Gents Take Winning Streak On Road This Weekend
The Centenary men's basketball team returns to the court for the first time in nearly two weeks on Friday as the red-hot Gents will face the Southwestern University Pirates in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest set for 7:30 p.m. at the Robertson Center.
Georgetown, Texas - The Centenary men's basketball team returns to the court for the first time in nearly two weeks on Friday as the red-hot Gents will face the Southwestern University Pirates in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest set for 7:30 p.m. at the Robertson Center.
Live stats and live video are available for the game at the links below:
Stats: https://www.southwesternpirates.com/sports/m-baskbl/2022-23/boxscores/20221216_xdzn.xml
Video: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/swu/
The Gents (8-2) extended their winning streak to seven with a dominating 75-51 victory over the Belhaven Blazers on Dec. 9 in a non-conference contest at the Gold Dome. Centenary is off to a 2-0 in conference play after home wins over Trinity (69-65) and Schreiner (84-79) earlier this month. Southwestern (3-5, 1-1 SCAC) has split its first two league games, falling 71-53 to Austin College and beating Dallas 62-58. The Pirates are 1-3 at home this season while the Gents are 0-1 on the road.
Centenary's current streak is its longest since winning 10 games in a row from Jan. 25-March 1, 2020 during their SCAC championship season. Centenary, winners of 29 of its last 36 home games overall, is 6-1 at home this season but will play away from home for just the fourth time this season, falling at ETBU last month in its lone road game and going 1-1 in the Millsaps Tournament the weekend before Thanksgiving. Centenary head coach Chris Dorsey recorded his 75th career Centenary win with the Dec. 9 victory over Belhaven as he is now 75-53 overall in his sixth season at the helm. The Gents are 48-28 in conference play under Dorsey.
Centenary leads the conference in scoring defense, allowing just 65.5 PPG and also ranks first in the league in field goal percentage defense (.401) and in turnover margin (+4.70) forcing an average of 20.7 per game. The Gents ranks fifth in the conference averaging 72.9 PPG and are third in 3-point field goals made per game (7.7). Centenary has made 10 or more treys in a game three times this season, highlighted by a season 13 twice, in its 101-64 season-opening victory over Arlington Baptist on Nov. 8 and in in the win over Belhaven on Dec. 9 in its most recent game.
The Gents came out clicking on offense in the first half in the Belhaven win, shooting 42.9 % (15-35) overall from the floor, and were 10-22 from beyond the arc for 45.5 % to take a 42-17 lead at halftime. Centenary forced 13 turnovers in the first half and held the Blazers to just 23.8 % shooting overall as the visitors made just five total baskets in 21 attempts and were 1-9 from 3-point range for 11.1 %. Belhaven was better in the second half, but still only made 10 shots in 29 attempts for 34.5 % and made just 2-11 attempts from 3-point range for 18.2 %. Belhaven edged the Gents 34-33 in the second half but the 25-point halftime deficit was too much to overcome.
The Gents continued their hot shooting after halftime as they finished 45.8 % (11-24) from the field and made three more treys in nine attempts. Centenary finished 44.1 % (26-59) for the game from the floor, 41.9 % (13-31) from 3-point range, and 55.6 % (10-18) from the free throw line.
Belhaven committed 21 turnovers and the Gents turned those into 24 points while only turning the ball over a season-low six times. The Gents nearly matched the all-time Gold Dome record for fewest turnovers in a game, which was four versus Louisiana Tech on Feb. 3, 1986. The Gents finished with a slight edge (24-20) in points in the paint, and as they have all season they benefited greatly from their strong bench which contributed 30 points.
Junior G Braeden Board (Rayne, La.) scored a game-high 18 points, matching his season high, and was one of three Gents in double figures. Board was on fire as he finished a perfect 5-5 overall, all of which were from beyond the arc in 22 minutes. He tied the all-time school record for 3-point field goal percentage, tying Ronnie McCollum's effort on Jan. 15, 1998 versus Mercer. Board finished 3-4 at the free throw line with two steals, an assist, a rebound, and a blocked shot.
Senior G Kile Mingo (Cypress, Texas) continued his impressive play as he came off the bench and scored 12 points in his 23 minutes of action, reaching double figures for the fourth time this season. He was 4-10 overall, 2-6 from beyond the arc, and 2-2 from the free throw line. He had four rebounds, three steals, two blocked shots, and one assist. Senior F Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) added 11 points in 22 minutes on 3-9 shooting. He was 4-6 at the free throw line and hit one trey. He had five rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Senior G Jalen Behr (Athens, Ga.) and senior G Tykeem Singleton (Fort Worth, Texas) each scored eight points and freshman G Quentin Beverly (Katy, Texas) added six. Junior G Chrys Jackson (North Las Vegas, Nev.) junior G Jerrick Baines (Alexandria, La.) and senior F Joseph Wiggins (Bossier City, La.) each chipped in two points. senior G Ralph Johnson (White Castle, La.)
Thomas is the Gents' leading scorer and ranks eighth in the conference averaging 13.4 PPG. He has now scored in double figures a team-high nine times this season and in five-straight games. He is the team leader in rebounding (7.3/game) and ranks sixth in the SCAC. Board is Centenary's second-leading scorer at 9.8 PPG, tied for 22nd in the league. Board has reached double figures five times this season and is the Gents' third-leading rebounder at 5.1/game. Singleton is third on the team in scoring (9.0 PPG) and ranks in a tie for 27th in the conference and is second on the team in rebounding (5.6/game). Singleton and Board rank 12th and 15th respectively in the conference in rebounding.
Thomas is also the Gents' top shooter this season (49 %) to rank 14th in the conference. He ranks third in the league in offensive rebounds, sixth in minutes played, seventh in defensive rebounds, 10th in free-throw percentage, and 14th in assists. Board is third in the conference in blocked shots, tied for fourth in the conference in FT % (85.2 %) and ranks 13th in 3-point FG % (37.1 %) and 14th in steals. Singleton is 12th in the conference in overall rebounding and sixth in the conference in offensive rebounds
Mingo ranks 15th in the conference in 3-point FG % (35.9 %) and is averaging 7.6 PPG this season. He has reached double figures four times and also ranks 12th in the SCAC in 3-point FG's made. Wiggins is tied for 11th in the conference in blocked shots and averages 3.3 PPG, 2.4 rebounds/game and is shooting 53.3 % from the floor. He scored a season-high 10 points in the Gents' 65-54 win over Millsaps on Dec. 6.
Centenary leads the all-time series with Southwestern 14-9 and has won four in a row dating back to the 2018-19 season. In a dominating 105-69 victory at home on Jan. 12 of last season the Gents nailed a program-record 22 three-point baskets and marked the most recent time that Centenary scored 100 points since the 101 in its season-opening victory over Arlington Baptist last month.
The Gents complete the weekend on Saturday as they face Texas Lutheran University at 4 p.m. in Seguin, Texas.
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.
#GoCentenary #CTheOpportunity
