SHREVEPORT, La. - When you out rebound a team by 21, you will win many games. Combine that by making more than half your shots, and that just is not fair.
The Gents used a 53-32 edge on the boards, including a pair of double-doubles, as Centenary (15-10) ended the regular season on a high note with a 92-80 win against Dallas Christian Saturday afternoon at the Gold Dome.
Junior James Sapp finished with a tidy 16 points and 15 rebounds, pouring in the scoring in the first half (10 points) and grabbing the rounds in the second half (12 boards). In fact, Dallas Christian's whole team only outrebounded Sapp by two in the second half.
Freshman guard Treylan Matthews made a final case for Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year, scoring 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting. He added 10 boards for his second career double-double.
Centenary saw an eight-point, halftime lead cut to one in the opening moments of the second period, but an 18-5 run gave the Gents a double-digit lead for good. Senior Justin Cueto kicked off the run with a triple. Dallas Christian and senior DJ Hicks both split from the line before a layup from sophomore Travion Kirkendoll pushed the advantage to six. Junior Kendal Demouchet made a pair from the line and Matthews added the layup to push the lead to 55-45.
Both teams traded baskets before Sapp made a hoop off a pair of offensive boards. Derek Hearns for Dallas Christian cut the deficit to 10 on a layup, but Demouchet had a triple roll around the rim and drop in to push the lead to 13. Demouchet split from the line as Centenary took a 65-51 lead with 10:37 left.
A triple by sophomore Dyllon Weaver and a pair of free throws by Demouchet pushed the Gents lead to 78-57. The Maroon and White led by as much as 22 with 3:20 left.
Kirkendoll scored a game-high 21, while Demouchet came off the bench for 14 points and three blocks. Centenary shot 34-for-67 (50.7 percent) for the game.
Tied at 23 in the first half, Centenary used 12-4 run to push the lead to eight. Matthews made a fastbreak layup. Kirkendoll added a layup before Sapp picked up a steal and made a thunderous dunk to push the home team's advantage to eight. Dallas Christian made four from the charity stripe around two for Matthews, but layups from Sapp and Demouchet pushed the advantage to 35-27 with 4:21 left in the first half.
Centenary scored the first basket out of halftime, but a 9-0 run by Dallas Christian cut the Gents lead to one. Hunter Bennet hit a triple the easy way, before Robert Washington added an old-fashioned three. Bennett added the fastbreak triple, but Cueto answered with a three for the Maroon and White.
Derek Hearns led Dallas Christian off the bench with 20 points, while Trey Lindsey added 17. Bennett finished the game with 14 points for the Crusaders, including hitting 3-of-4 from downtown.
Centenary will kick off the 2016 SCAC Tournament at the Gold Dome Friday, February 26, at 1 p.m. The Gents will battle Trinity for the third time this year as the two teams split the season series.
