Shreveport - The Centenary men's basketball team extended its winning streak to five and improved to 2-0 in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play with a gritty 84-79 win over the Schreiner University Mountaineers on Sunday afternoon at the Gold Dome.
The Gents (6-2, 2-0 SCAC) defeated Trinity 69-65 on Friday night in their conference opener and have won 28 of their last 35 home games. Schreiner fell to 6-3 overall and 0-2 in league play with Sunday's loss. Centenary, picked to finish fourth in the conference this season, now has wins over the preseason favorite (Trinity) and team predicted to finish third (Schreiner) to begin league play.
The Gents, as they often do, came out red-hot on offense as they shot a sizzling 57.1 % (16-28) from the floor in the first half. The Maroon and White connected on 5-12 attempts form 3-point range for 41.7 % and made 2-4 free throw attempts to take a 39-31 lead at the break. Schreiner was also solid on offense in the first half, finishing 14-32 from the field for 43.8 %.
Centenary continued its hot shooting in the second half, making 12-26 attempts for 46.2 %, were 5-9 from beyond the arc for 55.6 % and helped seal the win at the free throw line, going 16-21 for 76.2 %. The Mountaineers were also in the groove on offense after halftime, shooting 54.5 % (18-33) overall and 5-14 from 3-point range for 35.7 %. Schreiner did not attempt a free throw in the first half and went 7-11 in the second half for 63.6 %. The Mountaineers outscored the Gents 48-45 in the second half, but the eight-point halftime deficit and clutch free-throw shooting late by Centenary was too much to overcome.
Centenary senior G Tykeem Singleton (Fort Worth, Texas) scored a team-high 20 points finishing 8-11 from the floor and 4-6 from beyond the arc in 31 minutes to lead four Gents in double figures. He grabbed four rebounds and added a blocked shot and a steal. Singleton capped a big weekend after he recorded his first double-double of the season in Friday's win over Trinity with 11 points and 10 rebounds in 38 minutes of action. He nailed a pair of treys with two steals and a blocked shot. Singleton has now reached double figures four times this season.
Senior G Kile Mingo (Cypress, Texas) came off the bench to score a season-high 17 points in 25 minutes as he finished 7-11 from the floor and 3-4 from 3-point range. He had two assists, two steals, and one rebound. Senior G Ralph Johnson (White Castle, La.) also put up a season high in points with 13 in 23 minutes as he also came off the bench and was a huge spark along with Mingo. Johnson was 2-5 overall, 2-2 from beyond the arc, and 7-10 at the free throw line. He had a game-high four assists and three rebounds.
Senior F Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) scored 15 points in his 35 minutes of action and added eight rebounds, four assists to match Johnson, and three steals. He was 4-5 from the floor and a clutch 7-7 at the free throw line. Junior G Braeden Board (Rayne, La.) scored six in 23 minutes, finishing 1-5 overall, 1-3 from beyond the arc, and 3-4 at the free throw line. He had an impressive overall stat line with three rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots, and two steals. Freshman G Quentin Beverly (Katy, Texas) had five points, two rebounds, and a blocked shot in 16 minutes, finishing 2-4 from the field and 1-2 at the free throw line.
Junior G Jerrick Baines (Alexandria, La.) finished with two points, two rebounds, and an assist in 17 minutes and junior G Chrys Jackson (North Las Vegas, Nev.) played two minutes and did not score but had one rebound and a steal. Senior G Jalen Behr (Athens, Ga.) was also held scoreless in his 11 minutes but grabbed three rebounds with two assists and a steal. Senior F Joseph Wiggins (Bossier City, La.) finished with a season-high six points in 17 minutes of the bench with two rebounds, two blocked shots, and an assist.
The Gents finished a season-best 51.9 % (28-54) from the floor, matching their mark set in their season-opening blowout win over Arlington Baptist on Nov. 8. Centenary hit 10-21 from beyond the arc for a season-best 47.6 % on Sunday and went 18-25 from the free throw line for 72.0 %. Schreiner finished at 49.2 % (32-65), 8-25 from 3-point range for 32.0 % and 7-11 at the free throw line for 63.6 % (all in the second half).
The Mountaineers finished with a slight edge (35-31) in rebounding and turned the ball over 19 times while forcing 17 Centenary turnovers. The Gents racked up 16 assists, 10 steals, and blocked a season-high six shots. Schreiner finished with 12 assists, 10 steals, and three blocks. The Gents' bench was a key to their win on Sunday, contributing 36 points while Schreiner's chipped in just 12. Centenary scored 23 points off of turnovers to 15 for Schreiner. The Mountaineers finished with an 18-10 edge in second-chance points.
Schreiner had three players reach double figures led by a game-high 26 from Jalen Ned. Kamden Ross added 21 and Beau Cervantes had 13. Ross added a game-high 15 rebounds for a double-double and blocked three shots with a steal in 36 minutes. He was 10-13 from the floor and 1-2 at the free throw line. Ned was 10-17 overall in 36 minutes and had six steals, four rebounds, and two assists. Cervantes played 36 minutes and was 5-10 overall and 3-6 from beyond the arc. He added two assists and a pair of rebounds.
The Gents led 4-0 just a minute into the game and then Schreiner went on a 10-2 run over the next six minutes to take a 10-6 lead with 14:09 remaining. The teams then traded baskets over the next five minutes as the Mountaineers held a 19-15 lead at the 9:52 mark but then a 13-4 run by the Gents gave them a 28-23 lead with 6:12 left before the half. A jumper by Ross made it a 34-31 game with 1:48 left but Mingo answered 20 seconds later with a trey and a jumper by Singleton with six seconds left made it 39-31.
Schreiner chipped away at the lead with its hot shooting after halftime and eventually tied the game at 46-46 on a layup by Darian Gibson, his only two points of the game, at the 15:24 mark. Schreiner stayed within striking distance over the next 10 minutes, cutting its deficit to as few as two points on multiple occasions, but a trey by Singleton at the 4:19 mark gave Centenary a 70-61 lead. An offensive rebound and a tip-in by Thomas made it 74-63 with 2:31 left but a pair of free throws by Ned cut that in half (79-73) with just 43 seconds remaining and just eight seconds later following a pair of misses at the line by Singleton, Ross tipped in a missed shot by his teammate and got the Mountaineers within four at 79-75 with only 35 seconds on the clock. The Gents sank five of six free throw attempts over the final 30 seconds to seal the win.
Centenary will play a pair of non-conference games at home this week, beginning with a contest versus the Millsaps College Majors (1-6) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. The Gents will then welcome the Belhaven University Blazers (2-3) to town on Friday night at 6 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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