HARRISONBURG, Va. - Making its fourth consecutive NCAA appearance, the Centre College Colonels limited Eastern Mennonite to 26 points below their season average, but could not hold on as the Colonels dropped a 63-53 decision to the host Royals in an NCAA First Round contest Saturday night. Box Score
The game featured a matchup of contrasting styles. Centre came into the game second in Division III in scoring defense (56.4 points per game) while Eastern Mennonite was second in the nation in scoring offense at 89.7 points per game.
The Colonels, a veteran NCAA team, made their 13th all-time appearance in the NCAA tournament while the Royals were in the tournament for the frist time in school history.
Centre was able to slow the game down, and for the most part, kept EMU's high octane offense in check. After trailing by 12 (30-18) with just over five minutes remaining in the first half, the Colonels trimmed the lead to 33-26 at the half.
Centre senior forward Danny Noll paced the Colonels with 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting. Junior center Alex Lloyd posted a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Also chipping in for the SCAC champions, was SCAC Tournament MVP Jeff Mullaney. Mullaney scored 13 points while grabbing three rebounds, handing out two assists and forcing two steals.
EMU was led by Todd Phillips and D.J. Hinson. The two combined to score 36 of the Royals' 63 points. Phillips (19) led all scorers and Hinson chipped in with 17. Eli Crawford grabbed 10 rebounds and nearly earned a double-double with nine points.
Missed layups hurt Centre, especially in the first half. The Colonels had a number of opportunities from inside the paint but just could not get those shots to fall.
The Colonels came out strong in the second half. A Noll 3-pointer tied the game, 41-41, with 14:21 left before a Bryon Ellis 3-pointer gave the Colonels its first lead (44-43) since the 15:07 mark of the first half.
Midway through the second half Centre was able to cut EMU's lead to 45-44 with 11:42 remaining. From there, the Royals used a 20-9 run to earn the win.
With the win, EMU will host Wilmington College (Ohio) on Saturday, March 6 at 7 p.m. Wilmington earned the second round matchup with EMU thanks to the Quakers' 78-74 win over Lycoming College (Pa.) earlier in the night.
Centre finished the season at 18-9 while Eastern Mennonite improved to 23-4.
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