Jackson, Miss. - It was a lot closer than the 33-point win at the Gold Dome on November 21, but the way the Gents claimed victory looked very similar.
Centenary (5-2) ran its winning streak to five on hot shooting from behind the arc (14-for-22, 63.6 percent) as the Gents claimed an 82-74 win over Millsaps (1-6) Sunday night, December 6.
Junior Kendall Demouchet swatted a Majors shot with nine seconds left in the first half to record his 113th block of his collegiate career to set a new record for rejections. He added another block in the second half for good measure.
Unlike the first game where the Maroon and White led wire-to-wire, the Majors would not completely go away. Millsaps opened a 15-7 lead and led 25-21 with 8:40 left in the first half. A senior Justin Cueto three jumpstarted the Gents offense as they scored 11 unanswered and grabbed the lead for good. Demouchet then added a layup to give Centenary the lead, and then Demouchet split from the line in the only free throw attempts in the first half for the Gents. Junior Brandon Campbell then added a jumper and Cueto ended the spurt with another three to push the Centenary advantage to 32-25 with 4:40 until half.
The Gents led 40-30 at half.
A quintet of Gents reached double-digit scoring, led by James Sapp's second double-double in as many games with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Campbell came off the bench for 15 while Cueto was 4-for-6 from behind the arc and added 14 points.
Sophomore Travion Kirkendoll finished with 13 points and ended the night with exactly 500 points for his collegiate career after just 34 games (14.71 per game). Freshman Treylan Matthews added 12 points and five assists against just one turnover.
Millsaps hit a three right out of break, but Centenary countered with another 11 unanswered and a 14-2 run to take its largest lead of the game. After the three by the home team, Millsaps threw down a dunk. Centenary then hit their next four triple tries. First it was Cueto, before Matthews got in the act with a pair. After a Majors bucket, Cueto hit his fourth tray of the night as Centenary opened up a 54-35 lead, its largest of the game with 15:47 left.
With less than 40 seconds left, Millsaps cut the Gents lead to 74-70. However, the Maroon and White hit all eight free throws attempted the rest of the game as Centenary claimed the third road win of the season by eight points.
MIllsaps took it to Centenary early as Quinn Atkinson made a layup just two seconds into the game. After both teams traded turnovers and Centenary missed a shot. Joshua McSwain buried a triple for the home team. McSwain was one of four Majors with double-digit scoring, finishing the game with 13 points.
Sapp opened the Centenary scoring column with a triple, but Alex Gerchow answered with a layup for the home team. Gerchow chipped it 10 points for the game.
Sapp answered with a layup, but McSwain added a jumper and Marc Robertson had the fastbreak hoop. Robertson ended the game with 14 points. Kirkendoll added a basket, but Atkinson hit a pair from the line and Jacob Spence hit a jumper to push the Millsaps lead to eight.
Trent Markwith came off the bench and had 11 points and seven assists against no turnovers for Millsaps.
Centenary returns to action Wednesday, December 9, when it hosts Belhaven. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m.
