Shreveport – The Centenary men's basketball team completed a weekend sweep of a pair of Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference opponents with a 71-65 victory over Trinity on Sunday at the Gold Dome.
The Gents (11-9, 8-5 SCAC) won their third-straight game and improved to 7-1 at home this season. Centenary defeated Schreiner, 66-63, on Friday. Trinity fell to 7-12 and 5-7 SCAC with the loss. The Gents entered Sunday's play tied with Dallas for fourth in the conference standings.
Centenary took a 36-31 lead at halftime as the Gents grabbed 30 rebounds, scored 12 points in the paint and received 11 bench points. The Gents stretched the lead to 59-40 with 6:53 remaining in the game before Trinity went on a 12-0 run to cut the lead to seven at the four-minute mark. The Maroon and White made some clutch free throws in the final minutes of the game to seal the victory.
Senior guard Cedric Harris (Shreveport) scored 14 points to lead the Gents as he has now scored in double figures in all 20 Centenary games this season. He also grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds and recorded his sixth double-double of the season. Harris scored 21 in Friday's victory over Schreiner and had nine rebounds. He entered this weekend as the second-leading scorer in the SCAC averaging 19.9 points per game and seventh in the conference in rebounding, averaging 8.2 per game. Harris has made the most (78) three-point baskets in the conference after making three on Sunday and ranked second in defensive rebounds, averaging 6.9 per contest, and added 17 more in the last two games including 11 on Sunday.
Freshman guard Ralph Johnson (New Iberia, La.) matched Harris with 14 points in 34 minutes on 4-6 shooting from the floor. He was a perfect 6-6 from the free-throw line and had five assists and three rebounds. Sophomore forward Ty Prince (Thorndale, Texas) had 13 points and 10 rebounds, his fifth double-double of the season, and has also reached double figures in points in every game he has played this season. Freshman forward Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) was the third Gent to record a double-double on Sunday, as he had 11 points and 10 rebounds in 33 minutes. Centenary collected a season-best 56 rebounds and outrebounded the Tigers by 10. The Gents also forced 11 turnovers.
Ben Hanley led Trinity in scoring with 16 and was joined in double figures by A.J. Clark who had 14. David Nickell added nine points and 12 rebounds. The Tigers shot 32.5 % (25-77) for the game while the Gents shot 33.3 %. Centenary had a decisive advantage at the free throw line, making 20-28 while Trinity only shot three for the entire game, making two.
The Gents will face Southwestern and Texas Lutheran for their final two road games of the season next weekend. Centenary then plays its final three games of the regular season at home versus St. Thomas, Austin, and Dallas.
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