Collier's Career-High Night Leads Gents To First Win

Shreveport – The Centenary men's basketball team, fueled by a career-best 29 points from senior G Craig Collier (North Little Rock, Ark.) defeated the Texas College Steers by a score of 75-64 on Tuesday night in a non-conference contest inside the Gold Dome.

The Gents (1-2) were playing for the second night in a row and third time in five days to start the season while the Steers fell to 1-2 with the loss. Centenary continued its impressive play at home as the Gents are now 23-7 in their last 30 games at the Gold Dome and have won 47 of 55.

Collier's previous career best in points was 26 against Texas Lutheran last season and he has now scored 20+ points in all three games to start the season and is averaging 24.7 PPG. He scored 21 against Arlington Baptist University on Nov. 8 in the Gents' season opener and 24 on Monday night in the loss to Louisiana Christian University. He scored 13 in the first half on 5-6 shooting and was a perfect 3-3 from beyond the arc with four rebounds and an assist in 17 minutes. In the second half, Collier was 4-9 from the floor, 2-5 from 3-point range, and 6-8 at the FT line in 18 minutes for 16 points. He had six boards, an assist, and a steal.

The game was tied at halftime at 32-32 but Centenary outscored Texas College in the second half, 43-32, to earn its first win of the season. The Gents shot 44.0 % (11-25) from the floor in the first half, hit 5-12 (41.7 %) from beyond the arc, and 5-7 at the free-throw line for 71.4 %. The Steers were 10-27 from the field (37.0 %), 3-9 (33.3 %) from 3-point range, and 9-12 at the FT line for 75 %.

Centenary finished 37.1 % (13-25) from the floor in the second half and a strong 12-15 from the FT line for 80 % but struggled from long range (5-18 for 27.8 %). Texas College struggled offensively in the second half, making just 11 shots from the floor in 34 attempts for 32.4 % and just a pair of treys in 10 attempts for 20 %, but the Steers did make 8-9 at the FT line.

The Steers outscored the Gents in the paint, 32-22, and had 15 second-chance points to the Gents' 12. Texas College finished with 18 fast break points while Centenary had five. The Steers' bench scored 16 points while Centenary's reserves chipped in nine. Texas College committed 21 turnovers and Centenary had 13. The Steers scored nine points off of TO's and the Gents scored 24.

Freshman G Nicholas Addison (Cedar Hill, Texas) joined Collier in double figures as he scored 12 in 23 minutes on 4-7 shooting, 4-5 at the FT line, with five rebounds, three steals, and a blocked shot. Freshman G Trenton Thomas (Cedar Hill, Texas) and freshman G Allen Paul (Katy, Texas) each scored nine and senior F Jakobi Greenleaf (Houston, Texas) had seven. Senior G Jalen Ned (New Orleans, La.) had four and freshman G Sirwilliam McDuffie (Houston, Texas) scored five.

Addison, who scored 10 on Monday against Louisiana Christian, has now scored eight or more points in all three games this season. Thomas played 35 minutes and was 3-8 from the floor, 1-4 from 3-point range, and 2-2 at the FT line with three rebounds, a team-best four assists, and a steal. Paul played 24 minutes and was 3-6 from the floor and all three made baskets were treys. He also grabbed four rebounds and had a steal.

Greenleaf grabbed seven rebounds in 31 minutes and was 3-4 at the FT line with three assists, two steals, and a team and game-high four blocked shots. Ned played 23 minutes and was 2-2 at the FT line a steal, and McDuffie was 2-6 from the floor and 1-4 from beyond the arc with a steal in 15 minutes.

Shayston Cornish led the Steers with 23 points, Ty'Quan Neal scored 19, and Jacob Keys joined them in double figures with 10. Ashten Mitchell chipped in five points off the bench, and the trio of Percy Chavis, Romeo Postell, and Tyrone Woods Jr. combined to score seven points. Neal grabbed a game-high 19 rebounds to match his 19 points for an impressive double-double. He played 31 minutes and was 7-14 from the floor and 5-6 at the FT line. Cornish played 34 minutes and was 7-16 from the floor, 5-5 at the FT line, and 4-9 from beyond the arc with five rebounds, two assists, and a steal.

The first half featured multiple lead changes and ties as the teams stayed with a few points of each other for the majority of the first 16 minutes. The Gents were able to stretch the lead to seven at the 4:08 mark on a pair of FT's by Greenleaf for the largest lead of the period by either team. The Steers, though, went on a 7-0 run to tie the game and then Thomas' lone trey of the game broke the tie and gave the Gents a 29-26 lead with 1:39 left in the half. A trey by McDuffie made it 32-27 Gents with 1:11 left but Cornish drained a 3-pointer of his own with 45 seconds on the clock to make it 32-30. Keys made a pair of FT's to tie the score with 15 seconds left in the half.

The teams traded baskets in the first 8+ minutes of the second half as it mirrored the first period. The Steers, though, took a 47-42 lead at the 12:21 mark on a trey by Cornish. Addison tied the game at 51-51 with a FT at the 9:03 mark and his layup less than a minute later gave the Gents a 53-51 lead. Addison then scored the Gent's next five points to give them a 58-51 lead with 5:47 left in the game. Collier's trey made it a double-digit lead for the Gents (66-56) with 3:14 left and Thomas tipped in a shot at the 2:35 mark to make it 68-56. A jumper by Cornish got the Steers' deficit to nine at 71-62 with 33 seconds left, but the Gents made their final four FT attempts to seal the win.

Centenary remains at home to face Berry College on Saturday at 1 p.m.

See the complete Gents' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/mbkb/2024-25/schedule

Admission is FREE to all Centenary home men's basketball games. Live stats and live video stream are available for all Centenary home contests.

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