Shreveport – The Centenary men's basketball team defeated the Colorado College Tigers, 59-43, on Monday evening in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest at the Gold Dome.
The Gents (5-2) and Tigers (0-5) will play again on Tuesday at 6 p.m. Live stats and live video will be available at the following links:
Video: https://collegetvticket.com/portal/centenary. Stats: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/mbkb/2020-21/boxscores/20210208_2rkh.xml.
The Gents are a stellar 15-2 in their last 17 conference games dating back to Jan. 25, 2020 and won for the seventh time in their last eight home games. Centenary, which went 10-1 at home last season, is now 12-2 in its last 14 games at the Gold Dome.
The Gents entered Monday's game as one of the top defensive clubs in the SCAC, ranking first in turnover margin, third in the conference in scoring defense and field goal percentage defense, and fourth in steals, and they certainly proved why against the Tigers. Centenary came into the game allowing just 67.0 points per game and allowed a season-low 43 points, which is the fewest points the Maroon and White have allowed in a game since yielding just 39 to Dallas in a 57-39 win during the 2018-19 season.
Both teams started slow on offense as they combined for just 24 points through the first 10 minutes of the half but the Gents eventually took a 30-17 lead with 2:28 left in the first half on a three-point basket by junior guard Kile Mingo (Cypress, Texas).
Centenary held a 32-23 lead at halftime and then outscored the Tigers, 27-20, in the second half to cruise to the 16-point win. The Tigers, though, made it tough on the Gents at the beginning of the second half, scoring the first 10 points and holding Centenary scoreless for the first seven minutes of the half until freshman guard Braeden Board (Rayne, La.) hit a three pointer to give the Gents a 35-33 lead at the 13:08 mark.
The Tigers' Will Nisbet made a pair of free throws with 10:50 remaining to cut Centenary's lead to 40-38 but the Gent's defense was outstanding for the next five minutes as they did not allow a point until Scott Cunningham's layup at the 5:51 mark made it 46-40. The Tigers' Trey Crawford made a jumper at the 4:38 mark but that was the last basket for Colorado College for the game, as the Gents went on a 13-1 run to end the game.
Sophomore forward Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) scored a game-high 16 points on 6-11 shooting in 38 minutes of action. Thomas, who entered the game fifth in the conference in scoring averaging 15.3 points per game, added eight rebounds, five steals, two assists and a block. He has now scored 15 or more five times this season and failed to reach double figures just once through seven games. He went 4-7 from the free-throw line He entered the game as the league leader in defensive rebounds and grabbed seven more on Monday. He also entered play second in the SCAC in steals and seventh in free-throw percentage.
Mingo finished with 12 points after scoring 10 in the first half, right at his season average. He has now reached double digits four times this season. He added two assists and a pair of rebounds in 22 minutes. Junior guard AJ Hall (Thibodaux, La.) scored nine points in 14 minutes while fellow junior guard Tykeem Singleton (Fort Worth, Texas) scored eight along with four rebounds and two steals in 20 minutes. Junior forward Neil Hawkins (Titusville, Fla.) was superb on the boards as he grabbed a season and game-high 11 rebounds, one shy of his career mark of 12 set last season.
Centenary shot 42.1 % from the floor for the game while the Tigers shot 37 %. The Gents outscored the Tigers in the paint, 30-22, and had a 17-2 advantage in second-chance points. Centenary also held a 24-11 edge in bench points and the Gents forced 21 turnovers. The Maroon and White picked up a season-best 14 steals on Monday with four players recorded at least two steals. Freshman guard Coby Harris (Lafayette, La.) had a season and career-best three in 11 minutes played. Sophomore guard Ralph Johnson (New Iberia, La.) had his usual solid game with six points, all in the second half, and three assists and two steals in 30 minutes.
Crawford and Taylor Harris each scored 11 points to lead the Tigers' offense. Nisbet, Cunningham, and Alex Russo combined for 21 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists.
Live video and live stats are available for all home games.
A link to the Gents' complete schedule can be found here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/mbkb/2020-21/schedule.
#GoCentenary #CTheOpportunity
