Centre came away with a win in its final road game of the regular season, holding off a second half Oglethorpe comeback and pulling away for a 74-60 victory in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference basketball action Sunday in Atlanta, Ga.
The Colonels led the rest of the way after a late first half run, but had to weather a cold spell in the second period. Centre built the lead up to 47-36 early in the second half, but saw Oglethorpe wipe nearly all of it out during a stretch when the Colonels managed just one field goal over seven minutes.
Centre was hanging on to a 53-52 lead with 8:56 to play, but just as quickly as the wide margin had deteriorated, the Colonels got it back by scoring the next 11 points. Donovan Whiteside (Knoxville, Tenn.) scored four straight points in the stretch while Bryon Ellis (Russell Springs, Ky.) knocked down two 3-pointers, the second putting Centre back up 64-52 at the 3:30 mark.
Centre went on to lead by as many as 16 points after a late bucket by Whiteside, who went on to lead the team with 20 points and eight rebounds.
Whiteside was also instrumental in helping the Colonels gain the lead in the first half. After five lead changes and three ties early on, he scored 10 straight Centre points and eight of the team's points in a 10-3 run that put the Colonels up to stay at 31-28. After seven consecutive points late in the half, Centre was able to take a 42-34 lead to the break.
Jeff Mullaney (Louisville, Ky.) added 16 points and eight boards for the Colonels while Collin Lopez (Louisville, Ky.) had 10. Ellis finished with nine, all on 3-pointers. Andrew Steioff had 27 points to lead the way for Oglethorpe.
Centre shot 43 percent (9-of-21) from outside to Oglethorpe's 18 percent (3-of-17) and dominated the boards, outrebounding the Petrels 38-18. Oglethorpe held a slight edge overall from the field, going 25-of-51 (49 percent) to Centre's 26-of-54 (48 percent).
Centre improves to 15-7 overall and 8-5 in SCAC play with the win, while Oglethorpe drops to 11-13 with a 6-9 record in the conference. The Colonels return home to wrap up the regular season against Millsaps at 8 p.m. Friday and Rhodes at 3 p.m. Sunday.