SHREVEPORT, La. - The Gents fell short in their bid to complete a huge comeback last night, but the Maroon and White and sophomore Travion Kirkendoll was not to be denied Sunday, December 20.
Kirkendoll scored a career-best 28 points and reached double-digits for the 20th-straight game and the Gents erased a nine-point, halftime deficit as Centenary (7-3) knocked off UT Dallas (6-1) 66-57 Sunday night, December 20, at the Gold Dome.
Only leading a total of 26 seconds in the first half, Centenary junior Kendall Demouchet took a hand off from junior James Sapp at the top of the key to put the Maroon and White up 52-50 with 5:09 left. Neither team scored for more than 1:30 until Kirkendoll hit a triple on a pass from junior Brandon Campbell. UT Dallas responded with a bucket, but Kirkendoll answered with a thunderous dunk tip-toeing the baseline off his own three-point miss from the right wing as the Gents never led by less than five the rest of the way.
For good measure, Kirkendoll nailed a triple on a pass from freshman Treylan Matthews to push the advantage to eight with 2:16 left. Matthews finished the game with 19 points, eight boards, six dimes and three steals against only one turnover.
After not being in the single digits in turnovers all season, Centenary has accomplished this feat in the last two games - finishing the night with nine miscues.
Sapp led the Gents with 12 boards.
UT Dallas, who held the Maroon and White at arms length for most of the first half, used a big momentum shift to record its biggest lead of the game right before break. After a dunk by Kirkendoll on a fastbreak with 41 seconds left, Centenary forced a stop and had a chance to cut the deficit to single digits. However, the Gents were whistled for an illegal screen with 2.7 seconds left. The Comet's Ben Smith took the inbounds and banked in a 30-foot three from the right elbow to give the visitors the nine-point, halftime lead.
Caleb Banks led UT Dallas with 16 points and six assists, but turned in five turnovers. Kyle Coulter added the double-double with 11 points and 12 boards, but he was also forced in to five miscues.
UT Dallas took advantage of 11 offensive boards and nine second-chance points in the first half, but could not grab a single board on the offensive glass in the second half.
Centenary wraps up play in 2015 on Tuesday, December 29, when it welcomes in-state foe Northwestern State for an exhibition game. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
