MONTICELLO, Ark. – The Gents stayed close for the majority of the first half, but a run right before intermission that extended to the second half gave the Weevils the victory as Centenary (1-4) fell to NCAA Division II Arkansas-Monticello (2-2) 80-51 Saturday afternoon, November 24.
Trailing 14-4 early, a 9-2 run brought the Gents within a possession. Freshman Tykeem Singleton started the spurt with a three. The Weevils answered with a bucket, but freshman Kyle Mingo and senior Treylan Matthews answered with triples of their own to quickly cut the deficit to three with a little over nine minutes to half. A three by Matthews cut the deficit to 20-18 with eight minutes until intermission.
Matthews led the Gents with 13 points on 4-for-7 shooting. Mingo came off the bench to chip in 11.
Arkansas-Monticello led 29-26 before nine unanswered gave the home team a double-digit lead for good. KJ Lesure hit a pair from the line and Damontrez Hawes hit a three. Jared Embry then added a layup and two free throws to put the Weevils up 12 with 19 seconds until intermission. Freshman Ty Prince made a layup to put the deficit at 10 at halftime.
Arkansas-Monticello scored the first seven points out of the break and went on to win by 29. Darnell Wright scored a game high 23 points while Austin Hardy came off the bench for 11. Lesure added 11 points and eight assists.
The Weevils took advantage of 20 Gents miscues for 31 points.
Centenary returns to action Tuesday night, November 27, for a contest at Millsaps. Tip-off in Jackson, Mississippi, is set for 8 p.m.