The Colonels received a pair of treys from freshman Matt Nestheide to open a 30-22 lead. Berea then got a 3-point basket from Cody Nickels and a free throw from George Webb just before the half ended to pull within 30-26 at the break, the closest it had been since the nine-minute mark.
"We did a really nice job defensively in the first half - Berea shot just 39 percent - but we didn't get anything going offensively," Mason said. "We stood around too much and didn't cut hard to the basket. We moved much better the second half and got some easy baskets."
Best basketball yet to come
Centre didn't look as sharp as it did in wins in its own tournament last week. Roby, though, said the Colonels' best basketball is yet to come.
"We had a couple days off after the tournament and we were a little leg weary after the tournament," the senior guard said. "We are just now getting back into playing shape. We played a lot on heart in the second half, but we will ready next week when conference play starts."
Centre forced seven first-half turnovers, but Berea turned the ball over six times in the first four minutes of the second half and Centre went on a 21-1 run to put the game out of reach.
Roby scored 12 points during the run. The Mountaineers (6-8) finally got on the scoreboard when Jordan Samuels scored on a Centre goaltending call at the 14:51 mark.
"We set the tone early by shooting the passing lanes and forced Berea to do things they didn't want to do," Roby said. "We want to get up and down the floor as much as possible and were disappointed in the way we played in the first half."
"Kyle really did a nice job of anticipating the pass in the second half," Mason said. "He gave us the spark we had been looking for."
Largest lead came at 63-37
Five points from reserve Thomas Britt and baskets by Nestheide, Reggie Magnusson and Coy Zerhusen gave the Colonels their largest lead at 63-37, but Berea used an inside-out combination of Tomas Klimas and Melvin Brown to battle back, eventually cutting the lead to 10 points at 76-66.
Centre, which matched its best start in school history at 10-2 with the win, suffered a major blow when starting forward Matt Jacobson suffered a shoulder injury four minutes into the game and did not return. His status for Saturday's Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference game against Sewanee is uncertain.
"He is one of our better players and we will need him as soon as possible," Mason said. "Sewanee is tied for first place in our conference. The guys know what is at stake."
Berea (6-8) - Cody Nickels 3-11 0-0 7, Tomas Klimas 6-11 1-3 13, George Webb 2-4 1-2 5, Melvin Brown 8-18 0-0 19, Jay Simmons 2-6 0-0 5, Ben Anderson 0-0 1-2 1, Adam Kirby 1-4 0-0 3, Jordan Samuels 2-6 2-4 7, Justin Lee 2-5 2-5 6. Totals 26-65 7-16 66.
Centre (10-2) - Matt Jacobson 1-2 0-0 2, Coy Zerhusen 5-11 2-4 12, Reggie Magnusson 2-9 0-0 4, Matt Nestheide 5-10 1-1 14, Kyle Roby 6-10 4-4 18, Tyler Jones 0-1 1-2 1, Stuart Rutledge 0-0 2-2 2, Andy Placido 0-0 1-2 1, Bennett Clark 0-0 0-0 0, Kyle Christopher 0-1 0-0 0, Thomas Britt 1-4 3-3 5, Chris Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Adam Patterson 1-4 3-4 6, Josh Bell 4-7 0-3 9, Kyle Young 0-1 0-0 0, John Patterson 2-7 0-2 4. Totals 27-67 17-27 78.
Halftime-Centre 30, Berea 26. 3-point goals-Berea 7-19 (Nickels 1-3, Webb 0-1, Brown 3-3, Simmons 1-3, Kirby 1-4, Samuels 1-5), Centre 7-19 (Jacobson 0-1, Nestheide 3-5, Roby 2-5, Christopher 0-1, Britt 0-2, A. Patterson 1-2, Bell 1-2, Young 0-1). Rebounds-Berea 45 (Klimas 10), Centre 44 (Zerhusen 10). Total fouls - Berea 20, Centre 13. Assists-Berea 9 (Brown 4), Centre 11 (Nestheide, Roby, Britt 2). Turnovers-Berea 18 (Kirby 4), Centre 14 (J. Patterson 4). Steals - Berea 8 (Brown 4), Centre 9 (Roby 3). Technical fouls - Berea team 2.
