San Antonio, Texas - The Centenary men's basketball team lost a hard-fought contest by a score of 87-77 to the Trinity University Tigers on Saturday evening in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play at the Ron & Genie Calgaard Gymnasium inside the Bell Center.
The Gents (9-8, 4-4 SCAC) trailed by just one point, 40-39, at halftime, but the Tigers (16-1, 7-1 SCAC) outscored the Maroon and White in the second half, 47-38, to record the home victory.
Centenary shot the ball, finishing 26-60 from the floor for 43.3 %, 11-28 from beyond the arc for 39.3 %, and 14-18 from the free throw line for 77.8 %. Trinity was also impressive on offense, finishing 32-65 for 49.2 % from the field and an even 40 % (10-25) from 3-point range and 13-15 from the FT line for 86.7 %.
The Gents edged the Tigers in rebounds, 36-35, and tallied 14 assists, seven steals, and four blocked shots. The Tigers recorded 16 assists, eight steals, and three blocked shots. Centenary has now recorded 10+ assists in a game 12 times. Trinity won the battle inside, finishing with 38 points in the paint to the Gents' 24.
Each teams' bench was a key factor in the game as both the Gents' and Tigers' reserves scored 36 points. Trinity finished with a slight advantage in fast break points (13-10) and Centenary did so in second-chance points (11-9). Trinity forced Centenary into 20 turnovers which it turned into 16 points and the Tigers gave the ball away 15 times which the Gents converted into 10 points.
Senior G AJ Hall (Thibodaux, La.) led the Gents in scoring with a season-high 26 points as he was 14-23 from the floor, 8-12 from beyond the arc, and 4-6 from the FT line in just 25 minutes off the bench. Hall has reached double figures six times this season and has done so five times in his last six games. Senior F Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) – 13 points, and junior F Jakobi Greenleaf (Houston, Texas) – 10, joined Hall in double figures.
Thomas reached double figures for the 16th time this season and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds to notch his fifth double-double of the season. He was 4-11 from the floor, 1-6 from beyond the arc, and 4-6 at the FT line in 34 minutes with five assists, three steals, and a blocked shot. Greenleaf was 3-4 from the floor and 4-4 at the FT line in 28 minutes with for rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots, and a steal. He has reached double figures eight times this season. Junior G Craig Collier (North Little Rock, Ark.) and sophomore G Quentin Beverly (Katy, Texas) each scored nine points, freshman F Khristian Wilkerson (Killeen, Texas) scored five, senior G Tykeem Singleton (Fort Worth, Texas) added three, and junior C Ruben Cazares (Tucson, Ariz.) had two.
Collier was 3-10 from the floor, 1-4 from beyond the arc, and 2-2 from the FT line in 26 minutes with seven rebounds, two assists and a steal and Beverly finished 3-7 from beyond the arc with two assists and a steal in 32 minutes. Wilkerson played just six minutes but had a blocked shot and hit one trey. Singleton added two rebounds, an assist, and a steal in 14 minutes and Cazares grabbed four rebounds in nine minutes and made his only field goal attempt. Senior G Braeden Board (Rayne, La.), senior G Jalen Behr (Athens, Ga.), freshman G Gerald Murage (Irving, Texas), and junior G Kyron Powell (Fort Worth, Texas) all played but were each held scoreless.
Trinity had four players reach double figures led by 22 from Jacob Harvey. Christian Green scored 17, Abdullah Roberts had 16, and Zach Fenn scored 10. Dean Balo added eight points, TY Williams seven, Grayson Herr five, and Jacob Millhouse scored two.
The score was tied 2-2 just two minutes into the game and remained close for the next eight minutes, but the Gents did not hold a lead until a 3-pointer by Thomas made it 21-20 Centenary at the 9:54 mark. With the score tied at 25-25, Hall scored six-straight points to give the Gents a 31-25 lead as he buried a pair of treys in a 25 second span. Beverly's 3-pointer gave Centenary a 36-31 lead with 4:51 remaining, but the Tigers responded with a 9-0 run to take a 40-36 lead. A Beverly deep ball made with 39 seconds left made it 40-39 at halftime.
Trinity started fast in the second half, going on a 14-2 run and took a 54-41 lead following a pair of free throws by Green at the 16:57 mark. The Tigers maintained a double-digit lead for the next 14+ minutes, but the Gents did chip away and a Cazares' lone basket of the game brought the Maroon and White within nine at 81-72 with 3:20 left. A trey and jumper by Hall in a 40-second span not soon after cut the Gents' deficit to 83-77 with 2:05 left. Those would be the Gents' last points, though, as they were held scoreless over the final two minutes as they missed their last four shots.
Centenary returns home next weekend to face Austin College and Dallas on Friday and Saturday at the Gold Dome. The Gents and 'Roos will tip off on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Centenary meets Dallas on Saturday at 4 p.m.
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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