Jackson, Miss. - The Centenary men's basketball team won the Millsaps College Tournament title on Sunday afternoon with a 69-66 victory over The University of the Ozarks Eagles at the Hangar Dome.
The Gents (3-2) handed the Eagles (4-1) their first loss of the season a day after defeating the Piedmont University Lions, 68-55. Centenary improved to 3-3 versus Ozarks in the first meetings between the teams since the 2016-17 season.
Centenary shot the ball well from the field for the second day in a row, finishing 41.3 % (26-63) after going 41.9 % in the win over Piedmont. Three Gents reached double figures, led by a season-best 18 from junior G Braeden Board (Rayne, La.). The Maroon and White made just 5-24 attempts from beyond the arc for 20.8 % and were only 12-21 from the free throw line, but the Gents forced 19 turnovers and limited their second-consecutive opponent under 70 points.
Ozarks shot 39.7 % (23-58) from the floor and made 11-13 (84.6 %) attempts from the free throw line but struggled from deep, connecting on just 9-32 3-point attempts for 28.1 %. The Eagles finished with a slight edge in rebounding (35-31) and had three players in double figures. Centenary tallied 11 assists, four steals, and two blocked shots and Ozarks had 13 assists and seven steals but did not record a blocked shot.
The Gents outscored the Eagles in the paint 38-22 and scored 18 points off of turnovers while Ozarks scored 15. Centenary finished with 10 second-chance points to Ozarks' seven, the Gents picked up 18 fast-break points and limited the Eagles to seven, and the two team's benches combined to score 35 points – 21 by the Eagles and 14 from the Gents.
Senior G Tykeem Singleton (Fort Worth, Texas) scored 11 points and junior G Jerrick Baines (Alexandria, La.) had 10. Senior F Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) had nine and the Gents got seven each from senior G Kile Mingo (Cypress, Texas) and freshman G Quentin Beverly (Katy, Texas). Senior G Ralph Johnson (White Castle, La.) added five and senior F Joseph Wiggins (Bossier City, La.) scored two.
Board was 7-13 shooting overall in 28 minutes with five rebounds, three assists, and a blocked shot. He finished 3-4 from the free throw line and hit one trey. He scored 24 points during the weekend with 12 rebounds and finished 5-7 at the free throw line with four assists, a steal, and a blocked shot. Singleton grabbed a team-high seven rebounds to go with his 11 points and was 4-6 shooting overall and 3-5 from the free throw line with a pair of assists in 27 minutes. He reached double figures for the second time this season after scoring 10 at ETBU on Nov. 12.
Thomas played 38 minutes and had six rebounds with a blocked shot and a steal and went 3-6 at the free throw line. Baines was 4-9 from the field in 27 minutes, nailed a pair of treys and grabbed one rebound. Mingo came off the bench to play 24 minutes and was 2-4 at the free throw line and made one 3-pointer. He had three rebounds and a steal. Beverly was 3-10 overall in 24 minutes, hit one trey, and had three assists with two steals and a rebound. Johnson was 2-6 overall in 16 minutes, 1-2 at the free throw line and had a pair of assists and one rebound. Wiggins grabbed four rebounds in 13 minutes and added an assist.
Grayson Nix scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Eagles, Kamren Roelke had 16, and Tim Eldridge came off the bench to score 13. Nix played 31 minutes and was 5-12 overall from the floor, 4-4 from the free throw line, and 4-10 from beyond the arc. He grabbed six rebounds, had three assists, and two steals. Roelke had five assists, a rebound, and a steal in 32 minutes on 6-13 shooting and went 2-3 from the free throw line and hit a pair of treys.
Board made his presence felt immediately as he opened the scoring with a 3-pointer 14 seconds into the game and made a layup with just seven seconds left in the half to give Centenary a 34-29 lead at the break, scoring nine points in the first half. The first half was very competitive, a back and forth 20 minutes with multiple lead changes but one that the Gents took control of late, building an eight-point lead (30-22) at the 2:07 mark.
The Eagles managed to chip away at the Gents' lead in the first few minutes of the second half and eventually tied the score at 41-41 on a trey by Roelke at the 15:50 mark. Centenary scored the next six points to go up 47-41 with 12:45 remaining but the Eagles stayed with a few points over the next several minutes and then a 3-pointer by Dillon Cheater tied the game at 55-55 with 7:06 left. The Eagles scored the next four points until a layup by Board cut the Gents' deficit to 59-57 with 4:41 remaining. A trey by Nix gave Ozarks a 62-57 lead but the Gents roared back with a 6-0 run punctuated by a go-ahead dunk by Board for a 63-62 lead with 2:03 left.
The Eagles' Tylan Jackson made a layup with 1:38 remaining for a 64-63 lead but a clutch trey by Beverly, assisted by Board, following a timeout gave the Gents a 66-64 lead. A jumper by Roelke tied the score at 66-66 with 1:03 remaining, but the Eagles would not score again as three clutch free throws over the final minute sealed the game for the Gents. Singleton made 1-2 at the line for a 68-66 lead and the Eagles had a chance to take the lead as Cheater tried a potential go-ahead trey from the right wing but he missed and was called for a flop and an automatic technical foul. Singleton again made 1-2 at the line with nine seconds left and a last-second 3-pointer by Jackson missed off the backboard as the Gents celebrated the win.
The Gents will now break for Thanksgiving and return to action on Saturday as they welcome the Texas College Steers to the Gold Dome for a non-conference contest set for 3 p.m.
See the Gents' complete season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/mbkb/2022-23/schedule
Admission is FREE to all Centenary home athletic contests. Live stats and live video stream are available for all Centenary home contests.
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