Kerrville, Texas – The Centenary men's basketball team finished off a weekend sweep of the Schreiner Mountaineers with a 70-67 road victory on Saturday in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference action at the Stephens Family Arena.
The Gents (3-1) followed up Friday night's 79-75 win with an 11th win in their last 12 conference games. Centenary is a stellar 13-1 in its last 14 SCAC games dating back to Jan. 25, 2020. The Maroon and White defeated Schreiner for the fourth-straight time with Saturday's win. The Gents defeated Schreiner at home in the regular season last season, in the semifinals of the 2020 SCAC Championship last March, and swept both games this weekend.
Sophomore forward Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) was once again outstanding on Saturday as the SCAC's leader in scoring posted another double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds in 27 minutes. His 13 rebounds are a new career-high, breaking his previous career mark of 12 set on Friday. He made 5 of 16 shots from the floor, went 6-6 from the free-throw line, and dished out two assists and had a steal. Thomas scored a career-high 24 points on Friday and now has four career double-doubles and reached double digits for the 12th time in his career. He has scored in double figures in all four of Centenary's games this season, scoring at least 15 points in every game and grabbing at least 11 rebounds in all but one game.
Thomas is now averaging a league-best 18.5 points per game and is second in rebounding, averaging 10.5 per game. He is tied for third in steals, tied for fourth in free-throw percentage, and leads the SCAC in defensive rebounds. Junior guard Kile Mingo (Cypress, Texas) had a solid game with 13 points and seven rebounds in 25 minutes. He added two assists and a steal and made 5 of 8 shots from the field including a pair of three-pointers. Mingo also scored 13 points on Friday. Sophomore forward Neil Hawkins (Titusville, Fla.) nearly recorded a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds in 28 minutes. Sophomore guard Ralph Johnson (New Iberia, La) had 11 points, three rebounds, three assists, and a steal in 30 minutes of 5 of 9 shooting from the floor.
The Gents shot 39.7 % from the floor for the game and 40.5 % in the second half. Centenary grabbed 40 rebounds, had 15 assists, and picked up six steals. The Gents forced 17 turnovers, had 24 bench points, and had 32 points in the paint. Darion Jones scored 15 points to lead three Mountaineers in double figures. Bronson Evans and DaRyan Williams each scored 12 points. Jones grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and Evans and Williams each had seven. Schreiner shot 45.9 % for the game from the field but hurt themselves from the free-throw line, missing 11 of 17 attempts.
Centenary rattled off 15 consecutive points after trailing 5-2 just minutes into the game to take a 17-5 lead at the 13:06 mark of the first half. A jumper by Hawkins extended the Gents' lead to 22-9 at the 10:21 mark and the lead stretched to 27-11 with just under eight minutes left before the half. Schreiner gained some ground in the closing minutes of the opening period but Centenary took a 31-27 lead into the locker room at the half. Mingo was the Gents' offensive leader in the half, scoring 11 of his 13 points.
Schreiner took a 34-31 lead early in the second half and maintained a lead for the majority of the second half, getting up by as many as 11 (57-46) with 7:45 remaining. Centenary stayed within striking distance, inching closer over the next five minutes and finally tied the game at 64-64 on a jumper in the paint by Johnson at the 2:58 mark. Thomas then nailed a jumper with 29 seconds remaining to give the Gents the lead, 68-67, their first lead since a 31-29 advantage at the 19:05 mark of the half. After a missed shot that would have given Schreiner the lead with seven seconds remaining, Thomas sank two free throws for a 70-67 lead and the Mountaineers missed a tying three-point attempt and the Gents prevailed with the comeback victory. Thomas led the way with 13 points in the second half and junior guard AJ Hall (Thibodaux, La.) had all seven of his points in the second half in just 15 minutes of action. Hall followed up an impressive performance on Friday when he nearly matched his career high in points with 15 on 6 of 12 shooting from the floor and connected on three of his seven three-point attempts.
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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