AUSTIN, Texas - The Gents rallied from an early 6-point deficit to cut it to one, but 21 unanswered by the Tornados pushed their lead to double-digits for almost the rest of the game as Centenary (5-3) lost to Concordia (5-3) 99-81 Saturday afternoon, December 9.
Centenary trailed 9-3 when Cedric Harris hit a three and freshman Raylon Hardy made a layup after a Tornados miscue. Concordia answered with a pair of buckets, but another Harris three and a split trip to the line by Hardy brought Centenary within a point, 13-12.
Harris scored a career-high 31 points on 10-for-18 shooting, including 8-for-14 from behind the arc.
In the second half down 75-61, a junior Treylan Matthews three and a Harris jumper brought the deficit down to nine. However, the Gents could not climb any closer.
Matthews and senior Travion Kirkendoll added 13 points while freshman KJ Bilbo came off the bench for 11 points - going 9-for-10 from the charity stripe.
The Gents fell behind by 16 at halftime thanks to 14 turnovers and Concordia's 24-7 edge in the first half in points off miscues. With the home team up 13-12, Joshua Samuels made a three and Philip Meikle added a fastbreak layup off a steal and the added his own three. Joshua Samuels connected on a pair of jumpers while a DeTarrius Kirk layup pushed the deficit to 15.
Joe Neal capped the run for Concordia with two free throws, a three, and a layup to push the lead to 33-12 with 10:13 left in the first half. A three by the Harris stopped a nearly five-minute scoring drought for the Gents.
Ephriam Price III led the home team with 26 points, while Ben Page added 20 on 8-for-10 shooting. Neal finished the game with 12 points, while Samuels came off the bench with 10.
Centenary returns to action next Saturday for its final non-conference home game against Millsaps in the 2017 Shreveport-Bossier Holiday Classic. Tip-off in the triple header is set for 3 p.m.