Men's Basketball Falls to Texas Lutheran At Home, 79-75

Men's Basketball Falls to Texas Lutheran At Home, 79-75

Shreveport – The Centenary men's basketball team fell to the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs on Sunday, 79-75, in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest at the Gold Dome.

The Gents (8-7, 5-3 SCAC) lost for the first time at home this season after starting 5-0. Texas Lutheran improved to 9-5 and 6-1 in the SCAC. Centenary has still won seven of its last nine games.

Centenary senior guard Cedric Harris (Shreveport) scored a game-high and season-best 32 points in 38 minutes. Harris, who also scored 32 against Texas Lutheran last season, nearly matched his career best mark of 34 (set last season at ETBU) as he shot 10-27 from the field and made six of 15 three-point shots. He made six of seven free throws and also grabbed 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season and second in a row.

Harris had a stellar weekend after he scored 25 points with 17 rebounds in 31 minutes of Centenary's 84-74 win over Southwestern on Friday. Freshman guard Ralph Johnson (New Iberia, La.) scored a season-high 19 points in 27 minutes and had five assists, four rebounds, and steal as he made seven of 12 shots from the floor. Harris has reached double figures in points in all 15 Centenary games this season and is averaging 19.6 points per game and ranked fourth in the SCAC entering the weekend. Harris also entered the weekend sixth in the conference in rebounding and had made the most three pointers in the conference. He has topped the 20-point mark nine times this season.

Harris continues his superb season as he has been named SCAC Player of the Week and LSWA Player of the Week this season as well as eclipsing the 1,000 career-points mark as he makes a case for SCAC Player of the Year.

Sophomore forward Neil Hawkins (Titusville, Fla.) scored eight points and had 11 rebounds while freshman forward Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) scored seven points and sophomore guard AJ Hall (Thibodaux, La.) matched him with seven.

The Gents outrebounded the Bulldogs, 40-39, and forced 13 turnovers. Centenary shot 42.2 % (27-64) for the game from the floor and made seven of 19 three pointers. Centenary made 14 of 20 free throws as Harris connected on six of seven and Johnson made five of eight. Texas Lutheran made 18 of its 26 free throws for the game. Jorden Kite led five Bulldogs in double figures with 18 points in 32 minutes. Texas Lutheran shot 42.4 % for the game

The Gents return to action on Saturday, Jan. 18 for another SCAC contest at St. Thomas set for 4 p.m. in Houston.

Admission is FREE to all Centenary home athletic events. #GoCentenary #CTheOpportunity