Centennial Colts men's basketball head coach Trevor Challenger thinks his team is only starting to scratch the surface of their potential. That's a scary thought for the rest of the OCAA. Behind another strong defensive performance, the Colts capped off a perfect home stand with a 75-53 blowout win, over the La Cité Coyotes. It was the Colts' fourth straight win after a loss in their season opener.

Point guard Josh Mcfarlene and forward Marko Curic led the Colts with 16 points each in the victory. Mcfarlene also contributed with five assists and five steals while Curic, the team captain, had 16 rebounds.

Coming off of a victory yesterday against Alqonquin, the Colts (4-1), defensively, forced the Coyotes (0-3) to commit 25 turnovers and limited them to 26.9 per cent from the field while also outrebounding them, 50-43. The Colts also limited the Coyotes to only two points for the first seven minutes of the game.

Offense was hard to generate for the Colts as they only scored 33 points by halftime. However, Centennial blew the game wide open with 30 points in the third quarter alone, while outscoring the Coyotes by 11 in the quarter.

Challenger said the guys came out of the locker room after halftime with determination.

"The guys just played hungry," Challenger said. "They put the pressure on (La Cité)."

Forward Paul Walwyn said the team got their rhythm going in the third quarter.

"I felt like our team was struggling to get into our plays," Walwyn said. "Once we got into a rhythm, the game was a lot better for us."

Forward Malique Hyde said he got going on both ends of the floor when he took off his headband.

"I came out looking like a different animal," Hyde said. "Whenever I take off my headband off, I get serious."

The highlight of the game came when Hyde, who had eight points and eight rebounds, ran up the court near the end of the third quarter and had maybe the dunk of the season on La Cite Coyotes' forward Raphael Riche.

Hyde's reaction?

"I went up there like any other dunk," he said. "It felt nice getting the team and the crowd pumped up."

Teammates expressed their amazement at Hyde's dunk.

"It was crazy," guard Lance Rodrigues said. "He goes for at least one poster every game."

"I was excited," Walwyn said, who had the assist on Hyde's dunk. "It took all my energy to get up the court in three seconds and give him the pass.

However, Coach Challenger was not surprised by the dunk. "It was good for Malique to get that dunk," Challenger said. "To be honest, I expected it a long time ago."

Although the team is on an all-time high heading into Saturday's game against the unbeaten George Brown Huskies (3-0), Challenger admitted that it will be a challenge and the key will be stopping Ajahmo Clarke, who dropped 54 points against Alqonquin.

"We have to make sure we contain (Clarke); he's a former first team all-star," Challenger said. "Our execution has to be crisp offensively and we have to play through adversity."

The COLTS now move onto a record of 4-1 only losting to St Lawrence to date in their first game of the season. The teams record earned them a 6th place spot in the Ontario Top 10 Rankings

Up Next: Centennial heads out on the road for three games, starting with a cross town game against the unbeaten George Brown Huskies on Sat Nov. 12, at 6pm.