SHREVEPORT, La. - The Gents rallied from a four-point deficit with 1:26 left for the 10th tie of the night, but the Tigers Eric Houska hit a fall away jumper with 1.6 seconds remaining as Centenary (7-8, 1-3 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference) dropped a heartbreaker to Colorado College (5-9, 4-0 SCAC) 71-69 Friday night, January 13.
Down 67-63 after a Houska three with 1:26 left, sophomore Treylan Matthews scored six-straight for the Gents to tie the game at 69 with 18 seconds left. Matthews started the run with a three off a dime from junior KJ Boyd. Colorado College decided to run the whole shot clock, and Chris Martin's jumper bounced around the rim and in to push the deficit to three with 36 seconds left.
Centenary pushed the tempo and Matthews was fouled on the drive. He split from the line and the Maroon and White forced a double team of Edmund Pendleton near the sideline just past halfcourt. Matthews poked the ball free and went right to the rim for the fastbreak hoop to tie the game at 69 with 18 seconds left.
Centenary took advantage of a 21-4 advantage in fastbreak points. Matthews led Centenary off the bench with 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting, including 3-for-4 from distance.
After the made basket by Centenary, Colorado College called timeout with 13 seconds left. The Tigers inbounded near the scorer's table at halfcourt, and Houska got the ball at the top of the key near his bench. He drove baseline and hit a fallaway jumper near the baseline with 1.6 left to give the visitors the win.
Houska led Colorado College with 22 points. Despite only two less than Centenary's 20 turnovers, the Tigers took advantage of those mistakes with a 30-18 edge in points off turnovers. Both teams made 28 shots in the game, with Centenary (28-for-60, 46.7 percent) holding a slight edge in shooting over Colorado College (28-for-62, 45.2 percent).
Centenary trailed 39-34 with 17:20 left in the game, but a nearly five-minute scoring drought saw the home team build an 8-point lead. Junior Dyllon Weaver split from the line while senior James Sapp took a defensive rebound coast-to-coast for the fastbreak hoop. After a turnover, a three from freshman Cedric Harris put the Gents ahead.
Sapp finished with his ninth double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 boards - 10 points and seven rebounds coming in the second half alone.
After a Boyd three, Sapp knocked the ball out of Colorado College's hands right to junior Trsvion Kirkendoll. Kirkendoll threw the ball back to Sapp for the emphatic fastbreak dunk. A Kirkendoll steal and a fastbreak hoop by Boyd capped the run and put Centenary up 47-39 with 12:37 remaining in the game.
Boyd scored 11 and added a game-best five assists.
After the Maroon and White's run, it was the Tigers turn to score 10 straight while holding Centenary scoreless for 2:40. John Hatch converted an old three, while Sean Stem added the easy three for the only Colorado College bench points.
Centenary outscored the Tigers 36-3 in bench points.
Hatch added a pair of jumpers, and the visitors reclaimed the lead with 9:57 left in the game. Both teams played nip-and-tuck for the remainder of the contest; however, both teams had four-point leads under the four-minute mark.
Hatch scored 20 points for the visitors, while Martin added the double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds.
Colorado College led by as much as seven in the first half. However, Centenary held Colorado College without a point for four minutes to take a 23-20 lead with 3:44 remaining until the break. Sapp made a jumper and two fastbreaks buckets cut the deficit to one. Sapp missed a jumper, but Kirkendoll tipped in the offensive board to give the Gents their first lead of the contest. Kirkendoll then picked up a steal, passed to Weaver, who passed back to Kirkendoll for the fastbreak hoop.
However, Colorado College fought back for the 32-27 lead at break.
Centenary returns to action tomorrow when it hosts Dallas. Tip is scheduled for 6 p.m.
