The Oglethorpe men's basketball team suffered a 77-67 defeat to No. 25 Centre Friday night in Danville, Ky., dropping them to 16-4 on the season, 6-3 in SAA play.

The game remained close throughout the first half and the home-standing Colonels led the Stormy Petrels by just three points, 34-31. However, Centre pulled away throughout the second half, leading to the 10-point victory.

The loss came despite 21 points by senior guard Tyler Courson on 7-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Junior guard Alex Davis put forth a good performance, as well, scoring 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting, grabbing six rebounds and passing out three assists. Freshman forward Will Perry had the highest-scoring game of his career, pouring in 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting and grabbing five rebounds.

The Colonels outshot the Petrels 49-to-43 percent and the two teams shot virtually even from the 3-point line. Additionally, the Colonels accumulated 20 assists to the Petrels' seven over the course of the game.

The game started with Centre jumping out to a six-point lead, 13-6, with 15:50 left in the first half. However, the Petrels went on a 16-5 run of their own to take a 25-21 lead on a layup from junior center Jordan Kinney with 6:39 left in the half. Centre mounted a comeback and took the advantage back late in the half, but the Petrels trailed just 34-31 at halftime.

However, the Colonels began to pull away in the second half. They went on a 29-13 run over a 10-minute period in the half to put essentially put the game away. The Petrels did come back with a 16-8 run to end the game, but it was too late by that point, as Centre cruised to the 10-point victory.

With the loss to Centre, the Petrels remain in a second-place tie in the SAA after Birmingham-Southern lost to Hendrix this evening. However, both fall three games behind the 25th-ranked Colonels, who improve to a perfect 9-0 in conference play on the season.

The Petrels next take the floor Sunday afternoon when they take on Sewanee in Sewanee, Tenn., at 4 p.m. Eastern time.