JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The Saint Peter's University men's basketball team (5-5, 2-0 MAAC) defeated Centenary (2-7) by a whopping 66 points, 116-50, on Monday at Run Baby Run Arena for its largest margin of victory in program history. The Peacocks dominated from start to finish as head coach
Bashir Mason secured his 50th win at Saint Peter's.
"First, I want to give a ton of credit to Centenary," Mason said after the win. "Those guys played hard. They did a good job of being exactly who they were, no matter what we threw at them, which is a sign of a team that has the chance to be pretty good. For our guys, we played hard, connected and cared about all the right things this afternoon. It also helps when the ball goes in, so it was a good win for us."
The ball seemed to find the bottom of the net the entire game for the Peacocks as Saint Peter's set a program record 17 made 3-pointers.
Brent Bland led the way with five 3s while
Eric Morgan Jr. went a perfect 3-for-3 from long range. Morgan Jr. finished with a career-high 14 points.
The quick ball movement led to open shots and easy scoring opportunities for Saint Peter's as seven different Peacocks scored in double figures.
Lucas Scroggins ended the day with a double-double (points-rebounds) with 10 points and 11 boards.
NOTES
Saint Peter's is now 1-0 all-time vs. Centenary…the last time the Peacocks scored over 100 points in a game was 116 against Saint Elizabeth on Nov. 20, 2024…66 points is the largest margin of victory in Saint Peter's history…Scroggins recorded the first double-double by a Saint Peter's player since
Mouhamed Sow on March 8, 2024…the last time six or more Saint Peter's players scored double-digits in a game was against FDU on Nov. 20, 2016.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF: The Peacocks dominated the first 10 minutes of the game, building a 30-14 lead over the Cyclones while shooting 63.2 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from 3-point range. Centenary knocked down some shots to make it a 24-34 game approaching the six-minute mark, but Saint Peter's kept a favorable lead.
The 3-pointers kept rattling in for the Peacocks as Bland hit a buzzer-beater to make it 58-31 at halftime. As a team, SPU shot 10-for-19 from long range in the first half.
SECOND HALF: Saint Peter's opened the second half on a 13-2 run, ignited by multiple buckets by Scroggins.
Adetokunbo Bakare and
Jahki Gupton then started heating up for the Peacocks as they held an 84-41 advantage with 11:02 to go. As the game went on, the Peacocks' lead grew larger and larger and shots continued to rattle in.
The defense of Saint Peter's held the Cyclones to 50 points, including just 19 points in the second half.
UP NEXT
The Peacocks hit the road next week to start up conference play again against Fairfield. The Peacocks and Stags will tip off on Monday, Dec. 29 at 7 p.m. ET.
