Shreveport- The Centenary men's basketball team continued its impressive play at home on Friday night as the Gents eased past the University of Dallas Crusaders by a score of 90-70 in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest at the Gold Dome.
The Gents (10-3, 4-1 SCAC) improved to 7-1 at home this season and have won 30 of their last 37 home games overall. Dallas fell to 4-7 and remained winless in conference play (0-4) with the loss.
Centenary came out on fire offensively in the first half, shooting 51.4 % (18-35) from the floor as the Maroon and White raced out to a 50-34 halftime lead. The Gents were especially hot from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes, nailing 10 treys in 22 attempts for 45.5 %. Junior G Jerrick Baines (Alexandria, La.) and senior G Jalen Behr (Athens, Ga.) led the way for the Gents as the two combined for 28 points in the first half.
Baines scored 15 points as he was a sizzling 5-6 from beyond the arc in 14 minutes and Behr scored 13 in 11 minutes off the bench on 5-7 shooting overall and was 3-5 from 3-point range. Dallas, despite the 16-point halftime deficit, shot the ball well as the Crusaders were 14-30 from the floor for 46.7 %.
The Gents stayed hot offensively in the second half, making 15-30 attempts for an even 50 % to finish at 50.8 % for the game (33-65). Centenary finished shooting 50 % or better from the floor for the third time in game this season and nearly matched its season-best 51.9 % mark accomplished twice. Centenary finished 40.7 % from beyond the arc, making 11-27 attempts, marking the fifth time that the Maroon and White have shot 40 % or better from beyond the arc in a game this season.
The Crusaders, interestingly, were an identical 14-30 from the floor in the second half to finish 28-60 for 46.7 % from the floor for the game. Dallas, though, struggled from beyond the arc as the Crusaders only made 8-23 attempts for 34.8 % and also did not help itself at the free throw line, finishing 6-11 for 54.5 %. Dallas finished with a 39-31 advantage in rebounds and had 17 assists, four steals, and two blocked shots. Centenary recorded 12 assists, 12 steals, and two blocked shots.
The Gents forced 19 turnovers and only committed seven, which is the second-fewest in game this season and nearly matched their season low of six in a 75-51 win against Belhaven on Dec. 9. The Gents scored 21 points off of turnovers while the Crusaders scored just seven. Centenary finished with eight second-chance points to seven for Dallas and each team benefited from its bench as the Crusaders' reserves scored 32 and the Gents' chipped in 24.
Senior F Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) led the way with a game-high 20 points and heated up after halftime, scoring 13 points on 4-7 shooting and was a perfect 5-5 from the free throw line. Thomas finished 6-11 from the floor for the game with eight rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a blocked shot and 8-9 from the FT line. He reached double figures for the team-leading 12th time this season and for the eighth game in a row.
Baines and Behr each cooled off after halftime as Baines did not score and Behr was held to two points. Baines grabbed four rebounds in the game in his 24 minutes and had three steals and a blocked shot while Behr played 18 minutes and finished 6-9 overall and had a pair of steals, an assist, and a rebound.
Freshman G Quentin Beverly (Katy, Texas) scored a season-high 19 points and reached double figures for the third time this season. He finished 8-13 overall, 2-2 from beyond the arc, and 1-3 from the FT line. Beverly scored 12 of his 19 in the second half and finished with three assists, two rebounds, and a steal. Junior G Braeden Board (Rayne, La.) and senior G Tykeem Singleton (Fort Worth, Texas) each scored six points as Board added five rebounds, three assists, and two steals in 32 minutes and Singleton was 2-3 overall and 2-2 from the FT line in 23 minutes with four rebounds and a steal.
Senior G Kile Mingo (Cypress, Texas) played 22 minutes and scored five points with three rebounds and an assist and a steal. Junior G Chrys Jackson (North Las Vegas, Nev.) scored four points, grabbed three rebounds and had an assist and a steal in 22 minutes.
Three Dallas players scored in double figures, led by 19 from Letrell Toussaint in his 29 minutes off the bench. He was 8-13 overall from the floor and 3-4 from the FT line. He recorded a double-double with a game-high 14 rebounds. 11 coming on the defensive end, and had one steal. Matt Holloway and Jacob Giunta each scored 11 points, Zac Olmsted had nine, Jack Boyle scored seven, and Marcus Juarez and Louis Christifano Jr. each scored six.
Giunta grabbed seven rebounds on 5-9 shooting in 24 minutes, Holloway had four assists and two steals with a rebound in 27 minutes, and Boyle had seven rebounds, four assists, a steal, and a blocked shot in 30 minutes.
The teams traded baskets over the first eight minutes of the game until the Crusaders opened up a five-point lead (22-17) at the 11:54 mark. A trey by Behr tied the score at 24-24 with 7:52 remaining and another 3-pointer by Baines 37 seconds later gave Centenary a 27-24 lead. The Gents then went on a 15-3 run over the next five minutes to take a 42-27 lead and Centenary held Dallas to just seven points over the final five and a half minutes of the half to take the comfortable lead into the locker room.
The Gents took a 61-39 lead at the 14:44 mark of the second half on a layup by Beverly and with 10:46 left, Jackson made a basket for a 70-49 lead. A Thomas free throw at the 9:05 mark made it 75-52 Gents but Dallas was able to claw back to cut the deficit to 14 at 77-63 with 4:35 left. Centenary, however, finished on a 13-4 run over the final four minutes to seal the win.
The Gents will close the calendar year with another home game on Saturday versus Austin College at 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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