Irving, Texas – The Centenary men's basketball team had its season-high three-game winning streak snapped on Saturday as the Gents fell to the University of Dallas Crusaders in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference action, 67-60, at the Maher Center.
The Gents (4-2) earned a split during the weekend after a 76-73 victory on Friday night. The Crusaders earned their first win of the season to improve to 1-5 overall. Centenary, which swept Schreiner last weekend in Kerrville, Texas, is still an impressive 14-2 in their last 16 SCAC games dating back to Jan. 25, 2020.
Sophomore guard Ralph Johnson (New Iberia, La) led the Gents on Saturday with a season-high 23 points on 8 of 16 shooting in 37 minutes. Johnson, the 2019-20 SCAC Newcomer of the Year, nearly reached his career high of 28 points set last season. He scored in double figures for the fourth time this season and for the 19th time in his career. He added five rebounds on Saturday with an assist and a steal and made a pair of treys.
Sophomore forward Neil Hawkins (Titusville, Fla.) posted a solid game with nine points and nine rebounds in 32 minutes. He blocked two shots, had a steal, and made 4 of 7 shot attempts from the field. Junior guard Tykeem Singleton (Fort Worth, Texas) finished off an impressive weekend with eight points, two rebounds, two steals, and a block in 24 minutes. Singleton scored a season-high nine points and tied his career high in rebounds with seven in 21 minutes in Friday's victory.
Sophomore forward Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) failed to reach double figures for the first time this season as he was held to a season-low seven points. Thomas, who was named the SCAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week on Monday, made just one of his six shot attempts from the field in 34 minutes. He did, however, grab seven rebounds and went 5-6 from the free-throw line and had a pair of steals. Thomas entered the weekend as the conference's leading scorer, averaging 18.5 points per game and ranked second in rebounding, averaging 10.5 per game. He also entered Friday's game tied for third in steals, tied for fourth in free-throw percentage, and leading the SCAC in defensive rebounds.
Thomas has recorded a double-double in four of Centenary's six games this season and was also named to the D3hoops.com Team of the Week for the week of January 24th, it was announced by D3hoops.com earlier this week. Thomas was the first Centenary athlete to be named to the team since Travion Kirkendoll earned the distinction in week nine of the 2017-18 season. The D3hoops.com Team of the Week recognizes five players -- two backcourt and three frontcourt players -- each week.
Centenary struggled on offense Saturday, shooting just 34.4 % from the field, made just two of their 18 three-point attempts, and missed 10 free throws. Dallas outrebounded the Gents, 44-37, and forced 17 Centenary turnovers. Dallas, though, was mostly cold shooting on Saturday as well as the Crusaders finished the game at 36.8 % overall and missed 15 of 20 shots from three-point range. Dallas did well at the free-throw line, though, making 20 of 24 attempts and had 14 assists on 21 made baskets along with seven steals and four blocks.
Dallas had five players in double figures, led by 14 from Marcus Juarez. Jai Love had 13, Cameran Hyde added 10, and Jack Boyle scored 11 with a game-high 19 rebounds. Louis Christifano Jr. scored 11 points off the bench and was a perfect 8-8 from the free-throw line.
The Gents led 31-27 at halftime after shooting 37.9 % led by Johnson's 10 points and a combined 12 from Hawkins and Singleton. Dallas came out fast in the first part of the second half and took a 47-35 lead at the 12:51 mark. The Crusaders still led by double digits at the 7:10 mark (51-41) but Centenary cut it to 54-50 on a jumper by Johnson with 4:09 remaining. A three-pointer by Hyde with 2:28 left pushed the Dallas lead back to seven (59-52). A pair of free throws by Thomas got the Gents to 59-55 with 51 seconds remaining but several clutch free throws inside the final minute allowed the Crusaders to hold on for the seven-point win.
Centenary returns home to face Colorado College next weekend in SCAC play. The games are scheduled for Friday, Feb. 5 at approximately 8 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 6 at approximately 3 p.m. Live video and live stats are available at all home games.
A link to the Gents' complete schedule can be found here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/mbkb/2020-21/schedule.
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