The men's basketball team lost to centre College on Pinholster Court on Sunday afternoon, 74-60. The Petrels trimmed an 11-point second half Colonel lead down to one but then went over six minutes without a field goal as Centre pulled away to victory.

Both teams enjoyed stellar first halves in which the teams combined to make 29-of-50 (58%) shots from the field. The Petrels held an early six point cushion on two occasions before Centre got going late in the half. Oglethorpe led 25-21 with 8 minutes remaining in the half but Centre closed the stanza on a 21-9 run to take control and hold a 42-34 halftime advantage.

The Colonels stretched their lead out to 11 points early in the second half before the Petrels made a push that looked like would set the stage for a frenetic finish. Down 47-36, Oglethorpe used a 16-6 spurt to make it 53-52 with 8:56 remaining. The spurt included Andrew Steioff scoring 7 of his game-high 27 points and was capped by Alec Pitts converting an old fashioned three-point play. On the ensuing possession, however, Centre guard Bryon Ellis made the first of three late three-point daggers to push the Colonels back in front to stay as the Petrels went cold. Oglethorpe did not score another field goal until Steioff connected on the baseline with 2:27 remaining. By that point, though, the Colonels had opened up a double-digit lead they would not relinquish.

Steioff made 11-of-17 shots to post a career-high 27 points in his final Pinholster Court appearance. Unfortunately for Oglethorpe, the rest of the squad combined to shoot 14-of-34 (41%), including 3-of-17 from downtown, en route to the loss. Molinet was the only other Petrel to post double-figures with 10 points, 5 assists and three steals on the afternoon.

Oglethorpe is now 11-13 on the season and 6-9 in SCAC play. The Petrels will close out the regular season next Saturday evening when they face Birmingham-Southern in Alabama. Oglethorpe will either need to top the Panthers or get two Sewanee losses next weekend to qualify for the SCAC Tournament.