Shreveport – The Centenary men's basketball team returns home Friday to face the Southwestern University Pirates in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest set for 5:30 p.m. at the Gold Dome.
The Gents (7-6, 4-2 SCAC) dropped a pair of conference games on the road last weekend to Schreiner and Trinity after starting 4-0 in SAC play. Centenary has still won five of its last seven games overall and sits in third place in the conference standings. Southwestern enters Friday's game at 7-5 overall and 3-2 in SCAC play. The Pirates lost 77-69 at Texas Lutheran on Jan. 3 in their most recent game.
The Gents are unbeaten (4-0) this season at home with an average margin of victory of 23 points including two blowout wins over Millsaps (84-51) and Johnson and Wales (92-54). Centenary defeated Colorado College 83-75 in overtime on Dec. 29 and then picked up the 38-point win over Johnson and Wales the following day in its last home appearance.
Sophomore forward Ty Prince (Thorndale, Texas) led the Gents with 24 points in 38 minutes against Trinity on Sunday. He added eight rebounds, two assists, and two blocks. Prince has now scored in double figures in all 13 of Centenary's games this season and has scored 20 or more points nine times, including five of his last six games.
Prince leads the team and is the SCAC's leading scorer averaging 21.2 points per game. Prince has four double doubles this season and scored 59 points and grabbed 23 rebounds in three games this past week. He ranks fifth in the league in rebounding, averaging 8.0 per game and tops the conference in field goal percentage (.536) and blocks and is 11th in both assists and free throw percentage. He is tied for seventh in offensive rebounds and third in defensive rebounds. Prince's 21.2 points per game rank him in the top 50 in the nation in all of division III.
Sophomore guard AJ Hall (Thibodaux, La.) scored a season-high 17 points off the bench in 23 minutes on Sunday. He added three rebounds and had two steals and made seven of 12 shots. Senior guard Cedric Harris (Shreveport) scored 10 points in 32 minutes, reaching double figures for the 13th time this season. Harris ranks in the top five in scoring (fourth) and is sixth in rebounding in the conference and is second on the team behind teammate Prince averaging 18.2 points per game. Harris has made 50 three-point field goals, best in the conference, and has grabbed the most defensive rebounds (84) in the conference. Prince and Harris are third and fourth in the SCAC in minutes played.
Centenary ranks third in the SCAC in scoring offense, averaging 76.7 points per game and is fourth in scoring defense. The Gents are fourth in field goal percentage and second in field goal percentage defense. The Maroon and White average 40.4 rebounds per game, second best in the conference. The Gents rank second in blocked shots and third in steals.
The Gents welcome Texas Lutheran to the Gold Dome on Sunday at Noon and will be on the road next weekend to face St. Thomas on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 4 p.m. in Houston.
Live stats and live video are available for all home games and admission is FREE to all Centenary home athletic events. #GoCentenary #CTheOpportunity
