The men's basketball team lost to Centre College in the semifinals of the 2011 SCAC Tournament on Saturday night in Jackson, Miss., 70-57. The Petrels held a 2 point halftime advantage and still owned the lead with 12:30 to play before a decisive 18-4 Colonel run sealed Oglethorpe's fate.

Both teams came out knocking down shots in the early stages but it was Centre who was able to gain the first bit of separation with a 29-19 cushion with 8:35 to play in the half. The Colonels still lead the Petrels 34-25 with 5:21 remaining but Oglethorpe closed the stanza on a 11-0 run that was capped by an Alec Pitts strip-steal and layup to send the Petrels into the locker room with momentum up 36-34.

The Petrels were 15-of-27 from the field (56%) in the first half and 3-of-10 from beyond the arc. In the second half, however, Oglethorpe only connected on 7-of-25 (28%) shots from the field and missed all 7 of their three-point attempts as Centre surged to the win.

Oglethorpe was still battling in the second half and after a Joe Kennedy layup with 13:31 to play, the Petrels held a 48-47 advantage. That's when the Colonels, however, made their move with the aforementioned back-breaking 18-4 run to cement the victory. The run included Centre's Bryon Ellis drilling four of his game-high 8 three-pointers in a ridicuolus stretch of shooting acumen.

The Colonels were 25-of-49 (51%) from the field and 12-of-21 (57%) from long range to end the Petrels dream of an NCAA Tournament berth.

Todd Ward scored 11 points and, with the 8th of his team-high 9 rebounds, became the all-time leading rebounder in SCAC history. Kennedy netted 18 points and Alex Richey 15 as the seniors finished their fine careers in Jackson.

The Petrels complete the 2010-11 campaign with a 15-12 overall record.