Hackettstown, NJ – The Centenary men's basketball team have advanced to the Colonial States Athletic Conference Semifinals after defeating No. 6 Immaculata University, 72-63.  The Cyclones improve to 15-11 overall, while the Mighty Macs end their season with a 12-14 overall mark.

Seven ties and six lead changes says it all about today's CSAC quarterfinal game between the Cyclones and Mighty Macs.  Neither squad held more than a six point advantage throughout the first half in the back and forth battle and proved to be anybody's game. 

Centenary's Andy Charles gave the Cyclones a 5-0 lead after draining the first three ball of the game.  Immaculata would knot the score four times throughout the next seven minutes before they put together a 7-0 run to take a 17-12 lead at (9:22).  Centenary would quickly answer with a 10-0 run started by jumpers from Charles and Rashaan Spencer and back-to-back three pointers from Kyle Smith and Spencer (22-17).  The Mighty Macs came right back with an 11-0 run for the largest lead of the half (28-22) capped off by Matt Simon who knocked down two consecutive shots from beyond the arc. 

Immaculata took the first half as they headed into the break up by four (28-24).

Throughout the second half, Immaculata maintained no more than a six point advantage but was enough the keep the Cyclones at bay until Centenary's Paul Jones scored six consecutive points to tie the game at 40-40 at the 12:53 mark. 

Immaculata once again answered regaining the lead and pushing ahead to a seven point advantage (43-50) after Mark Griffin drilled a three for the 10-3 run.  Trailing by seven at the 9:49 mark, Centenary heated things up shooting a perfect 7-for-7 over the next four minutes to take a 60-55 lead with 5:40 left to go. 

This time, Centenary would not relinquish the lead to secure their advancement to the CSAC semifinals.

It was a collective effort for the Cyclones as the bench put up 22 of their 25 bench points in the second half.  Centenary also shot 64 percent from the field as a team shooting 16-of-25 and finishing the day over 45 percent from the floor.

Myles McLeod tallied a game-high 15 points shooting 6-of-8 from the floor while adding three blocks and two steals.  Charles chipped in 14 points, six rebounds and three blocks, while Spencer added 13 points and eight boards.  Zachary Duymich finished the day dishing out a season-high eight assists, six boards, one block and one steal.    

Paul Jones ended the afternoon with nine points after going a perfect 2-for-2 from behind the arc, while Anthony Bailey chipped in eight points shooting 4-of-5 from the field. 

The Mighty Macs had four guys in double figures which were led by Mamadou Diakite who scored 14 points and hauled down six rebounds, while Roy Ferrell added 12, Matt Simon with 11 and Rodney Duncan with 10 points.

Up next: Centenary will visit the #2 seed, Neumann University in the CSAC Semifinals on Tuesday April 24^th @ 7pm. 

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