Seguin, Texas - The Centenary men's basketball team won for the fourth time in a row to match its longest winning streak of the season on Friday as the streaking Gents recorded an 82-74 victory over the Texas Lutheran University Bulldogs in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play inside Memorial Gymnasium.
The Gents (13-9, 8-5 SCAC) earned a season sweep over the Bulldogs (5-18, 4-10 SCAC) following an 83-60 win at the Gold Dome last month. Centenary faces the Southwestern University Pirates (2-21, 1-13 SCAC) on Saturday in Georgetown, Texas at 4 p.m. to wrap up its weekend. The Pirates stunned St. Thomas 70-67 on Friday night.
Centenary is alone in third place in the conference standings, behind only Trinity (21-1, 12-1 SCAC) and St. Thomas (17-5, 9-4 SCAC). The top six teams in the standings at the conclusion of the regular season qualify for the 2024 SCAC Tournament which will be hosted by Centenary and held at the Gold Dome Feb. 23-25.
The Gents led 32-28 at halftime and then erupted for 50 second-half points to shoot 49.2 % (30-61) from the floor for the game, a solid 40 % (6-15) from beyond the arc, and 16-21 (76.2 %) from the free throw line. The Bulldogs, who also were better after halftime as they scored 46 points, shot 44.1 % (26-59) from the floor, 38.5 % (10-26) from 3-point range, and 85.7 % (12-14) from the FT line.
Centenary shot 41.9 % from the floor in the first half and then scorched the nets in the second, making 17-30 attempts for a blistering 56.7 %. The Gents also made 5-7 from beyond the arc and 11-15 from the FT line and had 11 steals and six assists in the half alone. The Gents topped 80 points for the eighth time this season.
Centenary outscored TLU in the paint, 44-30, and outrebounded the Bulldogs, 37-31. The Bulldogs turned the ball over 19 times which the Gents turned into 24 points while Centenary gave it away 17 times which led to 22 points for TLU. The Bulldogs edged the Gents in second-chance points 14-13, the Gents scored nine fast break points to the Bulldogs' four, and TLU finished with a 25-16 advantage in bench points.
Sophomore G Quentin Beverly (Katy, Texas) scored a game-high 23 points as he reached double figures for the seventh time this season. He played 38 minutes and was 7-11 from the floor, 3-4 from beyond the arc, and 3-4 from the FT line with two steals, and assist, and a rebound. Senior F Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 36 minutes. He was 4-10 from the floor and 6-7 at the FT line with three assists and three steals as he reached double figures for the 19th time this season. Junior G Craig Collier (North Little Rock, Ark.) scored 13 and had four steals as he was 6-14 from the floor with one trey in his 20 minutes as he posted his ninth double-digit scoring performance of the season.
Junior F Jakobi Greenleaf (Houston, Texas) added 10 points in 32 minutes as he was 5-9 from the floor with seven boards, two assists, two blocked shots, and a steal as he reached double figures for the 11th time. Freshman G Gerald Murage (Irving, Texas) scored eight points off the bench in 22 minutes of action and was 3-5 from the floor and 2-2 from beyond the arc with three steals and a rebound.
Senior G Jalen Behr (Athens, Ga.) and senior G Tykeem Singleton (Fort Worth, Texas) each scored six, and freshman F Khristian Wilkerson (Killeen, Texas) chipped in two. Behr was 3-5 from the floor in 17 minutes with four rebounds and one assist, Singleton was 1-4 from the floor and 4-5 from the FT line in 26 minutes with a team-high eight rebounds and added three assists, a blocked shot, and a steal. Wilkerson was 1-2 from the floor in four minutes off the bench. Senior G AJ Hall (Thibodaux, La.) and senior G Braeden Board (Rayne, La.) each played but did not score.
Xavier Phillips led the Bulldogs with 18 points and was one of five TLU players to reach double figures. Easton Allen scored 17, Semaj Edwards had 13, and Teddy Tapken and LaDarius King each scored 10. Phillips played 38 minutes and was 4-11 from the floor, 3-11 from beyond the arc and 7-7 at the FT line with five rebounds, five assists, and two steals.
The Gents had 14 steals, tying their single-game season high set last month against Southwestern and tallied 10+ steals for the fifth time this season and third time in the last four games. Centenary added 10 assists and three blocked shots, as the Maroon and White recorded at last 10 assists for the 15th time this season and have done so in five-consecutive games.
Centenary started fast and led 18-7 at the 13:43 mark following a made FT by Thomas, then 22-10 with 10:12 remaining on a Behr jumper, but the Bulldogs rallied and pulled within two points at 26-24 on a jumper by Tapken with 5:47 left before halftime which capped a 14-4 run. The Bulldogs, however, made just one more basket the remainder of the half along with a pair of FT's as the Gents took the 32-28 lead into the locker room.
Allen nailed a trey to tie the game at 34-34 early in the second half but 18 seconds later a Collier jumper enabled the Gents to regain the lead. Collier struck again with a 3-pointer at the 16:19 mark to give Centenary a 43-36 lead and a trey by Murage extended the Gents' lead to 50-38 at the 15:33 mark to finish off a 16-4 run. A made FT by Edwards got the Bulldogs within single digits at 54-45 with 13:13 remaining, but a layup by Thomas with 9:57 left made it 64-49 Gents.
The Bulldogs would not go away, though, as Edwards' layup cut the Gents' lead to 66-60 at the 6:43 mark. Centenary responded immediately with a 7-2 run over the next two minutes to lead 73-62, but again the pesky Bulldogs went on a run of their own as the cut their deficit to just four after a jumper by Edwards made it 75-71 with 1:41 left. Murage nailed a clutch trey 30 seconds later and both Beverly and Thomas sank important free throws to ice the win. The Bulldogs made just one basket in the final 1:41 following the Edwards jumper and it was a last-second dunk by Edwards.
Gents' Remaining Regular-Season Schedule:
Saturday, Feb. 10: at Southwestern – 4 PM
Friday, Feb. 16: vs. Schreiner – 5:30 PM (Senior Night)
Sunday, Feb. 18: vs. Trinity – NOON
Current SCAC Standings:
1 Trinity 21-1, 12-1 SCAC
2 St. Thomas 17-5, 9-4 SCAC
3 Centenary 13-9, 8-5 SCAC
4 Colorado College 13-9, 7-6 SCAC
5 Austin College 12-11, 7-7 SCAC
6 Schreiner 12-11, 7-7 SCAC
7 Dallas 10-13, 6-8 SCAC
8 Texas Lutheran 5-18, 4-10 SCAC
9 Southwestern 2-21, 1-13 SCAC
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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