St. Louis, Mo. - The Central Methodist men's basketball team opened 2021 with a 67-58 win over the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy of St. Louis Saturday afternoon in St. Louis, Mo.
With the non-conference win, the Eagles improve their overall record to 6-8, while UHSP falls to 1-7.
CMU started strong in the first half, opening a 6-0 lead in the first three minutes. But the Eutectics responded with seven straight unanswered points to take a 7-6 lead at the 15:37 mark of the first half. From this moment on, both squads kept pace with the other, as neither held a lead of more than five points. Central held a three-point advantage at halftime, leading UHSP by a score of 30-27.
The second half opened with four straight points from UHSP, taking a slim 31-30 lead in the first two and a half minutes of the second frame. UHSP held the advantage until 12:16 left in the half before Marcus Anthony converted on a two-point basket, bringing the Eagles level at 40-40. Back-to-back free throws from Chandler Bevans less than a minute later put Central out in front.
Despite the Eutectices tying the game on three different occasions, Central never relinquished their lead and pulled away late by as many as 11 points, en-route to a nine-point victory to start 2021.
Bevans led the offense with 13 points and added four rebounds, one assist, and a steal. Amir Pettiford followed with 11 points while shooting 50-percent from the field. He also contributed seven rebounds and one steal in 17 minutes of action.
Anthony collected nine points on four-of-six shooting, while Trent Lyles, Jayden McGrew, Kyle McDermed and Trae Meny all added six points each. McGrew also dished out a team-high three assists.
Central claimed the battle of the boards, grabbing 47 rebounds compared to 35 for UHSP. McDermed led CMU with nine rebounds.
The defense held the Eutectics to 33.3-percent shooting from the floor and just 23.3-percent from beyond the arc. 38 of Central's 67 points came in the paint compared to 30 for UHSP.
The Eagles return to conference action on Wednesday, Jan. 6 at 7.30 p.m. in Fayette, Mo. as they are set to face Park University. The Pirates won the earlier matchup between the two schools, 84-61, back on Dec. 5 in Parkville, Mo.
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