Kerrville, Texas – The Centenary men's basketball team defeated the Schreiner Mountaineers, 79-75, behind a career night from sophomore Seth Thomas in its first Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference road contest of the season on Friday night at the Stephens Family Arena.
The Gents (2-1) returned to the court where they claimed the 2020 SCAC Championship last March and in the process defeated Schreiner for the third time in the last four meetings. Friday's game was the first for the Mountaineers this season after their games last weekend at Southwestern were cancelled. The two teams will face off again on Saturday at 4 p.m. Live stats and live video will be available at: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/mbkb/2020-21/schedule.
Centenary continued its hot streak in SCAC play as the Gents improved to a stellar 10-1 in their last 11 conference games and have also won 13 of 14 and 17 of 23 in SCAC play. The Gents opened their season last weekend by earning a split with Texas Lutheran at home, winning 61-52 in the season opener and then falling 68-55 the next day.
Sophomore forward Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) continued his superb play this season with a career-high 24 points in 39 minutes. He added a career-high 12 rebounds for his third career double-double. He has now reached double figures in scoring 11 times in his young career and in all three of the Gents' games this season. Thomas posted a double-double in last Friday's season opener, as he scored a game-high 18 points in 27 minutes and grabbed a team-best 11 rebounds and followed that up with 15 points, six rebounds, and three steals on Saturday.
Junior guard AJ Hall (Thibodaux, La.) nearly matched his career high in points on Friday with 15 on 6 of 12 shooting from the floor and connected on three of his seven three-point attempts. Junior guard Kile Mingo (Cypress, Texas) added 13 points in 28 minutes as he went 5-6 from the free-throw line and hit a pair of treys. Sophomore guard Ralph Johnson (New Iberia, La) had a big second half and finished with 11 points in 36 minutes. The 2019-20 SCAC Newcomer of the Year added four steals, four assists, three rebounds, and went 5-6 from the free-throw line. Sophomore forward Neil Hawkins (Titusville, Fla.) had seven points and five rebounds in 23 minutes of action.
Centenary shot 39.7 % from the floor for the game and 44.8 % after halftime. The Gents forced 26 Schreiner turnovers and had 13 steals. The Mountaineers shot 46.3 % from the field for the game. Alex Dehoyos led four Mountaineers in double figures with 16 points. Darion Jones posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
The game featured 11 ties and 20 lead changes. Schreiner took a slim 39-38 lead into the half but the Gents outscored the Mountaineers in the second half, 41-36. Centenary benefited from 30 bench points, led by the 28 combined points from Hall and Mingo. Freshman forward Tre Washington (Gibson, La.) added the other two bench points and also grabbed five rebounds. Washington scored eight points with four rebounds in his Centenary debut last weekend against TLU.
Centenary got off to a blazing start on Friday, scoring the game's first 10 points. Darion Jones' free throw at the 15:04 mark finally got Schreiner on the scoreboard. The Mountaineers battled back to tie the game at 18-18 with just over 11 minutes remaining in the half and actually took a seven-point lead, 29-22, at the 8:05 mark, and still led by six (37-31) with 3:08 remaining before halftime. The Gents, though, scored seven-straight points over the next two minutes to lead 38-37 with 57 seconds left in the half before two free throws in the closing seconds gave Schreiner the one-point advantage at the break.
The second half featured both teams trading baskets and several lead changes and ties. Johnson went 1-2 at the free-throw line with just under 30 seconds remaining to give the Gents a two point-lead, 77-75. Schreiner missed a pair of shots in the final 45 seconds and sophomore guard Drew Young (Lake Charles, La.) iced the game with a pair of free throws with .5 remaining in the game.
The Gents remain on the road next weekend as they travel to Dallas to face the Crusaders on Jan. 29 (8 p.m.) and Jan. 30 (4 p.m.).
A link to the Gents' complete schedule can be found here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/mbkb/2020-21/schedule.
Live stats and live video are available for all home games.
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