COLUMBUS, Miss. – The Mississippi University for Women men's basketball squad tried to claw its way back from a big second-half deficit, but could not quite get over the hump in a 73-52 loss to Centenary College at Pohl Gymnasium. The Owls trailed by 22 early in the final stanza, cut the margin to 10, but never managed to reduce the deficit to single digits.
 
The W fell to 0-6 on the year, while the Gents improved to 3-2.
 
Milos Zeradjanin and Terry Coleman Jr. led MUW's offense with 10 points apiece. Zeradjanin was 4-for-5 shooting and 1-of-2 from beyond the arc.
 
Coleman came off the Owls' bench to tally in double figures. Coleman shared team-high rebounding honors with JaQuan Hines and Trey Jackson (both of whom were starters) as each pulled down five caroms.
 
Jackson chipped in eight points and two assists, as well. Hines, who scored three, registered his 14th blocked shot of the year, giving him at least one rejection in each of his five games played, thus far.
 
Other scorers for The W included seven from Ddallen Bailey, as well as five each from Quintiyus Causey and Dariun Doss. Kenterrius Davison and Davon Kennick each booked two points to round out MUW's scoring.
 
Causey and Davison each dished off three assists.
 
The Owls out-rebounded the Gents by a 33-26 margin. However, Centenary shot 52 percent (26-50) overall from the field, going 12-of-25 (48 percent) from three-point range. The Gents also took full advantage of the Owls' miscues, turning the hosts' 20 turnovers into 32 points.
 
Centenary led at the intermission, 43-23.
 
With 18:17 left to play, the Gents had pumped their lead up to 22 points, 45-23. But over the next five minutes, the Owls went on a run, out-scoring the visitors 15-2. A trey by Doss at the 13:51 juncture made it 47-37.
 
MUW still was down by 10 points (55-45) when Causey popped a short jumper in the paint. But that would be as close as The W would get, as Centenary closed the game with an 18-7 scoring spree of its own to thwart the Owls' comeback bid.
 
The W will break for Thanksgiving – and finals week – before resuming play on December 7 (Tue.) versus Rhodes College at home. Tipoff for the men at Pohl Gym will be 3 p.m.