After tying the game with less than a minute in regulation, the Centre College men's basketball team dropped its second Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference game of the season, falling 69-68 in overtime to Southwestern University, Friday, Jan. 6, in Danville, Ky.
With the loss, the Colonels fall to 7-4 overall and 0-2 in the SCAC, while Southwestern moves to 9-4 overall and 1-1 in league action. Centre is now the only team in the SCAC without a conference win.
The Colonels jumped out to an early lead using an 8-0 run to start the game. Centre would push the lead to 13 points (27-14) with just under seven minutes to play in the first half. Southwestern answered with a 16-2 run to close the half and take a 30-29 lead into halftime.
The second half was tightly contested featuring six lead changes and seven ties. The Pirates owned the biggest lead of the half with a 48-43 advantage midway through the second period, but saw that disappear with a 5-0 Centre run to tie the game for the third time in the half.
With Southwestern leading 59-55 with 3:28 to play, the Colonels regained the lead on a Reggie Magnusson lay up at the 0:42 mark. After a basket by the Pirates Jamonn Little, Magnusson was fouled with 0:20 remaining. The senior center hit one of two and regulation ended in a 61-61 tie.
The two teams traded baskets to open overtime before Southwestern scored five unanswered points to take a 68-63 lead with only 0:27 left. After a lay up by senior forward Coy Zerhusen pulled the Colonels within three (68-65), the Pirates' Aaron Bowser hit one of his two free throw attempts with 0:05 to ice the game for Southwestern. Sophomore guard Matt Nestheide connected on a three-pointer with time expiring but it was not enough.
Bowser and Little led the Pirates in the scoring column. Bowser scored a team-high 21 points, while Little added 18 points in the win. Little also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.
Magnusson paced the Colonels offense with a game-high 24 points on 7 of 13 shooting from the field. Nestheide was the only other Colonel in double figures with 14 points on 4 of 10 shooting, including 3 of 7 from the three point arc and three of five from the free throw line. Zerhusen pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with eight points.
Centre will return to action, Sunday, Jan. 8, when they host Trinity University in an SCAC match up. The game will be played as part of a men's/women's double header and is set to tip-off at 2:00 p.m. in Danville, Ky.
Newspaper Box Score Southwestern University vs Centre College 1/6/06 8:00 pm at Danville, KY At Danville, KY SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 69, CENTRE COLLEGE 68 SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY (9-4, 1-1 SCAC) Aaron Bowser 8-21 4-5 21; Jamonn Little 7-12 4-5 18; Robert Cates 4-9 1-2 9; Dan Slezak 2-7 1-2 5; Danny Franklin 2-4 0-0 5; Casey Gorder 1-2 2-4 4; Matt Caplan 1-5 0-0 3; Mike Powell 1-1 0-0 2; Ty Ragland 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 26-62 14-20 69. CENTRE COLLEGE (7-4, 0-2 SCAC) Reggie Magnusson 7-13 10-14 24; Matt Nestheide 4-10 3-5 14; Coy Zerhusen 4-7 0-0 8; Thomas Britt 2-10 2-2 7; Matt Jacobson 2-5 0-2 5; Rob Matthews 2-3 0-0 4; John Patterson 2-7 0-1 4; Ryan Crowdis 1-1 0-0 2; T.C. Thomason 0-0 0-0 0; Kyle Christopher 0-3 0-0 0; Adam Patterson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-59 15-24 68. Southwestern University....... 30 31 8 - 69 Centre College................ 29 32 7 - 68 3-point goals-Southwestern University 3-10 (Danny Franklin 1-1; Matt Caplan 1-2; Aaron Bowser 1-3; Dan Slezak 0-1; Jamonn Little 0-3), Centre College 5-18 (Matt Nestheide 3-7; Matt Jacobson 1-3; Thomas Britt 1-6; Kyle Christopher 0-2). Fouled out--Southwestern University-None, Centre College-Thomas Britt; Matt Jacobson. Rebounds-Southwestern University 35 (Jamonn Little 7), Centre College 43 (Coy Zerhusen 11). Assists-Southwestern University 7 (Ty Ragland 3), Centre College 4 (Matt Nestheide 3). Total fouls-Southwestern University 21, Centre College 21. First home conference game for Centre College.