Shreveport - The Centenary men's basketball team defeated the St. Thomas Celts on Saturday afternoon by a score of 71-69 in a key Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest at the Gold Dome.
The Gents (7-3) survived a video review of a last-second shot that would have tied the game and sent it into overtime but it was ruled no good as the Gents closed their regular season with a thrilling win over the Celts (8-4). St. Thomas defeated the Gents 66-63 on Friday as the teams split in a battle between two of the SCAC's leaders.
The Gents and Celts finish the regular season tied for second behind regular-season champion Trinity (8-1) and Centenary clinched the No. 3 seed in next weekend's conference championship.
The SCAC office recently announced a format change for the men's and women's basketball tournaments earlier this week, which will begin next weekend on campus sites around the conference. Normally conducted over one weekend among the top six teams at a single predetermined site, this year the top eight men's and women's teams will qualify for the postseason conference tournament which will stretch over three weekends.
The semifinals are scheduled for March 12-14 and the men's and women's championship will occur the weekend of March 19-21. The top four seeds will host first round games on both the men's and women's side, and the top remaining seeds will host semifinal and championship rounds.
Centenary will host No. 6 seed Texas Lutheran either Friday, March 5 or Sunday, March 7 in a first round game. The Gents and Bulldogs met on the opening weekend of the season at the Gold Dome and split the two games with the Gents winning the opener, 61-52, and TLU earning a 68-55 win the next day. Centenary defeated the Bulldogs, 77-56, to win the 2020 SCAC Championship last season in Seguin, Texas.
SCAC Player of the Year candidate Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) led the Gents on Saturday with a game-high 22 points in 39 minutes. The sophomore forward made 7 of his 14 attempts from the floor and was 5-7 from beyond the arc in one of his best performances of the season. He added eight rebounds, a steal, two blocks, and was 3-5 from the free-throw line. Thomas, who scored 16 points on Friday, has now scored in double figures in nine of the Gents' 10 games this season and entered the weekend ranked fifth in the SCAC in scoring (14.9 PPG) and second in rebounding (9.9 RPG).
Thomas is now averaging 15.7 PPG after his 38 points in two games this weekend and recorded his second 20+ point game this season. He has scored at least 15 points in a game seven times, has five double-digit rebounding performances, and has five double-doubles. He was especially clutch in the second half on Saturday as he poured in 15 points on 5-8 shooting and connected on 4-5 three-point attempts.
Thomas entered Friday's play second in the conference steals, seventh in free-throw percentage, and 10th in blocked shots. He was the league leader in defensive rebounds and ranked14th in offensive rebounds. Thomas entered the weekend ranked in the top 40 in the country in defensive rebounds per game, steals, and total rebounds.
Junior guard AJ Hall (Thibodaux, La.) was outstanding for the second game in a row as he scored a season-high 16 points, one shy of his career high, in 33 minutes, making 7 of his 14 shots from the field. He grabbed five rebounds and had an assist. Hall scored seven points with three rebounds on Friday and added two assists, and three steals in 27 minutes. Freshman forward Tre Washington (Gibson, La.) scored a career-high 13 points off the bench in 19 valuable minutes. He made 6-9 shots overall with three rebounds and a pair of blocks.
Junior guard Kile Mingo (Cypress, Texas) scored in double figures for the second game in a row as he had 10 in 27 minutes off the bench. He shot 4-7 from the floor and hit a pair of treys. Her also grabbed three rebounds and had two assists and a steal. Mingo scored 13 points on Friday and grabbed seven rebounds and had two assists and three steals. Sophomore guard Ralph Johnson (New Iberia, La.) played 34 minutes and scored five points and had two rebounds, three assists, and a steal. Junior forward Neil Hawkins (Titusville, Fla.) scored three points in 20 minutes and had for rebounds, a steal, and a game-high and season-best five assists.
Freshman forward Adam Kanafani led St. Thomas with 18 points in 24 minutes as he shot 6-9 from the floor and grabbed four rebounds. Juan Hood added 16 and Cameron Gims recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The Gents shot 49.1 % from the floor for the game including a blistering 57.1 % in the second half, making 15 of their 26 attempts. Centenary led 32-19 at halftime after shooting 41.9 % from the floor. The Celts shot 42.3 % for the game and 48.5 % in the second half.
The Celts came into Friday's game averaging a conference-best 78.4 points per game and were first in scoring margin but did not reach their season average in points in either game as they met their match, facing a Gents team which is one of the top defensive clubs in the conference and the country. Centenary has held its opponent under 70 points eight times in 10 games this season.
Centenary increased its lead to 40-24 at the 17:35 mark of the second half on a three-pointer by Thomas but by the 9:17 mark the Celts had cut the Gents' lead to just three, 51-48. The game stayed within a close range of four to five points for the next several minutes until a dunk by Washington put the Gents up 64-55 with 4:01 remaining. A free throw by Thomas made it 68-59 Gents with 2:28 left but the Celts went on an 8-1 run over the next minute to cut the Centenary lead to just two, at 69-67 at the 1:47 mark. Each team scored one more basket apiece but the Gents' stingy defense held off the Celts down the stretch to secure the win.
Centenary is an impressive 17-3 in its last 20 conference games dating back to Jan. 25, 2020 and is 9-2 in its last 11 home games. Centenary, which went 10-1 at home last season, is now 14-3 in its last 17 games at the Gold Dome.
The date and Time of the Gents' opening round game of the 2021 SCAC men's Basketball Championship versus TLU will be announced Sunday or Monday.
A link to the Gents' complete schedule can be found here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/mbkb/2020-21/schedule.
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