‘We really wanted to make a statement.’ Centre completes sweep of rival Transy.
Their campuses separated by about a one-hour drive, Centre and Transylvania have long been rivals in Division III men’s basketball.
On Monday, the Colonels secured some pretty solid bragging rights in the heated small-school series.
Fueled by a ferocious effort from senior center Jacob Bates, Centre pulled away to knock off Transylvania, 86-71, in Alumni Gym in Danville. It’s the Colonels’ second win this year and third straight over the Pioneers. Centre edged Transylvania 58-57 in Lexington on Nov. 20, with Bates scoring the game-winning basket in the closing seconds.
No such late heroics were needed in Monday’s rematch. Bates hit all six of his first-half shots, scoring 14 points before halftime as Centre took a 32-28 lead into the locker room. He scored 12 more early in the second half as the Colonels went on a 23-10 run to push the lead to 17.
“Transy-Centre is always just a fantastic rivalry,” said Centre Coach Greg Mason, who’s in his 21st season at the helm. “The last game came down to the very last play, but in this one Jacob Bates was just unbelievable ... Transy couldn’t stop him.”
Bates finished with 32 points, hitting 10 of 12 shots from the field and 11 of 13 free throws. He added six assists and nine rebounds. Transylvania (6-4) made a late run, twice getting the deficit under 10 points with the aid of a full-court press. But Centre’s Dawson Crump hit a transition layup and three-pointer on back-to-back possessions to put the Colonels up 13 with less than two minutes to play.
Crump then provided the exclamation point, stealing the ball in the backcourt and driving to the basket and finishing through contact with 37 seconds left. He made the “championship belt” gesture around his waist, prompting a huge ovation from the Centre (10-2) fans, then sank the free throw to set the final score. He finished with 16 points, four steals and three assists.
“We really wanted to make a statement. With this being an in-state rivalry it gives us bragging rights throughout the community and state,” Crump said. “It was just a really energized game for us.”
Crump, a 6-foot-1 junior from Bowling Green who played at Greenwood High School, said the Colonels are fueled by a desire to return to the NCAA Tournament after being left out by the selection committee last year, when they went 23-5 but did not receive an at-large bid after losing in the Southern Athletic Association Tournament finals.
“We don’t want to put it in the hands of the committee again,” Crump said. “We’re just looking every day to see how we can win a conference championship. We don’t want to get in with an at-large bid, we want to win the title for our seniors.”
Centre is seeking its first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2013-14 season, and Bates figures to play a crucial role in that push. The 6-foot-5 senior from LaGrange is nearly averaging a double-double this season, with team-highs of 21.5 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. He also leads the SAA in both categories and appears well on his way to first-team all-conference honors after making the second team the last two years.
On Dec. 23, Bates was named SAA Player of the Week for the second time this year after leading the Colonels to a pair of wins in the Daytona Beach Shootout, posting double-doubles on back-to-back days.
While neither team was ranked in the most recent D3Hoops.com Top 25 Poll, Centre received three votes.
Transylvania Coach Brian Lane, who earned his 300th career victory in a thrilling 75-74 win over DePauw on Dec. 18, was encouraged by the fight the Pioneers showed down the stretch.
“You could kind of see the shift once we started pressing and being aggressive,” Lane said. “But then we had some really bad rotations and gave up some layups.”
The Pioneers are also looking to end an NCAA Tournament drought, having last appeared in 2012-13. They came up one win short last season, falling in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament finals. Lane thinks these Pioneers, who received six of 10 first-place votes in the league’s preseason coaches poll, are capable of taking that next step.
“We were picked No. 1 in the league for a reason,” Lane said. “Once we get into league play we’ll be fine.”
Next up
▪ Centre at Birmingham Southern: Friday, Jan. 3, 9 p.m.
▪ Transylvania at Bluffton: Saturday, Jan. 4, 3 p.m.
