Box Score After watching an eight-point lead evaporate, Colorado College made several clutch plays during the final four minutes and held on for a 65-59 victory over Southwestern University on Friday night at Reid Arena.

The Tigers, who won for the seventh time in the last 10 games, improved to 13-11 overall and 7-6 in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.

"We're still getting better as a team, but there is a lot of room to improve," Partee said. "You want to be playing your best basketball in February."

The Pirates took a 59-58 when sophomore forward Nnamdi Akabogu's tipped in a missed layup by senior guard Adrian Johnson with 2:12 remaining, but senior forward Chris Lesnansky sank a pair of free throws 24 seconds later to put CC ahead to stay.

As SU was bringing the ball up court, junior guard Juwan Rohan and senior guard Ryan Kell forced a turnover that turned into a three-point lead when junior swingman Luke Winfield knocked down a jumper from the left wing.

On Southwestern's next possession, Colorado College's defense forced sophomore forward Zach Whitlock to step on the baseline as he drove under the basket. Junior guard Justin Berardino's three pointer from 20 feet with 15 seconds to go wouldn't fall, but Winfield tracked the rebound and made two free throws to give the Tigers a four-point lead.

Berardino sealed the victory when he stole the ball from sophomore guard Ben Stiver at midcourt and was fouled after opting not to score on a layup.

CC went nearly six minutes without scoring after sophomore forward Tyler Jonas scored off of an offensive rebound to give his team a 48-40 lead with 12:41 remaining.

After a three-pointer by Winfield, the Pirates used a 10-1 run to grab a 54-52 advantage with a little less than four minutes to go.

"There was a lot going against us during that stretch," head coach Andy Partee said. "They had all the momentum and we gave them the opportunity to put the game away at the free throw line. We needed to put solid defensive possessions together without fouling."

Senior forward Russell Clark went 5-for-5 from the floor and led Colorado College with 15 points. Winfield finished with 12 points, while Lesnansky added 10.

Junior guard Chris Lee scored a game-high 16 points for the Pirates, who slipped to 13-8 overall and 9-3 in the SCAC.

The Tigers play host to Texas Lutheran University at 1 p.m. in its final game of the regular season.