Shreveport- The top two teams in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference standings will meet on Tuesday night as the Centenary men's basketball team faces the University of St. Thomas Celts in a pivotal league contest set for 7:30 p.m. at the Gold Dome.
Live stats and live video are available for the game at the links below:
Stats: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/mbkb/2022-23/boxscores/20230110_1vh9.xml
Video: https://collegetvticket.com/event/centenary-college-vs-st-thomas-celts/
The Gents (11-3, 5-1 SCAC) won their seventh-straight home game with an 82-71 victory over Austin College on Dec. 31 after a 90-70 win over Dallas the day before. The Celts (12-2, 6-0 SCAC) are currently ranked 17th in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.
Centenary is 8-1 on its home court this season and winners of 31 of its last 38 home games. St. Thomas is 5-2 on the road this season and fell at Hardin-Simmons 66-63 on Thursday in its most recent action. The Celts lead the all-time series against the Gents, 6-2, and the teams have split the previous four games played in the Gold Dome.
The Gents enter Tuesday's game ranked fourth in the conference in scoring, averaging 73.3 PPG, just behind the Celts who are third at 74.3. Centenary ranks fourth in the league in field goal percentage (41.8 %) while St. Thomas is the league leader at 45.7 %. The Gents check in at eighth in the SCAC in rebounding and the Celts rank second. Defensively, the Celts and Gents are the top two teams in the conference as St. Thomas leads the way in scoring defense, allowing just 64.8 PPG and the Gents are right behind them in second place yielding only 65.2 PPG.
Centenary is second in FG % defense (40.8 %) and St. Thomas ranks fifth at 418 %. The Celts and Gents also rank 1-2 in scoring margin as St. Thomas is +9.5 and Centenary is +8.1. The Gents are also the league leader in turnover margin (+5.14) and force their opponents into an average of 20.9/game. Centenary is the SCAC's top free throw shooting team at 70.2 % and ranks second in steals. Both teams shoot it well from beyond the arc as the Celts lead the league with 131 made 3-pointers this season and average 8.7/game while the Gents are third with 109 and make 7.8/game.
The Gents will likely go with their usual lineup on Tuesday consisting of senior F Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas), freshman G Quentin Beverly (Katy, Texas), junior G Jerrick Baines (Alexandria, La.), junior G Braeden Board (Rayne, La.), and senior G Tykeem Singleton (Fort Worth, Texas).
Thomas enters Tuesday's play ranked second in the league in scoring (15.1 PPG) and fourth in rebounding (7.9/game) and is the team leader in both categories. He led the Gents with a game-high 23 points against Austin College on Dec. 31 on 5-8 shooting in 37 minutes. He scored 20 or more points for the third time this season and second day in a row after posting 20 versus Dallas. Thomas grabbed eight rebounds and had six assists and four steals, both game highs, with two blocked shots. He was 13-15 at the FT line and has reached double figures a team-high 13 times and done so in nine-consecutive games.
Beverly (7.9 PPG) was red hot in the two games versus Dallas and Austin College as he scored 15 points on 5-11 shooting versus the 'Roos and went 5-7 at the FT line. Beverly, who scored a season-high 19 in the win over Dallas, reached double figures for the fourth time this season. Baines, who is third on the team in scoring (8.6 PPG) scored 10 points in 24 minutes versus Austin College on 3-8 shooting, went 2-6 from beyond the arc, and 2-2 from the FT line. He grabbed three rebounds and had one assist as he reached double figures for the sixth time this season and third game in a row.
Board is second on the team in both scoring (9.5 PPG) and rebounding (5.1 RPG) this season and has reached double figures six times with one double-double. Singleton averages 7.9 PPG and 4.7 RPG and has scored in double figures four times with a pair of double-doubles. Senior G Jalen Behr (Athens, Ga.) averages 6.4 PPG and has scored in double figures three times this season and two games in a row. He scored 11 in 19 minutes off the bench on 4-8 shooting and went 3-7 from beyond the arc versus Austin College. Senior G Kile Mingo (Cypress, Texas) averages 6.8 PPG and has four double-figure scoring games this season. Mingo and Behr are the Gents top two shooters from beyond the arc and Mingo needs just one more trey to tie former Gent Andrew Wisniewski for seventh all-time in program history (172) as he has 171 now.
Calvin Williams Jr. is the Celts' top scorer this season (13.1 PPG) and ranks sixth in the conference. Freddie Ricks (12.1 PPG) and Nick Anderson (9.8) are St. Thomas' other main offensive threats. Calen Anderson leads St. Tomas in rebounding (5.4/game) to rank 11th in the conference.
Tuesday's game is the first of two scheduled contests between the Gents and Celts in the regular season as the teams will meet again on Tuesday, Feb. 14 in Houston.
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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