SHREVEPORT, La. - The Centenary men's basketball team ended its regular season with a thrilling 73-72 victory over Austin College Saturday evening. Junior Jonathan Blount sank a pair of free throws with 0.01 left on the clock to lift the Gents to the victory.
The Roos gained the lead in the closing seconds with a breakaway layup by Ransom Okpala to make it 72-71. Blount took control of the final possession and was fouled on a jumper attempt to send the Shreveport native to the line.
Blount's game winning free throws tied him with a team-high 14 points along with Cheramie. Brett Bell would be right behind with 12 points and Brooks Pawsat contributed 10 while also grabbing a team-high 6 rebounds.
Centenary came out aggressive early on and held a slight advantage throughout most of the first half. The Roos forced the fourth tie of the contest at 33-all with 12 seconds remaining on a Walter Phillips floater. Drew Erskine answered for Centenary knocking down a jumper in the closing seconds to give the Maroon and White a 35-33 lead.
The Gents rode the momentum into the opening minutes of the second half going up 41-35, before Austin College answered knotting the game again. Both squads alternated buckets the remainder of the way after a Jimmy King trey gave the Roos their first lead of the half at 54-51.
Brett Bell and JaColby Hardin-Crawford paid dividends down the stretch as the duo accounted for 12 of the Gents' 14 points over a five-minute stretch. Bell knocked down three layups and Hardin-Crawford closed the stretch with a critical trey to lift the Gents to a 69-67 advantage after knocking down a trio of free throws during the span.
The Roos had a quartet of players reach double figures in the game. Okpala had a game high 19 points, while Alen Michael notched the only double-double with 11 points and rebounds each. Jordan Hancock and Andre Bryant both added 10.
Centenary concluded its 2012-'13 regular season and begins conference tournament play Friday, Feb. 22. Please check for game times and details on gocentenary.com.
