McPherson, KANSAS – Reece Warren scores 24 and connects on 5 triples to help lead the Tigers to their 2^nd conference win and 3^rd win in a row.

Tigers had a difficult time last year against the Aggies dropping both games including a come from behind win for the Aggies to spoil the Tigers home crowd. Then lost their last conference game to the Aggies to miss out on the conference tournament by one game. Coach Romero and the Tigers brushed all that aside and focused on the new year and opportunity to put those games in the past.

Tigers and Aggies battled it out in a tight contest midway through the first with both teams running their offense well. With 3:42 remaining in the first half the Aggies held a 32-28 lead but with a couple of clutch blocks and good transition offense the Tigers went on a 12-3 to finish the half and take a 40-35 lead into halftime.

Tigers continued their momentum to begin the 2^nd half and grabbed a double digit lead with 16:30 remaining, 49-38. Over the next two and a half minutes Reece Warren scored 11 of the 13 Tiger points as their lead increased to 18 points, 62-44. The Aggies managed to get the game down to 8 points, and it seemed they were about to complete the comeback once again. Aggies hit a 3 pointer with 7:52 to go and got the game to 66-60, the Tigers however showed their mental toughness and didn't let the slim lead get to them. They responded with a 11-3 run to build the lead back to double digits with 4 minutes remaining. Aggies were unable to comeback from the late deficit and the Tigers close the game out 14-8, for a 91-71 conference win.

UP NEXT
Tigers improve to 7-3, 2-2 SAC and will host Wayland Baptist University on Dec. 4^th, tip-off 3:45 p.m.

Central Christian Quotes

Head Coach Tony Romero

"Super proud of our guys fight tonight. We have been challenging our guys with the word identity. Something early in the season we have been searching for. I think we are starting to see some of the fruit and see who we can be when we buy into toughness and having a defensive mindset. Which so many of our teams had before. This group is working hard towards that. We battled a very good and aggressive team in OPSU, we weathered their pressure and found ways to respond positively to negative plays. Darrell had a monster game on the glass, Isaiah did a great job facilitating the game, and Reece was due for a breakout game from three."

Tiger Notables

• Isaiah Rivera scores 17 points and records 8 assists. Rivera now has scored 1,000 career points!
• Darrell Bryant scores 17 points and 18 rebounds off the bench.
• Reece Warren scores 24 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals.
• Andre Shelby records 8 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 blocks.