Gents' Winning Streak Snapped On Sunday Versus TLU

Shreveport - The Centenary men's basketball team had its three-game winning streak snapped on Sunday afternoon as the Gents fell 80-66 to the Texas Lutheran University Bulldogs in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest at the Gold Dome.

The Gents (6-9, 4-2 SCAC) led the Bulldogs (4-11, 2-4 SCAC) by one point (39-38) at halftime, but the visitors outscored the Maroon and White 43-28 in the second half to seal the upset. Centenary is now 5-6 at home this season while TLU improved to 2-5 on the road and snapped a four-game losing streak.

Centenary shot 40.7 % (22-54) from the floor for the game, 45.5 % (10-22) from beyond the arc, but just 12-21 (57.1 %) from the free-throw line. TLU finished 28-61 from the floor for 45.9 %, 14-27 from 3-point range (51.9 %), and did not miss from the FT line, finishing 10-10. The Bulldogs outrebounded the Gents 42-28 and edged them in the battle in the paint, 24-20. TLU finished with a 25-16 advantage in second-chance points, 15-10 in fast break points, and bench points (38-24). The Bulldogs turned the ball over 16 times and scored 16 points off of Centenary's 13 TO's while the Gents scored 22 points off of the Bulldogs' miscues.

Four Gents scored in double figures, led by 14 from senior G Craig Collier (North Little Rock, Ark.). Freshman G Trenton Thomas (Cedar Hill, Texas) scored 12 points as he reached double figures for the second time this season, senior F Jakobi Greenleaf (Houston, Texas) scored 11, and freshman G Nicholas Addison (Cedar Hill, Texas) added 10.

Mason Wallace led all scorers with 18 points and was one of three Bulldogs in double figures as he was joined by Semaj Edwards (14) and Trey Blackmore (12). Jonah Johnson had eight, Xavier Phillips scored seven, and three TLU players scored six points each – Easton Allen, Carter Lewis, and Jake Goode.

Collier has now reached double figures a team-high 11 times and has done so in seven-straight games. He was 6-10 from the floor and 2-2 from beyond the arc in 23 minutes with a steal. Thomas came off the bench and was 4-8 from the floor with all four of his baskets coming from 3-point range in 26 minutes. He had a rebound, a steal, and a blocked shot. Greenleaf, who now has 10 double-digit scoring performances this season, pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds for his second-straight double-double. He was 3-12 overall and 5-11 at the FT line in 31 minutes with three assists and three blocked shots.

Addison scored 10 points for the second game in a row and owns five double-digit scoring performances this season. He was 3-5 from the floor and 4-5 from the FT line in 24 minutes with five rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two blocks.

Senior G Jalen Ned (New Orleans, La.) scored four points in 35 minutes with three rebounds as he was 1-4 from the floor with a trey and went 1-2 at the FT line. Freshman G Sirwilliam McDuffie (Houston, Texas) scored eight in 17 minutes as he was 3-6 from the floor and 2-4 from beyond the arc with two rebounds and an assist, freshman G Allen Paul (Katy, Texas) scored three points in 25 minutes with two rebounds, two steals, and one assist, and freshman G Noah Brookter (Youngsville, La.) and senior G Kyron Powell (Fort Worth, Texas) each scored two points.

The first 16 minutes of the first half featured multiple ties and lead changes, with the largest lead by either team being four points until a trey by Thomas gave the Gents a 31-25 lead at the 4:17 mark. The Bulldogs then went on a 6-0 run to tie the score following a Blackmore tip-in with 2:36 remaining in the first period. Collier answered with a 3-pointer to make it 34-31 at the 2:01 mark. Greenleaf and Collier then followed with baskets to stretch the Centenary advantage to 38-31 with 1:37 mark. Following a :30 timeout to break the run, Wallace hit a pair of treys with less than a minute to play to pull the Bulldogs within a point at halftime.

Allen's trey gave the Bulldogs a 45-42 lead with 16:11 remaining and a Johnson trey at the 12:46 mark made it 55-44 TLU to cap an 11-2 run. Johnson's tip-in made it 63-47 at the 9:46 mark as the Gents called a timeout but the red-hot Bulldogs were on a 32-9 run going back to the 1:37 mark of the first half. The timeout helped the Gents as Paul and Ned drained consecutive treys to pull Centenary to 63-53 and Addison's two FT's at the 8:09 mark made it 63-55. The Bulldogs, though, outscored the Gents 17-11 to seal the road win.

The Gents now hit the road for four-consecutive SCAC games beginning with a matchup against the Colorado College Tigers on Friday, Jan. 24.

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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