Shreveport – The Centenary men's basketball team raced out to a 15-point halftime lead over the Southwestern Pirates on Friday and picked up an 84-74 victory in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest at the Gold Dome.
The Gents (8-6, 5-2 SCAC) improved to 5-0 at home this season and have won six of their last eight games. Southwestern fell to 7-6 and 3-3 in SCAC play. Centenary has won six of its eight games this season by double digits.
Centenary senior guard Cedric Harris (Shreveport) had a superb performance with 25 points and 17 rebounds in 31 minutes and made eight of 18 shots from the field. Four other Gents joined Harris in double figures with freshman forward Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) scoring a season-high 18 points in 36 minutes and adding nine rebounds. He hit five of his 11 shots from the floor and made seven of nine free throw attempts.
Harris has reached double figures in all 14 games this season. He entered Friday fifth in the league in rebounding, averaging 8.0 per game and tops in the conference in field goal percentage (.536) and blocks. He ranked 11th in both assists and free throw percentage and was tied for seventh in offensive rebounds and third in defensive rebounds.
Sophomore guard Kile Mingo (Cypress, Texas) scored 12 points, his seventh time to reach double digits this season. Mingo added three assists and two rebounds and made two of five from three-point range. Sophomore forward Neil Hawkins (Titusville, Fla.) scored 11 points and had five rebounds and three blocks in 27 minutes. Sophomore guard AJ Hall (Thibodaux, La.) scored in double figures for the second-straight game with 10 points in 23 minutes off of the bench. Hall had a season-best 17 on Saturday at Trinity.
Centenary shot 46.3 % for the game (25-54) and made 10 of its 30 three-point attempts. The Gents were also solid from the free-throw line, making 24 of 30 shots and outrebounded the Pirates, 45-35. Centenary forced 12 turnovers and picked up five blocks and four steals.
Southwestern was led in scoring by Brandon Alexander's 16 points. He played 33 minutes and had five rebounds and four assists. Kyle Poerschke scored 14 points and Preston Hannah and Kyle Howard combined for 23 points and 13 rebounds. The Pirates shot 38.1 % for the game from the floor but missed 21 of 30 three-point attempts and missed 12 free throws.
The Gents face Texas Lutheran on Sunday at Noon in another SCAC contest. Texas Lutheran (8-5, 5-1 SCAC) defeated previously unbeaten St. Thomas on the road on Friday. Live stats and live video stream will be available for the game.
Admission is FREE to all Centenary home athletic events. #GoCentenary #CTheOpportunity
