PORTLAND, Ore. - The Lewis & Clark men's basketball team could not have asked for a more dramatic finish to its season opening game on Saturday night, with sophomore Cannen Roberson draining a jumper with barely a second left on the clock to push the Pioneers past Centenary (La.) 71-69. 

Roberson finished the nigh with a game-high 12 rebounds, while contributing eight points. Jason Luhnow was the Pioneers leading scorer, netting 25 points after finishing 9-of-23 from the floor and 6-of-15 from three point range. Justin Leathers and Serg Ovchinnikov each scored 10 points in the win, with Leathers finishing a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. 

Kendall Demouchet led all players in points, scoring 31 for the Gents, while teammate the next leading scorer only had eight. 

The first half was a battle of wills with the two teams keeping the score close. The Pioneers largest lead of the contest came in the first half with Luhnow hitting his second consecutive three-pointer to put the Pios ahead 18-13 with 9:08 left until halftime. Unfazed, the Gents fought right back into the contest with a 7-0 run that tied the game at 20-20 with a little over seven minutes remaining.

It would take nearly two minutes for either side to break the deadlock. Jonathan Boddie finally did that with a jumper that once again put the Pioneers on top. The Pioneers held the lead down the stretch until Demouchet hit a jumper with 41 seconds left to send both teams into halftime tied 29-29. 

The Centenary struck first blood in the second half with a Demouchet jump shot that swung the score in the Gents favor. Centenary held the lead over the next 18 minutes with the Pioneers trying everything to fight their way back into the contest. With 1:32 left in the game, Ovchinnikov made back-to-back free-throws to tie the game 64-64. Just 20 seconds later Luhnow hit his final three of the game to earn the Pios their first lead since the first half. 

Brooks Pawsat responded with a make from downtown to make it 67 all with 55 seconds to play. The two sides then traded layups to tie the game at 69-69 with just 31 seconds remaining. The Gents had the chance to take the lead on the Demouchet layup thanks to a Pioneer foul. However, Demouchet was unable to respond under pressure, missing his free-throw.

Carl Appleton collected the rebound on the Demouchet miss and quickly passed the ball off to Luhnow. Luhnow tried to hit one last three pointer with three seconds left on the clock but saw it ping off the rim. Fortunately for Lewis & Clark the ball bounced into the hands of Roberson who threw up a quick jumper with a defender in his face and found nothing but net. 

The Pioneers return to action on Sunday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. when they host Evergreen on the final day of the Bon Appetit NWC Tipoff Classic.