DANVILLE, Ky. – Centre men's basketball overcame an eight-point deficit in the final eight minutes to defeat the Berry Vikings by a score of 72-69 in a thrilling Southern Athletic Association Tournament title game in Alumni Gym. The victory gives Centre the SAA's automatic qualifier berth for the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
 
HIGHLIGHTS
 
- The Colonels got off to an ideal start, reminiscent of their hot shooting in Saturday's semifinal win over Millsaps. Led by Perry Ayers and Carter Baughman, Centre caught fire early from three-point range and scored the game's first 15 points.
- Centre took its largest lead at 24-6 on a pair of free throws by Dawson Crump at the 12-minute mark before the Vikings finally mounted a counter rally.
- The no. 3 seed Vikings began to pound the ball inside and had great success scoring and drawing fouls on the Centre post players. With the Colonels battling foul trouble in the paint, Berry scored nine straight points and eventually tied the game at 36-36 on a layup from Austin Brooks.
- Berry started the second half as they had ended the first half, shooting with confidence and taking their first lead on a pair of Micah Johnson free throws. The Vikings continued to feed the post and score, holding the Colonels at bay and taking their largest lead of the game at 57-49 on a three from Collin Sowada with nine minutes remaining.
- Trailing by nine, the Colonels finally began to put together sequences of stops in the next 90 seconds despite not scoring during that stretch.
- A quick trigger three from Crump started the comeback. On Berry's next possession, Brooks, who torched Centre for 18 points, committed an offensive foul, his third of the game. Centre cut the deficit to two on a three from Art Walker, but the Vikings answered with a three from Drew Jones. Jacob Bates and Berry's Caleb Haynes traded baskets in the paint and Berry held a 62-57 lead with five minutes left.
- Crump converted a driving score to bring it to within one possession and Centre switched its defense to a 1-3-1 zone, forcing a deep miss from the Vikings. Another inside bucket from Bates made it 62-61, but the Vikings once again had an answer as DJ Estes buried a three to put Berry back up by four.
- Coming out of the final media timeout, Bates scored again at the end of the shot clock to cut the margin in half. After a Berry miss, Bailey Rakes snagged a key offensive rebound of an Ayers missed three, kicking it out to Crump for a three-pointer to put Centre on top for the first time in the second half.
- The final two minutes saw Bates and Haynes continue to trade baskets. Trailing 69-68, Bates converted a tough shot in the paint to put Centre back up by one. After Berry's Micah Johnson missed a stepback three, the Colonels ran the shot clock all the way down and Bates connected on a baby hook inside to give Centre a 72-69 lead, which it would hold following an adventurous final 13 seconds from the free throw line for both teams.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
 
- The Colonels connected on 13-22 from long range, including three out of four in the closing minutes to complete the comeback.
- Ayers paced Centre in points for the fourth consecutive game, scoring 23, including 5-8 from three-point range. He was selected as the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
- Joining Ayers on the All-Tournament team, fellow Bowling Green, Ky. native Crump scored in double figures in all three tournament games, scoring 13 in the title game to go along with five rebounds and three assists.
- Bates scored 12 of his 13 points in the second half, converting several key shots inside during Centre's final rally.
- The free throw line proved to play a huge difference in the game as Berry made just 5-15 from the charity stripe, including a 2-10 clip in the second half. The Colonels went 7-11 for the game as both teams combined to go 0-5 in the final 13 seconds.
- Brooks led Berry with 18 points. Johnson, Haynes and Ethan Haslam all scored in double figures for the Vikings.
 
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NEXT UP
 
Centre basketball will find out their opponent and location for NCAA First Round action, which will take place on Monday at 12:30 PM on ncaa.com.