Shreveport- The Centenary men's basketball team rallied late in the second from a 15-point halftime deficit but ultimately could not catch the Louisiana Christian University Wildcats, as the Gents fell 63-51 in a non-conference contest on Wednesday evening at the Gold Dome.
The Gents (1-2) were behind 36-21 after the first 20 minutes but stayed strong and eventually chipped the LCU lead down to just six (52-46) at the 3:47 mark on a slam dunk by senior F Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas). The Wildcats (3-2) then went on an 8-0 run and led by double digits the rest of the way to seal the win.
The Wildcats shot 41.5 % (22-53) from the floor for the game and were hot from beyond the arc, connecting on 11-24 attempts for 45.8 %. The Gents struggled on offense as they finished at just 27.3 % (18-66) and were cold from outside, going 4-26 for 15.4 %. Both teams struggled at the free throw line as well as LCU was just 8-14 for 57.1 % and Centenary finished 61.1 % (11-18).
LCU won the rebounding battle 47-40 and had 17 assists on its 22 made baskets. The Wildcats tallied eight steals and blocked five shots but hurt themselves with 22 turnovers and committed 21 fouls. The Gents recorded eight steals, four assists, and blocked one shot and turned the ball over 16 times.
Junior G Braeden Board (Rayne, La.) led the Gents with 14 points, junior G Chrys Jackson (North Las Vegas, Nev.) came off the bench and scored 12, and Thomas added 11. Bailey Hardy led all scorers with 21 points but was the only LCU player to reach double figures. Three players though – Ferontay Banks, K.J. Bilbo, and Delor Johnson each scored eight or more points.
Senior G Jalen Behr (Athens, Ga.) played 18 minutes and scored five points with three rebounds and a blocked shot, senior G Tykeem Singleton (Fort Worth, Texas) grabbed five rebounds and had one steal in 19 minutes, and senior F Joseph Wiggins (Bossier City, La.) added two points in 17 minutes.
Freshman G Cameron Walker (Bossier City, La.) played just four minutes but had two points, one rebound, and one steal. Junior G Jerrick Baines (Alexandria, La.) played 17 minutes and had three points and an assist. Freshman G Quentin Beverly (Katy, Texas) and senior G/F Willie Davis (Bronx, New York) each scored one point. Davis grabbed four rebounds, two steals and an assist while Beverly had an assist and a steal.
Malik Cooper scored four points in 25 minutes for LC and added five rebounds, a block, and a steal, and Gary Smith was solid in his 17 minutes as he scored three points, tallied three steals, had two assists, blocked two shots, and had a rebound. Jamael Owusu chipped in five points with an assist a rebound, and a steal in six minutes, Drew Tebbe scored three with two assists and two rebounds, and Bryson Hardy scored two.
The Wildcats shot 35.3 % from the floor in the first half but connected on half (8-16) of their shots from beyond the arc and made 4-6 from the free throw line. The Gents struggled on offense as they were just 8-31 for 25.8 % from the floor and 0-10 from beyond the arc, and missed seven of 12 free throw attempts for 41.7 %. The Wildcats shot 52.6 % (10-19) overall in the second half and held the Gents to 28.6 %.
LC jumped out to a 19-6 lead on a trey by Tebbe at the 14:16 mark and a layup by Cooper gave the Wildcats a 28-14 lead with 6:50 remaining and a 3-point basket by Banks gave the Wildcats their biggest lead of the half at 31-15 with 6:15 remaining. The Wildcats kept the pressure on to begin the second half as a Banks layup at the 17:40 mark made it a 45-23 game.
The Gents, however, did not go away as they chipped away at the LC lead over the next 12 minutes, outscoring the visitors 21-7 as a pair of free throws by Board at the 5:07 mark cut the Wildcats' lead to 52-44. A dunk by Thomas made it 52-46 with 3:47 remaining but the Wildcats responded with an 8-0 run to take a 60-46 lead with only 1:35 remaining and held on by making 3-4 free throws in the final 45 seconds to seal the win.
The Gents will play a pair of games in the Millsaps Tournament in Jackson, Miss. this weekend, facing Piedmont University at 2 p.m. on Saturday and then will face an opponent yet to be determined based on weekend results on Sunday.
See the Gents' complete season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/mbkb/2022-23/schedule
Admission is FREE to all Centenary home athletic contests. Live stats and live video stream are available for all Centenary home contests.
#GoCentenary #CTheOpportunity
