GEORGETOWN, Texas – The Pirates fell behind early and retook the lead briefly in the second half before ultimately falling 65-58 to Centenary College on Saturday afternoon.
Centenary steadily built up a lead early in the game as the Pirates took seven minutes to score their first field goal. Eric Garza broke the famine with a three from the wing and Adrian Johnson followed with a pull-up jumper on the following possession to bring SU within in seven, 15-8 with 11 minutes to play in the half.
Even with Centenary's scorching offense, 66% from the floor in the first ten minutes, the Pirates still only trailed by single digits thanks in large part to the hustle play of Johnson off the bench. Centenary was lights out from long range, hitting 4-5 to take an eight point lead into the break, 31-23.
Johnson paced the Pirates offensively with ten points in 11 minutes, going a perfect 4-4 from the floor and 2-2 from three point range.
Southwestern steadily clawed their way back in the game with two huge threes by Eric Garza to pull SU within one, 37-36, and Johnson's jumper gave SU the lead for the first time with 12 minutes to play. The Gents quickly took the lead back and never relinquished it, getting the breaks they needed to stay just ahead and take home the win.
The Pirates were held to 31.7% from the floor and 28.6% from three point range despite the outstanding offense from Johnson and Garza. Garza led all scorers with 15 points on 5-9 shooting from the floor and 4-6 from three point range while Johnson was perfect on the night, going 5-5 from the floor, 2-2 from three point range and 2-2 from the free throw line.
Centenary shot 39.1% from the floor but hit 66.7% of their threes and narrowly took the rebounding margin at +1.
Southwestern falls to 5-10 on the year after the loss and 2-3 in the SCAC while Centenary improves to 7-7 overall and 2-2 in conference play. They return to the road to face Colorado College on Friday night and Dallas on Saturday, closing out the first round of conference action.