RICHARDSON, Texas - The Gents raced out to an 8-point first half lead, but the Comets managed an advantage in bench scoring (17-6) and points off turnovers (19-10) as Centenary (0-1) fell to UT-Dallas (1-0) 86-68 Saturday afternoon, November 14, in the season opener for both team.
Holding a slim 13-12 edge right out of the game, Centenary used a 9-2 run to push to a 22-14 less than five minutes into the ballgame. Junior Brandon Campbell hit a triple to ignite the run. Back on defense, freshman Treylan Matthews picked Caleb Banks' pocket and fed to Campbell, who dished to sophomore Travion Kirkendoll for the layup. After UT-Dallas scored, senior DJ Hicks tallied a putback on a board and Matthews made a lay-up out of a media timeout.
Centenary shot 48.3 percent (14-of-29) from the field in the first half, but UT-Dallas built the lead in the second half thanks to holding the Gents to a 36.6 percent clip (15-for-41). The defending Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Yea , Kirkendoll led the Gents with 20 points and seven boards on 8-for-16 shooting. Campbell added 17 points, the fourth time in five games dating back to last season he has reached double-digit scoring.
Matthews added 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting and a pair from the charity stripe in his first collegiate outing. Junior James Sapp chipped in 10 points.
Up by one shortly before break, the Comets used a dunk by Dapo Ogunfeitmi and a pair of Caleb Banks free throws to take a 41-36 lead into intermission. Banks finished with a game-best 18 points on a 12-for-14 mark from the line.
Campbell cut the deficit to three for the Gents early in the second half, but Ogunfeitmi cleaned up a Kyle Coulter missed for the layup. Ogunfeitmi finished with 14 points and 17 board for the double-double. Coulter, who then added a three after a UT-Dallas stop, added 10 points for the game.
The Maroon and White cut the deficit to nine with 5:48 left, but Banks was perfect on four attempts from the line and a pair of lay-ups pushed the UT-Dallas lead to 81-64 with two minutes left.
The Gents open up home play at the Gold Dome Tuesday, November 17, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
