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The South Puget Sound men’s basketball team will continue its quest towards a fourth consecutive NWAC West Region title when it hosts division rival Centralia College at The Evergreen State College on Wednesday, January 29.

Tipoff is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. The matchup between the Clippers and Blazers will be the second game of the double header on the day as the South Puget Sound women’s basketball team square off against Centralia College in the opener at 6:00 p.m.

South Puget Sound’s home game against Centralia will also feature a halftime performance by the Shelton PIP (Players in Progress), which is a basketball performance group made up of kindergarten through sixth graders who specialize in basketball skills, drills and tricks.

South Puget Sound mens basketball
The Clippers will look to notch their 10th straight win over the Blazers when the two teams meet. Photo credit: Grant Clark

The game against visiting Centralia marks just the fourth home contest over the first 21 games this season for the Clippers. South Puget Sound, which went 12-0 at home last season, will play all their home games this year at The Evergreen State College due to the construction of the school’s new Health and Wellness Center, which is scheduled to be open in May.

“The road is the only thing we know right now,” said head coach Andrew Green. “There’s definitely a sense among our four returning sophomores of taking care of business at home.”

The Clippers will look to extend their winning streak over Centralia College to 10 games. The Blazers posted their last win in the series on February 18, 2015, after defeating South Puget Sound, 72-56.

South Puget Sound mens basketball
First-year coach Andrew Green has SPSCC lined up for its fourth consecutive NWAC West Region title. Photo credit: Grant Clark

Since then, it’s been all Clippers when the two programs meet up.

In the first meeting last year, South Puget Sound went on the road and bested Centralia College, 90-74. The Clippers drained 13 3-pointers and outrebounded the Blazers, 38-23. Branden Bunn paced SPSCC, scoring a game-high 18 points. The Clippers also got 17 points and 8 rebounds from Cacoa Chatman, while Ben Janssan came off the bench to chip in 11 points.

Last year’s rematch was considerably closer with South Puget Sound prevailing at home, 81-78. Chatman led all scorers with 19 points and Bunn scored 12.

The Clippers, who are a combined 49-7 in West Region games the previous four seasons, also swept the regular season series against Centralia in 2018, 2017 and 2016.  SPSCC kick started its current nine-game winning streak over the Blazers with a 70-62 win in 2015.

South Puget Sound mens basketball
The Clippers will play all their home games at The Evergreen State College this season due to the construction of SPSCC’s new health and wellness center. Photo credit: Grant Clark

Through the first 13 games this season, the Clippers have four players scoring in double figures, led by Janssan’s 18.6 points per game average. Chatman is second in scoring at 17.6 points a game. Fellow sophomores Bunn (13.5 ppg) and Anthony Braggs (13.5) round out the quartet.

Braggs also is the team’s top rebounder, pulling down 9.3 boards a contest, which places him among the top 10 in the Northwest Athletic Conference.

South Puget Sound will play four more home games at The Evergreen State College in February this season. The Clippers will play games on February 12, February 15 and February 19 before closing out their home slate against Grays Harbor on February 22.

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