After trailing late, Centre pulled away down the stretch to take a 65-55 victory over Oglethorpe in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball action Sunday in Danville, Ky.
The lead changed hands 10 times in the second half, and Oglethorpe was up 48-47 at the 5:00 mark before Centre made its run. After Collin Lopez (Louisville, Ky.) put the Colonels ahead for good with a 3-pointer, Centre would go on to outscore Oglethorpe 18-4 over a four-minute stretch and push the lead as high as 13 points at 65-52.
Junior guard Bryon Ellis (Russell Springs, Ky.) buried a deep 3-pointer with the shot clock running down to make the lead 61-52 with 1:38 to play, and finished with a game-high 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting from outside. Freshman Josh Karsner (Frankfort, Ky.) scored nine points in the final five minutes of the game and finished with 17.
Centre also was hot at the start of the game, jumping out to an early lead when Ellis knocked down three 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the game. After Oglethorpe's Branden Jovaag matched the first 3-pointer by Ellis, Centre held the Petrels to just one field goal over a nearly seven-minute stretch and went up 19-5 with 12:44 to play.
Centre would lead by as many as 15 in the first half before Oglethorpe was able to chip away and cut the margin to 30-23 at the half. After an early layup by Greg Ross (Cincinnati, Ohio), Oglethorpe held Centre without a field goal for nearly six minutes and took its first lead at 35-34 after a Jovaag 3-pointer capped a 14-4 spurt. From that point, the teams battled back and forrth with neither leading by more than four points until Centre's final run.
Ross joined Ellis and Karsner in double figures for Centre with 12 points while adding a team-high eight rebounds. Jeff Mullaney chipped in seven with eight assists. Jovaag finished as the Petrels' top scorer with 13.
Centre turned the ball over just six times and finished with a perfect 15-of-15 performance at the free throw line. Both teams shot 44 percent from the field with Centre shooting 48 percent (10-of-21) from beyond the arc to Oglethorpe's 38 percent (8-of-21). The Petrels held a 28-26 edge on the glass.
After a pair of weekend victories, Centre sits at 6-3 overall with a 3-1 mark in the SCAC. Oglethorpe falls to 4-7 and remains winless in the conference at 0-3.
After 10 days off, Centre returns to the court Dec. 29 when it hosts the Papa Johns/Country Hearth Inn Tournament. Play will open with Cabrini facing Johns Hopkins at 5 p.m, followed by the Colonels taking on Berry.