COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – In what was expected to be a showcase for the two most explosive offensive players in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, junior forward Chris Lesnansky and Colorado College's supporting cast proved to be the difference in a 79-71 victory on Sunday afternoon.

Lesnansky tied his career high with 27 points and the bench came through with 25 more to help the Tigers improve to 10-2 overall and maintain a share of first place with a 3-0 record in league play.

Senior guard Ryan Milne finished with 11 points, while sophomore guard Justin Berardino added 11 and helped keep the Gents' Jonathan Blount in check from the floor.

Blount, who entered the contest tied with Milne averaging a league-leading 21.9 points per game, made only three of 10 shots from the floor, but made up for it by sinking 14 of 18 attempts at the charity stripe.

"Our game plan was to play solid team defense and force him (Blount) into tough shots," Berardino said. "Chris Mayo-Smith and Juwan Rohan also did a great job and we made him work hard for his points."

CC appeared to be in complete command when freshman forward Mitch Carter completed a three-point play to give his team a 65-48 lead with 5:40 remaining, but Centenary dialed up the pressure and used a 14-3 run to pull to within six points on a pair of Kendall Demouchet free throws.

After a Caden Cheramie layup made the score 70-64 with 1:28 to go, Lesnansky set up a Daniel Webb basket and canned a pair of free throws to put the Tigers up by 10 with 57 seconds left.   

"They are a tough team and we knew they wouldn't go away," Berardino said. "We expected them to punch back and were ready. Webb's layup provided a sigh of relief and we were able to close it out."

The Gents cut their deficit to 75-68 when Brooks Pawsat caught Cheramie's airball in the paint and scored an uncontested layup with 33 ticks to go, but Jake Tramutolo iced the game with four free throws during the final 24 seconds.

'They kind of found their niche with their pressure and we were sloppy with the ball," head coach Andy Partee said. "Our fundamentals kicked in with better ball handlers and we made our free throws down the stretch."

The Tigers were in control for most of the first half and led 25-24 when Mayo-Smith scored on a layup after taking the last of three quick passes from Berardino.

Centenary cut its deficit to 33-29 after Blount took advantage of a lane violation to sink a pair of free throws with a fraction more than seven seconds remaining before intermission.

The Gents, who were unable to capitalize on their 37-25 advantage in free throws, dropped to 6-6 overall and 1-1 in the SCAC.

Colorado College hits the road for three consecutive road contests, beginning this weekend with its first-ever league games at Schreiner University and Texas Lutheran University on Friday and Saturday, respectively.