Seguin, Texas– The Centenary men's basketball team picked up a convincing 91-77 road win in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday afternoon over the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs at Memorial Gym.
The Gents (13-9, 10-5 SCAC) extended their winning streak to a season-tying best five in a row and completed a weekend conference sweep after a thrilling 82-79 comeback win on Friday at Southwestern. Centenary also won five in a row from Dec. 14-30. The Gents topped the 90-point mark for the third time this season and first since scoring 92 in a home win over Johnson and Wales on Dec. 30.
Freshman guard Ralph Johnson (New Iberia, La.) had a big game for the Gents as he scored a career-high 23 points in 37 minutes as he made eight of his 18 shot attempts and seven of nine free throws. Johnson made the tying basket on Friday at Southwestern and then made a pair of clutch free throws to seal the win after the Gents had trailed by four points with just 28 seconds remaining. He added eight assists, five rebounds, and a steal on Saturday. Johnson notched his 10th double-figure scoring game of the season and has done so six times in the last eight games.
Senior guard Cedric Harris (Shreveport) scored 18 points in 35 minutes as he has reached double figures in all 22 of Centenary's games this season. He had five rebounds and three steals on Saturday after scoring game-high 22 points in 37 minutes on Friday. Harris entered the weekend 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.
Sophomore forward Neil Hawkins (Titusville, Fla.), sophomore guard Kile Mingo (Cypress, Texas), and freshman forward Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) all scored in double figures as well. Thomas scored 12, Hawkins recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Mingo added 15in 22 minutes off of the bench.
Centenary shot a sizzling 51.5 % (35-68) from the floor for the game and a solid 15-20 (75 %) from the free-throw line. The Gents outrebounded the Bulldogs, 43-39 and had 16 assists and seven steals. Texas Lutheran shot just 36.8 % (25-68) from the floor and was led by Jorden Kite's 23 points. Sebastian Andrade and Caleb Lister joined Kite in double figures with 17 and 14 points each.
The Gents led 42-31 at halftime and edged the Bulldogs, 49-46 in a high-scoring second half and avenged an earlier home loss to TLU on Jan. 12, 79-75. The Bulldogs fell to 12-9 overall and 9-5 in SCAC play with the loss.
Centenary entered the weekend fourth in the SCAC standings just a half game behind Austin College and a half game ahead of Dallas The Gents now play their final three games of the regular season at home versus St. Thomas, Austin College, and Dallas. The Gents face St. Thomas on Friday, Feb. 14 at 5:30 p.m. and then meet Austin College and Dallas on Feb. 21 and 22.
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