In need of a momentum-building victory to keep its Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament hopes alive, Colorado College utilized clutch shooting during the final seven minutes to post a 72-67 victory over Centenary College on Friday night at Reid Arena.
With eight games to play, the Tigers are within a game of both Schreiner University and Southwestern University, who currently are part of a three-way battle for the sixth and final spot in the postseason championship.
After watching the Gents erase a 10-point deficit and take a 53-52 lead on the sixth of Kile Mingo’s seven three-point baskets, CC utilized a 7-1 run to re-claim control and never trailed the rest of the way.
Charlie Rounaghi, who finished with eight points, seven rebounds and three assists, dialed long distance to ignite the surge and struck from behind the arc a second time with 3:25 remaining to give the Tigers a 64-59 lead.
Centenary pulled to within a deuce when Neil Hawkins scored with 1:33 to play, but Jack McRoskey buried a triple from the top left as the shot clock expired on Colorado College’s next possession to push the lead back to five.
The Tigers sank four out of six free throws during the final 25 seconds to seal the victory.
CooXooEii Black (Arapaho) poured in a game a game-high 25 points, connecting on 10 of 13 shots from the floor. He scored 20 or more for the ninth time in the last 10 games.
With seven rebounds, Black climbed into fourth place on the program’s career chart with 645. He also tied his season high of five assists.