DENVER – The Gents led for virtually all of the first 36 minutes of the game, but the Wildcats put together a major run to rally for the double-digit victory as Centenary (5-9, 3-3 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference) fell at Johnson & Wales (11-5, 4-3 SCAC) 77-67 Saturday night, January 5.
The Gents led for the entire first half and early in the second until the home team took a 44-43 lead with 13:42 left in the game. Both teams failed to score in the next minute before a senior Treylan Matthews triple ignited a Gents 7-0 run. Freshman Ty Prince made a pair from the line and junior Cedric Harris picked up a steal and a flush to punctuate the seven unanswered points in a little more than a minute spurt.
In the first half clinging to a 20-19 lead, a 10-2 run opened up a nine-point lead. Senior Kaharri Carter split from the line before Matthews made a layup and a triple. The Wildcats answered with a bucket, but a Matthews' layup and a Carter layup off on offensive rebound pushed the Gents advantage to 30-21.
Centenary led by as much as 10 in the first half and 35-28 at the break.
Matthews led a quartet of Gents with 23 points while Harris poured in 18. Carter and freshman Ty Prince chipped in 13.
However, Johnson & Wales got hot at the end of the game and used a 37-26 edge on the boards to its advantage. The Gents led 61-57 with 4:44 left before 10 unanswered by the Wildcats in a 2:01 span. After a split from the line, Kelsey Williams made a pair from the charity stripe. A layup by Andrew Romero and a three from Charles Young gave Johnson & Wales a four-point edge.
However, a key turnover occurred on the Gents end when Harris drove baseline but was whistled for a charge. After a foul on Centenary on the inbounds, Romero made a pair from the line. Johnson & Wales never led by less than four the rest of the way as it made its last 13 from the line in the contest.
Romero led the team with 33 points while Young came off the bench with 18.
Centenary returns to action Saturday, January 12, at East Texas Baptist. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.