Shreveport – The Centenary men's basketball team staged a furious comeback, rallying from a 10-point deficit with under a minute to play, but fell 67-64 to the LSUS Pilots on Wednesday evening in an exhibition contest at the Gold Dome.
The Gents led 33-29 at halftime in another spirited edition of the "Kings Highway Clash", but the visiting Pilots outscored the Maroon and White 38-31 in the second half. Centenary shot 42.6 % (23-54) from the floor for the game, 34.8 % (8-23) from beyond the arc, and 10-15 from the free throw line for 66.7 %. The Pilots finished 22-60 from the floor for 36.7 %, 67.9 % (19-28) from the FT line, but struggled from 3-point range as they were just 4-19 for 21.1 %.
The Gents won the rebounding battle 41-36 and finished with 10 steals, six assists, and five blocked shots. The Pilots had 12 steals, nine assists, and six blocks. The Maroon and White turned the ball over 20 times while the Pilots had 12. LSUS scored 30 points in the paint to 26 for the Centenary and received 34 points from its bench while the Gents' reserves scored 19. The Pilots scored 17 points off of turnovers while the Gents had 16, Centenary finished with an 18-14 edge in second-chance points, and had 17 fast break points while LSUS had 12.
Sophomore G Quentin Beverly (Katy, Texas) led all scorers with 20 points on 8-11 shooting from the floor in 39 minutes. He was 3-5 from 3-point range and 1-2 at the FT line with three rebounds, a blocked shot, and a steal. Senior F Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) scored 18 in 37 minutes on 6-17 shooting overall. He was 4-11 from beyond the arc and 2-2 at the FT line with a game-high nine rebounds, four steals, two blocked shots, and two steals.
Paul King led the Pilots with 15 points and Damon Davis was right behind him with 14. Josh LeBlanc and Melvion Flanagan each added nine, and Jordan DeCuir had seven. Calvin Carpenter, Jalen King, and Trey Johnson combined to score 12 points and grab 12 rebounds.
Senior G Jalen Behr (Athens, Ga.) scored four points and grabbed eight boards in 15 minutes off the bench and senior G Coby Harris (Lafayette, La.) had four with two rebounds as he was a perfect 2-2 from the floor in 11 minutes. Senior G AJ Hall (Thibodaux, La.) finished with two points in six minutes and sophomore G Dalyn Davis (Natchitoches, La.) was held scoreless in 10 minutes but he grabbed a pair of rebounds.
Freshman G Gerald Murage (Irving, Texas) played 28 minutes and was 1-3 from the floor as he scored two points and had three assists, three steals, and two rebounds. Junior F Jakobi Greenleaf (Houston, Texas) had five points, four rebounds, an assist, a blocked shot, and a steal in 28 minutes and was 3-4 at the FT line. Junior C Ruben Cazares (Tucson, Ariz.) played one minute and made a free throw and freshman F Khristian Wilkerson (Killeen, Texas) scored eight points off the bench in 25 minutes with seven rebounds, a blocked shot, and a steal. He was 3-8 shooting overall and went 1-3 from beyond the arc and 1-3 at the FT line.
A pair of free throws by Paul King gave the Pilots a seemingly comfortable lead, 66-56, with 58 seconds remaining, but the Gents scored the next eight points. Behr sank a pair of FT's with 13 seconds remaining to make it a 66-64 game, but Beverly was forced to foul Damon Davis and he made one FT for a 67-64 lead. Thomas grabbed the rebound and raced down the court with a chance to tie the game. He attempted a trey which missed and Behr grabbed the rebound and also attempted one which fell short at the buzzer, allowing the Pilots to escape.
The first part of the second half saw a multitude of ties and lead changes, but the Pilots took the lead for good at the 11:01 mark after a jumper by DeCuir put them up 50-48.
The Gents open their regular season next Wednesday, Nov. 8 with a non-conference contest against the Texas College Steers set for 7:30 p.m. in the Gold Dome.
See the complete Gents' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/mbkb/2023-24/schedule
Admission is FREE to all Centenary home athletic contests. Live stats and live video stream are available for all Centenary home contests.
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