SHERMAN, Texas –The Austin College men's basketball team picked up a big victory as the 'Roos jockey for position in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament, topping Centenary College 76-68 on Tuesday night in Hughey Gym. The 'Roos are now 7-10 overall and 3-5 in conference play with the win.
Devin Roland poured in a career-best 26 points and Kameron Hill scored 19 as Austin College rode some hot shooting early on to build a big lead, which would grow to as much as 20 in the game. Roland and Hill combined to knock down 7-of-9 three pointers in the first half as the 'Roos went on top 38-22 at halftime.
The 'Roos sprinted out to an early 12-2 lead, with Hill hitting two triples while Roland added another, but Centenary would fight back and cut it to an 18-16 game with 10:32 left in the opening half. However, Roland knocked down two threes and Hill added as part of a 15-0 run that gave the 'Roos a 33-16 lead with just over four minutes on the clock.
After a three from Cedric Harris cut the Austin College lead to 49-37 five and a half minutes into the second half, Roland made a jumper and Hill buried another trey to help Austin College push the lead to 56-37. A pair of free throws from Jaylyn Cleamons gave the 'Roos their largest lead of the game at 60-40 with 9:30 left to play.
The Gents slowly started to chip away at the Austin College lead, and a Treylan Matthews triple got the margin back down into single digits at 64-57 with 4:56 on the clock. Centenary pulled to within six at 66-60, but Derek Lockman nailed a three from the corner to push the Austin College lead to 69-60 with 4:05 left. Centenary got the lead down to four points at 69-65 with 1:43 remaining but that's as close as things would get the rest of the way.
Roland hit 10-of-19 shots and 3-of-6 from deep to get his 26 points, and Hill finished the game 5-of-7 from beyond the arc while adding seven rebounds and three assists. Kam Hogan chipped in 12 points, six rebounds, and four assists and Michael Holland just missed out on a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds while handing out a game-high five assists.
Centenary shot just 33.3% from the field and 21.9% from three-point range in the game, with Matthews and Jericho Gray each scoring 17 points to lead the Gents. Ty Prince had 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Harris had nine points and 12 boards.
Austin College is back in action on Friday night as the 'Roos host Schreiner with tip-time set for 8:00 p.m.
Austin College athletic teams participate as a member of the NCAA Division III and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.