Seguin, Texas - The Centenary men's basketball team fell to the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs by a score of 58-47 on Saturday afternoon in its regular-season finale in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest at Memorial Gymnasium.
The Gents (12-12, 7-9 SCAC) will be the No. 5 seed in next weekend's SCAC Tournament in Sherman, Texas. The Bulldogs (10-14, 8-8 SCAC) earned the No. 4 seed by virtue of their win on Saturday. Centenary had already clinched a berth with Friday's 77-55 win at Southwestern. The Maroon and White have earned a spot in the conference tournament for the ninth-straight season.
Centenary struggled offensively on Saturday, shooting just 33.3 % (19-57) overall and went 2-17 (11.8 %) from beyond the arc in scoring a season-low 47 points. The Gents, who shot well from the free throw line (7-10) outrebounded the Bulldogs, 42-39. TLU only shot 36.8 % (21-57) overall and struggled from 3-point range (5-19 for 26.3 %) and missed six of 17 free throw attempts for 64.7 %. The Gents turned the ball over 16 times while the Bulldogs did so 11 times.
Two Gents, junior F Joseph Wiggins (Bossier City, La.), and senior F Jarrell Taylor (Leesville, La.), reached double figures as Wiggins scored a career-high 19 points a day after recording his previous season and career-high of 13 in the win at Southwestern. Wiggins played 33 minutes and made all eight of his shot attempts overall and went 3-5 from the free throw line. He grabbed five rebounds and blocked a shot. Taylor made 5-9 shots overall in his 20 minutes and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. He has reached double figures 13 times this season. Two Bulldogs scored in double figures as Isaac Orozco scored 15 and Jamir Mason posted 13. Cameron Fontenot just missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds. Sebastian Andrade scored eight and Xavier Phillips chipped in four.
Junior F Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) had a solid game with eight points and seven rebounds in 35 minutes. He blocked a shot and finished 2-3 from the free throw line. Senior G Kile Mingo (Cypress, Texas) was held to just three points, but they were a historic three points as he hit a trey at the 15:19 mark of the first half to give him 151 career 3-pointers to move into the program's all-time top 10. Mingo also grabbed five rebounds and recorded an assist in 27 minutes. Senior G AJ Hall (Thibodaux, La.) scored four in 25 minutes and went 2-2 from the free throw line with one rebound.
Junior G Ralph Johnson (White Castle, La.) scored two points, grabbed two rebounds, and had one steal in 30 minutes. Senior G Tevin Baker (Port Arthur, Texas) did not score but he grabbed four rebounds, dished out a pair of assists, and had a steal in 18 minutes. Junior G Jalen Behr (Athens, Ga.) was held scoreless in his five minutes but grabbed a rebound. Sophomore G Dylan Hooter (Mandeville, La.) played seven minutes and also did not score but he recorded one steal and grabbed a rebound.
The Gents led 30-25 at halftime after holding the Bulldogs to just two points over the final 4:56 of the half. A 3-pointer by Taylor tied the game at 14-14 at the 10:55 mark and from that point on, Centenary outscored TLU 16-11. The latter part of the second half, though, belonged to the home team as the Bulldogs outscored the Gents 33-17 to secure the win. Centenary stayed in front until a layup by Mason with 13:19 remaining gave the Bulldogs a 39-38 lead. The teams stayed within three points or less of each other for the next several minutes as the lead changed hands multiple times. A layup by Wiggins gave the Gents a 47-45 lead with 5:34 left but those would be Centenary's final points of the game as TLU finished on a 13-0 run with the Gents missing their final 11 shots of the game.
The Gents and Bulldogs will now take five days off and meet again in the opening game of the 2022 SCAC Men's Basketball Tournament on Friday, Feb. 25 at Noon in Sherman, Texas hosted by Austin College. No. 3 seed Schreiner (14-11, 12-4 SCAC) will face No. 6 seed Southwestern (9-16, 6-10 SCAC) at 2 p.m. on Friday in the second game. No. 1 seed St. Thomas (20-5, 14-2 SCAC) will face the Centenary-TLU winner on Saturday at Noon in the semifinals and No. 2 seed Trinity (20-4, 12-3 SCAC) meets the Schreiner-Southwestern winner in semifinal number two on Saturday at 2 p.m. The championship game is set for Noon on Sunday, Feb. 27.
A link to the Gents' complete 2021-22 schedule can be found here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/mbkb/2021-22/schedule
Admission is FREE to all Centenary home athletic contests but be advised of current COVID-19 protocols for fans. Updated COVID-19 information is now available via www.GoCentenary.com.
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