Irving, Texas – The Centenary men's basketball team extended its winning streak to three on Friday night with a 76-73 road victory over the University of Dallas Crusaders in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play at the Maher Center.
The Gents improved to 4-1 on the season while the Crusaders dropped to 0-5. The teams will play again on Saturday at approximately 4 p.m. Live stats will be available via www.gocentenary.com and Live video will be available at this link: https://www.collegetvticket.com/portal/udallas.
Centenary, coming off of a road sweep over Schreiner last weekend in Kerrville, Texas, is now 12-1 in its last 13 SCAC games and are 14-1 in conference play dating back to Jan. 25, 2020. Junior guard Kile Mingo (Cypress, Texas) nearly matched his career high in points (21) with 20 on Friday night off the bench to lead all scorers. He made 8 of 13 shots from the floor in 25 minutes and made 4 of his 7 three-point attempts and added five rebounds. Mingo has connected on 6 of his last 12 three-point shot attempts and reached double figures for the third-straight game.
Gents sophomore forward Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) continued his outstanding play with another double-double as he scored 11 points and had 11 rebounds in 34 minutes. He made 4 of his 9 shot attempts from the field and added three assists, two blocks, and two steals. Thomas, named the SCAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week on Monday, now has five career double-doubles and reached double digits for the 13th time in his career on Friday. Thomas has recorded a double-double in four of Centenary's five games this season and he has scored double digits in every game. Thomas was also named to the D3hoops.com Team of the Week for the week of January 24th, it was announced by D3hoops.com earlier this week. Thomas was the first Centenary athlete to be named to the team since Travion Kirkendoll earned the distinction in week nine of the 2017-18 season. The D3hoops.com Team of the Week recognizes five players -- two backcourt and three frontcourt players -- each week.
Thomas entered Friday's game as the conference's leading scorer, averaging 18.5 points per game and second in rebounding, averaging 10.5 per game. He also entered the game Friday tied for third in steals, tied for fourth in free-throw percentage, and leading the SCAC in defensive rebounds. He grabbed eight defensive rebounds on Friday, went 3-5 from the free-throw line and had the previously mentioned pair of steals as he added to all of his impressive totals.
Junior guard AJ Hall (Thibodaux, La.) scored 11 points off the bench in just 17 minutes of action. He connected on 4 of his 9 shot attempts overall including 3 of 6 from three-point range. He added three rebounds, three steals, and an assist. Hall, averaging 7.5 points per game, entering Friday's contest, scored 15 in last Friday's victory at Schreiner and reached double digits for the fifth time in his career. Sophomore guard Drew Young (Lake Charles, La.) set a new career high in points with 10 in 22 minutes. He made 3 of his 5 shot attempts overall, went 2-2 from three-point range, and 2-2 from the free-throw line. Young is a super 13-16 from the free-throw line this season.
Freshman forward Tre Washington (Gibson, La.) contributed six points off the bench in 14 minutes. He has been impactful of late for the Gents as he scored two points off the last Friday at Schreiner and also grabbed five rebounds. Washington scored eight points with four rebounds in his Centenary debut on Jan. 15 against Texas Lutheran at home.
Junior guard Tykeem Singleton (Fort Worth, Texas) scored a season-high nine points and tied his career high in rebounds with seven in 21 minutes. He made 3 of his 7 shot attempts overall, made one three-point basket, and added an assist and a block. Sophomore forward Neil Hawkins (Titusville, Fla.) had six points and four rebounds in 26 minutes. Sophomore guard Ralph Johnson (New Iberia, La) had a solid game with three points, a season-high six rebounds (one shy of his career high of seven) and a career-high nine assists in 38 minutes.
The Gents took a 43-34 lead at halftime as they shot a sizzling 53.1 % from the floor led by Mingo's 13 points, six assists by Johnson, and seven points and six rebounds by Thomas. Dallas led by as many as six in the first half but the Gents overcame the deficit and by the 2:39 mark in the first half were up eight, at 38-30. The Crusaders were hot on offense in the first 20 minutes as well, shooting 41.9 % from the floor.
A jumper by Washington at the 15:14 mark of the second half gave Centenary's its biggest lead of the night at 54-42. Dallas cut the lead to one, 67-66, at the 7:33 mark but scored just one point over the next four minutes. A pair of free throws by Jai Love made it 73-69 Gents with 3:16 remaining. After the Crusaders sank two more free throws, Jack Boyle's layup tied the game at 73-73 with just 2:20 remaining. The game remained tied until a three-pointer by Singleton at the 1:44 mark gave the Gents a 76-73 lead. Dallas missed its final four shots from the field including a pair of potential tying three-point attempts in the final 21 seconds of the game.
Centenary shot 45 % (27-60) from the floor on the night, 10-22 (45.5 %) from three-point range, and made 12 of 18 free throws. The Crusaders shot 39.1 % overall but struggled from three-point range, making just 8 of 29 attempts, and turned the ball over 14 times. Centenary outrebounded Dallas, 40-38 in beating the Crusaders for the third-straight time after sweeping a pair of games last season.
The Gents entered the game ranked third in offensive rebounds, averaging 13.8 per game, and had 16 on Friday night. Centenary tallied six steals, three blocked shots, and had an impressive 15 assists on 27 made baskets. The Crusaders had three players in double figures, led by Love and Boyle, who each had 18. Cameran Hyde added 13. Boyle grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds.
Centenary returns home to face Colorado College next weekend in SCAC play. The games are scheduled for Friday, Feb. 5 at approximately 8 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 6 at approximately 3 p.m. Live video and live stats are available at all home games.
A link to the Gents' complete schedule can be found here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/mbkb/2020-21/schedule.
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