The Oglethorpe men's basketball team lost to Centre, 63-61, in Dorough Field House on Sunday in a final-second heartbreaker that came at the hands of Centre guard Matt Gump, who connected on a three-point shot at the final buzzer to give the Colonels a two-point victory. It marked the second consecutive game which the Stormy Petrels lost on a three-pointer as time expired and came despite a terrific performance by the home side, particularly in the second half.

The Petrels did not lead in the game until there were 45 seconds left, but they took the lead twice late on, both on shots by sophomore guard Romello Bates. He hit a three-pointer to give the Petrels a 58-56 lead with 45 seconds left and then, after Centre hit a three of their own to take the lead back, Bates drove all the way to the basket, made a layup and drew a foul in the process, tying the game at 60-all with less than 10 seconds left. He made the free throw to give the Petrels a one-point lead, but Gump sank the running three-pointer at the buzzer on the other end.

The Petrels shot 47.1 percent for the game, outshooting the Colonels, who converted at a 43.9 percent rate. Oglethorpe equaled the bigger Centre squad in rebounds, 27-apiece, and outscored them 30-10 in the paint. They were hurt at the free-throw line, however, where they made just 53.8 percent of their attempts to Centre's 75 percent. In addition, the Colonels outshot Oglethorpe from the three-point arc, 46.2-to-31.6 percent.

Although they were unable to come up with the victory, the Petrels had incredible performances in the game. Junior guard Drew Patrick had an impressive game, scoring 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting and added five rebounds to the Petrels' total. Bates had 14 points and five assists on the night and senior center Jordan Kinney, playing in his final home game at Dorough Field House, was one rebound shy of a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Connor Smith had 10 points in the game on 4-of-7 shooting and was 2-of-5 from three-point range. 

The Colonels created a large lead early, going up by eight points at the 14:19 mark in the first half. The Centre lead was as much as nine before a three-pointer by freshman Chris Lawrence and a jumper by Patrick cut that lead to just four with 9:38 left in the half. The lead was still just five for the Colonels before a 13-6 run helped Centre go into halftime leading the Petrels 35-23. A three-pointer with just four seconds left extended their lead from nine points to 12 ponts at the break.

The Colonels did not make a comeback easy for the Petrels, as Centre came out firing at the start of the second half. A three-point shot stretched Centre's lead to its largest of the game, 15 points with 16:43 left. With the Colonels leading by 15, Oglethorpe needed to make an effort to cut into the lead quickly before it was too late to get back into the game. An 11-4 run capped by a Jordan Kinney layup helped the Petrels cut the Centre lead to seven with 10:22 left to go in the game. The Petrels followed that run with another, this time an 11-5 run that would bring the Petrels to within one point of the lead with just 4:46 left in the game. The Colonels refused to relinquish the lead however, stretching the lead back out to five with 2:37 left. But the Petrels would not go quietly, taking their first lead of the game after a Romello Bates three-pointer with 45 seconds left put Oglethorpe ahead by two. A quick three-point shot by Centre's Josh Karsner helped them regain the lead by one with just 29 seconds left to decide a victor. After a made free throw by the Colonels, Bates came up big for the Petrels again, connecting on a layup and drawing a foul. With the game tied at 60 and the Petrels needing the free throw to take the lead, Bates handled the pressure and made the free throw to put Oglethorpe up by one point with just four seconds left. But the Colonels had some last-second magic in store with Matt Gump connecting on a three-point shot at the final buzzer to win the game for Centre, 63-61.

"It's been kind of an unlucky season with all the season-ending injuries and now back-to-back buzzer-beating losses," said Head Coach Philip Ponder, "but I want to focus on the positive. Many think Centre is the team to beat in our league and we gave them all they could handle today, and we know we can beat them if we are fortunate enough to meet them again. I was extremely proud of how hard our guys played today. The intensity level and the offensive and defensive execution were awesome.  The past 60 minutes of basketball that we have played have been championship caliber.  There are no guarantees this weekend, but if we play like we did the past 60 minutes, we are going to make a run, just like we did last year. We are playing some really good basketball right now."

The loss to Centre marks the final home game and the final regular-season game for the Petrels. They finish the regular season 16-9 overall and 7-7 in SAA play. That puts them in a tie for fourth with Birmingham-Southern headed into the SAA Tournament. The Panthers earn the tiebreaker over the Petrels by virtue of their superior record against Centre and Rhodes, the two teams that shared the regular-season conference title. The Petrels will have the No. 5 seed and will play No. 4 seed Birmingham-Southern in the SAA Tournament quarterfinals in Memphis, Tenn., at 9 p.m. Eastern time Friday night. The Petrels will be hoping for a run similar to last year, when they made it all the way to the SAA Tournament championship game before losing to hosts Centre.