BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (CentreColonels.com) – Freshman guard Tucker Sine (Bowling Green, Ky.) dropped in a career-high 25 points, but Birmingham Southern scored six of the final eight points of the game en route to a 67-66 victory over the Centre men's basketball team in a Southern Athletic Association matchup on Friday night at Bill Battle Coliseum.

The Colonels drop to 10-6 on the season and 2-3 in SAA play, while the Panthers improve to 10-6 overall and 5-0 in the conference.

With Birmingham Southern holding a 61-56 lead with just over three minutes to play, Sine knocked down 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to give Centre a 62-61 advantage with 2:27 remaining.

After a missed layup by the Panthers, Sine connected on a pair of free throws on the other end to build the Colonels' lead to 64-61 with just under two minutes showing on the clock.

Birmingham Southern would score four consecutive points to gain a 65-64 advantage, before a layup by senior forward Blake Scinta (Louisville, Ky.) regained the lead for the Colonels a 66-65 with 37 ticks remaining.

After a Birmingham Southern timeout and a Centre foul, two made free throws by Alex Avery gave the Panthers a 67-66 lead with 10 seconds remaining. Sine's 3-point attempt at the buzzer was off the mark, giving Birmingham Southern its fifth win in conference play.

Sine topped his previous career-high of 16 points set in a 77-74 win over Hendrix on Jan. 10. The freshman guard has scored in double-figures on three occasions in his debut season. He connected on 7-of-10 field goals, including 5-of-8 shots from behind the arc on Friday night to go along with a perfect 6-of-6 attempts from the free throw line.

Sophomore guard Matt Gump (Bellefontaine, Ohio) tallied 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting, while senior forward Blake Scinta (Louisville, Ky.) had 13 markers and eight rebounds for the Colonels. Scinta made 5-of-10 field goals in the contest. Senior forward Tyler Wesley (Crestwood, Ky.) added eight boards for Centre.

Ross Welch led the Panthers with 18 points, followed by Alex Avery and Ian Thom with 16 and 12 points, respectively. Avery also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for Birmingham Southern.

The Colonels outshot the Panthers 48.9 percent (22-of-45) to 44.9 percent (22-of-49). Centre connected on 47.6 percent (10-of-21) of 3-pointers and 63.2 percent (12-of-19) of free throws, while Birmingham Southern shot 38.1 percent (8-of-21) from long range and 83.3 percent (15-of-18) from the charity stripe.

The Panthers held a 33-21 rebounding edge and a 28-22 advantage in points in the paint.

The Colonels started the game on a 15-4 run keyed by three shots from behind the arc, two by Sine and one by junior guard Sam Gruber (Crestwood, Ky.).

Birmingham Southern answered with a 17-6 surge to knot the game at 21-21 with just under three minutes to play in the first half before ultimately taking a 31-29 halftime lead.

The Panthers held that two-point advantage at 33-31 just over a minute into the second period before using a 14-6 spurt to take their largest lead of the game at 47-37 with 13:26 showing on the game clock.

The Colonels stormed back with a 12-2 run of of their own capped by a Gump 3-pointer to knot the game at 49-49 with 9:14 to play.

Birmingham Southern would build its lead back to five points on two occasions holding off Centre for the victory.  

The Colonels are back in action on Sunday afternoon in another SAA road contest at Millsaps. Tip-off is set for 2 PM CT in Jackson, Miss. The Majors defeated Sewanee 70-69 on Friday night.