Shreveport- The Centenary men's basketball team recorded a historic victory on Friday evening at the Gold Dome as the Gents defeated the Austin College 'Roos 84-71 in a key Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest which secured the No. 1 seed for Centenary in next weekend's 2020 Basketball Championships in Kerrville, Texas.
The Gents (15-9, 12-5 SCAC) set a division III program record for conference wins in a single season and won their season-best seventh game in a row as they improved to 9-1 at home this season. The Gents led 50-35 at halftime. Centenary was coming off the biggest win in the division III era last Friday as the Gents defeated St. Thomas, 99-89, at home. Austin College, which entered Friday's game tied with Centenary in the standings, fell to 14-10 and 11-6 in SCAC play. Centenary will be the top seed in the 2020 Basketball Championships Feb. 28-March 1 hosted by Schreiner University and will play at Noon on Saturday, Feb. 29 against the winner of Friday's first quarterfinal game between the No. 4 and 5 seeds.
Senior guard Cedric Harris (Shreveport) and sophomore Ty Prince (Thorndale,Texas) each scored 17 points to lead the Gents in scoring. Freshman guard Ralph Johnson (New Iberia, La.) added 16 as Centenary shot 47.5 % (28-59) for the game from the floor including an impressive 52.9 % in the first half. Harris, who entered the game as the second -leading scorer in the SCAC averaging 20.1 points per game, grabbed 12 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. Harris scored 28 against St. Thomas last Friday and has eclipsed the 20-point mark 13 times this season.
Prince grabbed 13 rebounds to go along with his 17 points as he posted his sixth double-double of the season. He also had four assists, a block, and a steal in 34 minutes. Johnson, who scored a career-high 28 points in 38 minutes on Friday, had two rebounds, two assists, and two steals, reached double figures for the 12th time this season and for the fifth-straight game. He has seven double-doubles in his last 10 games and entered the game ranked in the top 25 in the league in scoring, seventh in field goal, and eighth in assists.
Sophomore forward Neil Hawkins (Titusville, Fla.), freshman forward Seth Thomas (Kilgore,Texas), and sophomore guard Kile Mingo (Cypress, Texas) each scored eight points and sophomore guard AJ Hall (Thibodaux, La.) added six in 11 minutes with four rebounds.
Harris and Oliver Keeble (Newcastle, Australia) will be honored in a special pregame Senior Day ceremony on Saturday at approximately 4:45 p.m. as the Gents face the University of Dallas at 5 p.m. in their regular-season finale. Saturday's start time was originally scheduled for 4 p.m. but the game was moved back an hour.
Live stats and live video will be available for both game this weekend via www.gocentenary.com and are available for all Centenary athletics home contests. Admission is FREE to all Centenary home athletics events.
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