Gents Edge Eagles In Thriller, 69-68

Clarksville, Ark. – The Centenary men's basketball team edged the University of the Ozarks Eagles 69-68 in a thrilling victory in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday evening inside Mabee Gymnasium.

The Gents (3-7, 1-1 SCAC) were back on the court for the first time since defeating the Millsaps College Majors by a score of 72-57 in a non-conference contest back on Dec. 13 at home in their most recent action. Ozarks led 34-31 at halftime and the Gents outscored the Eagles, 38-34.

Ozarks, who defeated Centenary 89-78 in the first meeting between the two teams on Dec. 4 in Shreveport, fell to 9-2 and 1-1 in league play. Centenary also snapped Ozark's eight-game winning streak as the Eagles had not lost since Nov. 16. The Gents improved to 1-3 in road/neutral contests and the Eagles lost for the first time this season at home and are now 3-1. The all-time series is now tied 4-4.

Senior G Craig Collier (North Little Rock, Ark.) led all scorers with a career-high 31 points as he played all 40 minutes and finished 12-20 from the floor, 4-7 from beyond the arc, and 3-3 from the free-throw line with five assists, three rebounds, and one steal. Collier's previous career high was 29 earlier this season against Texas College and he has now scored in double figures six times this season and has topped 20 points five times.

Junior G Quentin Beverly (Katy, Texas) scored 17 points and senior F Jakobi Greenleaf (Houston, Texas) scored 11 to join him and Collier in double digits. Senior G Jalen Ned (New Orleans, La.) had six and freshman G Nicholas Addison (Cedar Hill, Texas) added four.

Eric Gooden scored 18 points to lead the Eagles and Justice Marmara was right behind him with 17. Cedrick Dodd and Amari Leflore each scored nine and Adam Lopez, James Mathews, and Jacques Njeanwobe combined for 15 points.

The Gents shot the ball well overall, finishing 24-55 from the floor for 43.6 %, 6-21 from beyond the arc for 28.6 %, and a strong 15-20 from the FT line for 75 %. The Eagles were 22-59 for 37.3 % from the field, 7-28 from the 3-point range for 25 % and 17-22 from the FT line for 77.3 %.

Ozarks won the rebounding battle, 47-27, grabbing 28 on the defensive end to go with 19 offensive rebounds. The Gents had 21 defensive rebounds and six offensive boards. The Eagles edged the Gents in the battle in the paint, 28-22, and second-chance points, 11-9. Ozarks turned the ball over 15 times which Centenary turned into 19 points while the Gents took care of the ball fairly well, only turning the ball over 10 times, and the Eagles turned those miscues into 10 points. The Gents finished with a 9-7 advantage in fast break points and the Eagles had a 13-4 edge in bench points.

Beverly was 6-15 from the floor and 4-5 from the FT line with one trey in 37 minutes and added three assists, three rebounds, one blocked shot, and one steal. Greenleaf played 37 minutes and finished 4-6 from the field and 3-4 at the FT line with a team-best seven rebounds, three steals, two assists, and one blocked shot. Ned was 2-7 from the field, 1-2 from beyond the arc, and 1-2 at the FT line in 33 minutes with four boards, three assists, one block, and one steal. Addison scored all four of his points at the FT line in 17 minutes with for rebounds, one blocked shot, and one steal.

Marmara grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for an impressive double-double, Dodd pulled down eight, and Njeanwobe had seven. Mathews had four assists, three rebounds, one blocked shot, and one steal and was 4-4 at the FT line. Gooden had six rebounds, three assists, and was 7-10 from the floor and 3-4 at the FT line.

Ozarks got out to an early 9-2 lead but a Ned Trey tied the score at 13-13 with 12:23 remaining in the first half. An 8-1 run gave the Eagles a 21-14 lead at the 9:57 mark, but a 7-0 run capped by a 3-pointer from Beverly tied things up at 21-21 with 9:11 remaining in the half. Consecutive baskets by Collier gave the Gents a 25-21 lead to punctuate an 11-0 Centenary run.

A layup by Gooden snapped the Gents' run and made it 25-23 at the 6:08 mark and then a three-point play by Marmara gave the Eagles a 26-25 lead with 5:19 left. Ozarks then scored the next five points to extend its lead to 31-25 at the 4:09 mark as the Eagles went on a 10-0 run. Centenary scored the next four points to make it 31-29, but a Leflore trey made it 34-29 Ozarks with 1:28 left before the half. A jumper by Beverly with 39 seconds left before the break made it 32-31 and were the final points scored in the half by either team.

Collier's trey 10 seconds into the second half tied the score at 34-34 and then the teams traded baskets for the first few minutes of the half before a 12-2 run by the Eagles gave them a 10-point lead (46-36) at the 16:22 mark. Gooden's jumper made it 50-40 with 14:33 left, but an 8-2 run by the Gents allowed them to cut their deficit to 52-48 at the 12:40 mark following a Collier jumper. Centenary then went on a 7-2 run to take a 55-54 lead on a 3-pointer by Collier with 10:31 on the clock.

The lead then changed hands multiple times over the next 10 minutes and featured four ties. Gooden hit a trey for the Eagles to give them a 66-63 lead with 2:51 left but Beverly hit a jump shot and Greenleaf went 1-2 at the FT line to tie the game at 66-66 with 1:29 remaining. Dodd was fouled by Collier with just 32 seconds remaining and he sank both FT's to give his team a 68-66 lead.

Collier, though, capped his career-best performance with a layup with only 14 seconds remaining to tie the score at 68-68 and was fouled and made the FT to make it 69-68. Marmara missed a shot with four seconds remaining and a Leflore 3-point attempt at the buzzer was no good as the Gents picked up a key road win in conference play.

The Gents will return home on Tuesday as they take a break from conference play to face the LeTourneau University YellowJackets at 7 p.m. in the Gold Dome.

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

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

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