Kerrville, Texas – The No. 1 seed Centenary men's basketball team defeated the Schreiner Mountaineers on Saturday by a score of 76-70 in the semifinals of the 2020 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship at Stephens Family Arena to advance to Sunday's title game against the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs at Noon.
The Gents (17-9, 14-5 SCAC) will face TLU for the third time this season after the two teams split a pair of regular-season meetings. The Gents fell at home to TLU by a score of 79-75 on Jan. 12 and then returned the favor in Seguin on Feb. 8, beating the Bulldogs, 91-77.
Live stats and live video will be available for Sunday's championship game at www.scacsports.com. Schreiner fell to 11-16 and 9-11 SCAC with the loss.
Texas Lutheran defeated Austin College 79-72 in the second semifinal to clinch a spot in Sunday's championship contest as junior guard Sebastian Andrade led TLU with 38 points. TLU is the defending tournament champion, having won on its home floor last season.
Centenary extended its winning streak to nine and clinched a berth in the title game for the fourth time in program history and for the second time in the last three seasons, having made it in 2018. The Maroon and White earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament for the first time in program history after previously being as high as the No. 2 seed times and advancing to the title game on all three occasions.
Following the victory, the 2019-20 All-SCAC team was announced and Gents head coach Chris Dorsey was named the 2019-20 SCAC Coach of the Year, senior guard Cedric Harris (Shreveport) was named the 2019-20 SCAC Player of the Year, and freshman Ralph Johnson (New Iberia, La.) was named the 2019-20 Newcomer of the Year. Sophomore forward Ty Prince, last season's SCAC Newcomer of the Year, was named to the All-SCAC Third Team.
Harris was also named to the All-SCAC First team and Johnson and sophomore forward Neil Hawkins (Titusville, Fla.) earned Honorable Mention honors.
Harris had 26 points and 12 rebounds, his 10th double-double of the season, to lead the Gents. Harris was named the 2019-20 SCAC Player of the Year following the game and was also named to the All-SCAC First Team. Harris played 37 minutes and shot 8-16 from the floor and made 7 of his 13 three-point attempts. He added three assists, two steals, and a block.
Harris entered the tournament third in the SCAC in scoring averaging 19.9 points per game and fifth in rebounding, averaging 8.6 per game. Harris has also made the most three-point baskets (97) in the SCAC and has now eclipsed the 20-point mark 14 times this season.
Sophomore guard Kile Mingo (Cypress, Texas) scored 18 points off the bench for the Gents in 29 minutes. Mingo made 5 of 6 shots from the field, made 4 of his 5 three-point attempts, and went 4-6 from the free throw line.
Freshman forward Seth Thomas (Kilgore,Texas) scored 12 points and added three rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a block. Johnson scored eight points and had two steals and an assist. Prince scored 11 points and had five rebounds and had two assists.
Centenary held a slim 31-30 lead at halftime. The Gents led by as many as 11 in the first half and led 25-15 at the 5:54 mark of the half but then Schreiner went on a 15-6 run to close the half and tighten the game. The Gents were 6 of 15 (40.0 percent) from three-point range in the first half.
Junior forward Matthew Rindahl led the Mountaineers with a game-high 27 points and added 11 rebounds. Schreiner's Chase Pinter hit a jumper early in the second half to give the Mountaineers the lead at 32-31 but Harris nailed a three-pointer on Centenary's ensuing possession and the Gents never trailed again. Paul Wells had 14 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, and two steals for the Mountaineers while Alex Dehoyos had 13 points, six rebounds, five assists, and two steals.
Centenary shot an even 40 % (24-60) from the field for the game and made 11 of 27 (40.7 %) of its three-point attempts. The Gents also forced 18 turnovers.
For more information on the 2020 SCAC Men's Basketball Tournament and to see the complete 2019-20 All-SCAC Team, click here for the official website. Men's Tournament Bracket
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