Georgetown, Texas– The Centenary men's basketball team defeated the Southwestern Pirates in thrilling fashion by a score of 82-79 on Friday evening in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest at the Robertson Center.
The Gents (12-9, 9-5 SCAC) trailed 79-75 with just 28 seconds remaining but tied the game at 79-79 on a layup on by freshman guard Ralph Johnson (New Iberia, La.) and then he made three clutch free throws down the stretch to seal the comeback victory.
Senior guard Cedric Harris (Shreveport) scored a game-high 22 points in 37 minutes as he has now scored in double figures in all 21 of Centenary's games this season. He grabbed eight rebounds as he just missed his seventh double-double of the season. Harris scored 14 points and had 14 rebounds last Sunday in a home victory over Trinity and entered the game as the fourth-leading scorer in the SCAC averaging 19.7 points per game and seventh in the conference in rebounding, averaging 8.5 per game.
Johnson and sophomore forward Neil Hawkins (Titusville, Fla.) joined Harris in double figures and freshman forward Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) and freshman guard Drew Young (Lake Charles, La.) each scored nine points. Johnson played 34 minutes and scored in double figures for the ninth time this season and for the second-straight game and had five assists and three rebounds. Hawkins scored 14 points in 37 minutes and had a game-high 12 rebounds.
Centenary shot 41.8 % (28-67) for the game from the floor and made 10 of 31 three-point attempts. The Gents shot well from the free-throw line as well, making 16 of 20 attempts. Centenary only turned the ball over seven times while forcing 12 Southwestern turnovers. Southwestern also shot well from the floor as they made 50 % (27-54) of their shots from the floor overall and 12 of 18 three-point baskets. Joel Martinez scored 20 points off the bench to lead the Pirates. Brandon Alexander and Josh Jones joined Martinez in double figures, scoring 11 and 10 points respectively.
Centenary trailed by three, 37-34, at halftime but outscored the Pirates by six (48-42) in the second half to win its fourth-straight game. The Gents held a 51-50 lead at the 14:16 mark of the second half but did not lead again until a three-point basket by Johnson gave the Maroon and White a 67-66 advantage at the 6:02 mark. Southwestern was up 76-70 with 2:13 remaining before Centenary made its final push and secured the victory.
The Gents swept the season series from the Pirates after claiming an 84-74 victory, on Jan. 10 at home. Southwestern fell to 9-11 and 5-8 in SCAC play with the loss. Centenary entered the game fourth in the SCAC standings just a half game behind Austin College and a half game ahead of Dallas while Southwestern was tied for sixth place with Trinity.
The Gents will face Texas Lutheran on Saturday in Seguin in their final road game of the season at 2 p.m. Centenary then plays its final three games of the regular season at home versus St. Thomas, Austin, and Dallas.
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