gymnasium. The Lynx, however, couldn't overcome Centre's hot three-point shooting (11-of-16) who escaped with the 80-72 victory.
Centre was charged with three offensive fouls in a span of two and a half minutes as the Lynx led 8-5 to start the game. Memphian
Jefferson Walker drained a three-pointer to tie the game (15-15) which began a 6-0 run for the Lynx. Centre answered with back-to-back treys on their way to a six point lead with seven minutes left in the first half.
Mac James,
Arness Georgetown II, and Walker combined for an 8-2 run which tied the game 33-33 with five minutes left before halftime. A layup and free throw from Georgetown later tied the game before Centre closed the half with a free throw and 40-39 advantage.
Rhodes opened the second half on 10-2 run which included eight straight points before the Colonels rebounded with 16 unanswered points to lead 58-49. Rhodes continued to chip away at the Colonels when a fast break resulted in a
Kevin Shen three-pointer in the corner near the Rhodes bench to pull within three points with four minutes to play. A Georgetown jump shot put the difference at three once again with 2:55 remaining, but Centre managed to close out the game on a 9-4 run.
Jalen Essick led Rhodes with 16 points and eight rebounds after totaling 12 points in the first half. Georgetown and Shen both recorded 15 points while Walker and
Koki Wiley tallied 10 points each. Georgetown also roped in seven rebounds while Shen added another six.
Centre's Jalen Williams led the game with 27 points after going 6-of-8 from the arc. Teammate Gage Wells went 5-of-6 from long range as the duo recorded all of the Colonels three-pointers in the game. They also made each of Centre's first seven three-point attempts in the first half.
Wiley, Georgetown and Essick all average double digit scoring after playing four games this season. Georgetown leads the Lynx averaging six rebounds per game.
Rhodes will look ahead to more road games next week when they travel to Oglethorpe University January 29-30.
