The Pioneers improved to 5-1 on the season while Centre is 4-3.
The game saw eight lead changes in the first 16 minutes before Transy broke a 25-25 tie with seven consecutive points, four by Finke and three by Bain. But Centre sandwiched a pair of Thomas Britt three-pointers around one by Bain to cut the lead to four, 35-31. Searle's bucket off a Bain assist made it 39-33 at intermission.
Transy appeared to have a safe lead when it opened the second half on a 8-2 run making it 47-35. The lead remained in double digits until Matt Nestheide scored two free throws for Centre to make it 51-43 with 10:43 to go. That started an 8-0 Centre run that cut the lead to four, 51-47, on two Matt Jacobson free throws with nine minutes to go.
Centre would eventually get the lead down to three on two occasions, the last with 29 seconds to play at 64-61, but the Pioneers held on on a free throw by Bain and a pair by Robert Pendleton with five seconds to go.
Bryan Howard added 10 points for the Pioneers, who shot 51 percent for the game, including 57 percent in the first half. Searle had six rebounds as Centre won the boards by a 32-28 margin.
Jacobson had 13 points and seven rebounds for the Colonels while Coy Zerhusen and Reggie Magnusson added 12 apiece. Centre shot only 32 percent (nine of 28) in the second half and 44 percent for the game after opening the contest with 59 percent shooting over the first 20 minutes. Transy had 14 turnovers to just eight for the Colonels.
It was the first win in three tries for the Pioneers over Centre in the Beck Center.
The Pioneers return to action on Saturday, traveling to Maryville for a 3 p.m. contest with the Scots.