HACKETTSTOWN, N.J. (Dec. 2, 2015) – On Wednesday evening ,the Centenary College men's basketball team (5-1) won their third game in a row and remained undefeated in the CSAC with a 77-67 decision over the Pacers of Marywood University.
 
The Pacers began the game by going 0-14 from the field and allowing Centenary to take a commanding 16-0 lead before the Pacers Kendall Farrell connected on a three pointer at the 11:23 mark.
 
"We definitely had opportunities to increase the lead at that point; we missed a lot of close range shots," said Cyclones Head Coach Tim Fusina. "We missed shots in the paint, didn't take the ball out very strong at times, and that lead could have been increased to maybe even double at that point."
 
Coach Fusina wasn't joking either, as there were several missed opportunities where the Cyclones could have put away the Pacers early, but their strong defense kept the Pacers down for almost the entire first half.
 
"We were very good defensively in the first half, and when you look, they shot 7-32 for 22%, and 3-17 from the three and that speaks to how solid we guarded tonight, especially in the first half," said Fusina. "I'm proud of how we competed in the first 15 minutes, but I'm not happy about how we took our foot off the gas, and kind of let them back."
 
It turned out to be a game where Fusina needed to shorten his bench, as his five starters, junior Zachary Duymich (Millstone Township, N.J. / Allentown), junior Paul Jones (Trenton, N.J. / Ewing), sophomore Rashaan Spencer (Hackettstown, N.J. / Mount Olive), senior Anthony Bailey (Florida, N.Y. / SS Seward), and sophomore Myles McLeod (Teaneck, N.J. / Teaneck) each played over 30 minutes for the first time this season.
 
"We shortened the bench a little bit tonight, we've been hurt, but we got production from everyone," said Fusina. "I think that we got a lot of great production from the guys who played over 30 minutes, Rashaan had 24, and Zach Duymich had a great game."
 
Duymich, who played a team-high 38 minutes, Fusina raved about his progress as a point guard since arriving at Centenary, and about how he keeps the team together in many instances.
 
"I don't know what we would do without him on the floor sometimes," said Fusina. "He's as solid as there is in this league. In terms of handing the ball, again, a night with no turnovers, seven rebounds, gets guys where they need to be, and he's very good defensively. He is one of the most talented players that I've been around in those area's, where you can put him in any situation, and I'm confident that's he's going to get us through it. I could not speak more highly of what he does on the floor for us."
 
Coach Fusina and the Cyclones will return to action on Saturday, Dec. 5^th, as they will travel to Gwynedd-Valley, Pa. to face the Griffins of Gwynedd-Mercy University at 4:00 p.m.