SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – The Earlham College men's basketball team held a lead with seconds remained, but Centre College connected on a layup with a second to play and escaped with a 55-54 win over the Quakers in the consolation game of the Charles B. Zimmerman Memorial Classic on Wednesday.

Earlham got off to a fast start, scoring the first eight points of the game. Though Centre would tie the game on several occasions, the Colonels never took a lead in the first half as the Quakers took a 31-26 lead into halftime.

The Quakers opened the second half on a 10-6 run culminated by a layup from junior Lajay Kellyputting Earlham ahead 41-32 with 13:33 to play in regulation. Once again, Centre battled back to tie the contest 47-47 ten minutes later on two Matt Gump free throws.

Neither team would score for two minutes until freshman Isaiah Waire hit a jumper from distance giving the Quakers a three-point edge. The Colonels (8-3) scored on two straight possessions for their first lead of the game, 51-50 with 57 seconds to play.

Sophomore Elijah Wilson-Thomas nailed a shot on the following possession to put Earlham ahead by the slimmest of margins. After two free throws from Blake Scinta gave Centre the lead, Wilson-Thomas delivered again as the Goldsboro, N.C., native hit layup with three seconds to give the Quakers a 54-53 with three seconds to play.

Centre had the last laugh, however, as Scinta beat the buzzer to give the Centre the victory.

Senior Taylen Alexander led the Quakers with 13 points on 4-11 shooting. Wilson-Thomas finished with nine points with Waire and freshman Cole Bene each finished with eight points.

Scinta led Centre with 22 points while Tyler Wesley added 10 points. No other Colonel finished with more than six points.

Earlham finished 21-52 from the field (40.4 percent) while Centre went 19-54 (35.2 percent) from the floor. The Quakers also connected on 10 three-pointers while the Colonels hit just three triples. Centre held an edge in rebounding (38-34) and points in the paint (32-14).

The Quakers return to Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) play at Manchester on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.