Shreveport - The Centenary men's basketball team won its sixth-consecutive game on Tuesday evening with a 65-54 victory over the Millsaps College Majors in a non-conference contest at the Gold Dome.
The Gents (7-2) are currently on their longest winning streak since a 10-game run during their Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship season in 2019-20. Millsaps fell to 1-7 with Tuesday's loss. Centenary improved to 5-1 on its home court this season and the Gents have now won 28 of their last 35 home games.
Millsaps started the game on a 10-0 run and Centenary did not score until senior G Jalen Behr (Athens, Ga.) made a layup at the 14:00 mark to make it 10-2. That jumpstarted a 13-2 run that culminated in a jumper by senior G Kile Mingo (Cypress, Texas) with 9:47 remaining in the half to give the Gents a 13-12 lead. Senior F Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) made one of two free throws to extend the Gents' lead to 18-12 with 7:09 remaining but the Majors clawed back and a trey by TJ Hogan cut the deficit to one (25-24) and was the final basket of the half for either team.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half as the Gents shot 28.6 % (10-36) overall from the floor and were 0-17 from beyond the arc. Millsaps was 10-30 from the floor for 33 % and just 3-15 from 3-popint range for 20 %. The Gents and Majors each heated up offensively after the half as the visitors shot 45.8 % (11-24) overall while the Gents finished at 40.6 % (13-32). Centenary made 6-17 from 3-point range for 35.3 % and were clutch at the free throw line, going 8-8.
Millsaps shot 38.9 % (21-54) overall for the game, 5-23 (21.7 %) from beyond the arc, and 70 % (7-10) at the free throw line. Centenary finished 34.3 % overall (23-67), 6-34 from 3-point range for 17.6 % and 13-16 at the FT line for 81.3 %. Centenary won the rebounding battle 42-38 and forced 17 Majors' turnovers while only committing 11. The Gents tallied 10 assists, seven steals, and three blocked shots while the Majors recorded six assists, seven steals, and three blocked shots.
Centenary finished with 26 points in the paint to Millsaps' 24 and the Gents scored 17 points off of the Majors' 17 turnovers while the visitors scored 11. The Gents had 15 second-chance points and the Majors 10, fast break points were even at 6-6, and Centenary's bench was up to the calling as its six subs contributed 33 points while the Majors received 18 from their nine reserves.
Thomas led four Gents in double figures with a team-high 12 points in 25 minutes and added 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season and eighth double-digit scoring performance. He finished 6-8 at the free throw line with three assists and a steal. Senior G Tykeem Singleton (Fort Worth, Texas) had his fifth double-figure scoring game and second double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds in his 31 minutes. He was 2-3 overall, 1-2 from beyond the arc and a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line with three steals.
Behr came off the bench and scored 10 points in just 15 minutes of action, finishing 4-10 overall and hit a pair of treys. He added a steal and reached double figures for the first time this season. Senior F Joseph Wiggins (Bossier City, La.) scored a season-high 10 points off the bench in his 23 minutes on 5-7 shooting. He grabbed five rebounds, blocked three shots, and had one assist. Senior G Kile Mingo (Cypress, Texas) added eight points in 20 minutes on 3-7 shooting and connected on 2-5 attempts from beyond the arc with one rebound.
Junior G Jerrick Baines (Alexandria, La.) scored nine with three rebounds in 26 minutes on 4-11 shooting and was 1-1 at the free throw line. Junior G Chrys Jackson (North Las Vegas, Nev.) scored five points with two assists, two rebounds, and a steal in 20 minutes on 2-6 shooting and hit one trey.
Junior G Braeden Board (Rayne, La.), freshman G Quentin Beverly (Katy, Texas), senior G Ralph Johnson (White Castle, La.), and freshman G Cameron Walker (Bossier City, La.) all played but did not score. Board had two assists, a steal, and a rebound and Johnson finished with three rebounds and an assist. Walker had one assist in his four minutes. Two Millsaps players reached double figures led by Doug Watson's game-high 15 points. Aaron Ursin added 10 and three others scored five or more points. Ursin grabbed a team-best seven rebounds as he just missed a double-double and added a steal in 26 minutes.
The teams remained within 4-7 points of each other for the first minutes of the second half until a trey by Jackson at the 11:06 mark gave the Gents their first double-digit lead of the game at 44-33. A 3-pointer by Behr with 8:09 remaining made it 54-40 Gents and another shot from deep just under a minute later from the senior pushed the Centenary advantage to 59-43. But, the Gents would go without a point over the next seven minutes until a free throw by Thomas with 56 seconds gave them a 60-54 lead and stopped an 11-0 Millsaps run. The Gents were 6-6 at the free throw line in the final 56 seconds of the game to seal the win.
Centenary will face the Belhaven University Blazers on Friday in another home non-conference game set for 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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