Gents Set For Final Regular-Season Home Game On Thursday
The Centenary men's basketball team looks to continue its dominant play at home on Thursday evening as the Gents take a break from conference play to face the John Melvin University Millers in a non-conference contest set for 7:30 p.m. at the Gold Dome.
Shreveport- The Centenary men's basketball team looks to continue its dominant play at home on Thursday evening as the Gents take a break from conference play to face the John Melvin University Millers in a non-conference 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/20230209_wse1.xml
Video: https://collegetvticket.com/event/centenary-college-vs-john-melvin-university/
The Gents (16-6) extended their winning streak to four and completed a season series sweep over Austin College with a 70-45 victory over the 'Roos on last Saturday in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference in Sherman, Texas. The Maroon and White defeated the University of Dallas the night before in Irving, 72-51 to complete a series sweep over the Crusaders as well. The Millers are members of the Gulf-Atlantic Christian Athletic Alliance. Thursday will mark the first meeting between the two schools.
Centenary is 11-2 on its home court this season and has won three in a row and eight of nine. The Gents are an impressive 34-8 at the Gold Dome over the last 42 games and set a new division III era (2012-present) single-season record for home wins (11) with a dominating 72-51 victory over Texas Lutheran on Jan. 29, in their most recent home game.
The Gents have now won 16 or more games in a season twice under head coach Chris Dorsey, and 14 or more three times, and are two wins away from matching the division III era (2012-present) single-season record of 18, previously set in the 2019-20 season under Dorsey and in 2013-14. Centenary has won 10 or more SCAC regular-season games five times in the D3 era and three times under Dorsey.
The Gents are currently in second place in the conference standings at 10-4, four games behind league leader St. Thomas (14-0), and one of only two teams in the SCAC to have double-digit conference wins. Centenary returns to conference play next week, beginning with a key matchup with St. Thomas in Houston on Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m. Centenary then completes its regular season on Sunday, Feb. 19 at Colorado College (3:30 p.m.). The 2023 SCAC Men's Basketball Championship will be held Feb. 24-26 in San Antonio, Texas.
Centenary is on its second-longest winning streak of the season after previously winning eight in a row from Nov. 19-Dec. 16. The Gents have won their last four games by an average of 21.5 points and held all four to 52 points or less. The 45 points allowed to Austin College last weekend is a season low and marks the ninth time they have held an opponent to 55 points or less in a game. Centenary beat both Southwestern and Texas Lutheran at home each by 20+ points at the end of January to start the impressive streak.
The Gents have held 16 of their 20 opponents to 70 points or less, 60 or less eight times, to 55 or less seven times and enter Thursday's play tied for 19th in the country in division III in scoring defense, allowing just 62.4 PPG. The Maroon and White also rank 33rd nationally in 3-point field goal percentage defense and 56th in FG % defense. Centenary also checks in eighth nationally in turnovers forced per game and 14th in turnover margin.
Senior F Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) averaged 14 PPG and rebounds/game in the two road wins last weekend and enters Thursday's action having reached double figures in a staggering 17-straight games. Thomas is currently second in the conference in scoring (16.5 PPG) and fourth in rebounding (7.5 RPG) and has reached double figures 21 times this season and has six double-doubles. He is also just five points away from 1,000 for his superb career and after he joined the 500-rebound club on Jan. 29, he is set to become just the 19th player in program history to score 1,000 points and grab 500 rebounds in a career. Thirty-five players have scored 1,000+ points in their Gents' careers and 27 have reached 500+ rebounds in 96 years of Centenary basketball.
Junior G Braeden Board (Rayne, La.) and senior G Tykeem Singleton (Fort Worth, Texas) each rank among the top 30 scorers in the conference as Board is 26th (8.5 PPG) and Singleton is 27th (8.4 PPG). Board is also 20th in the lague in rebounding, averaging 4.7 boards per game and has reached double figures eight times this season. Singleton has now scored in double figures 11 times this season and is 17th in rebounding (4.9/game). Freshman G Quentin Beverly (Katy, Texas) is averaging 7.8 PPG and has reached double figures five times this season and scored 15 or more in four of those five games.
Thomas (5th) and Singleton (14th) are the Gents' top two shooters this season, each sitting in the top 15 in the conference in FG % as Thomas shoots 52.5 % and Singleton 45.3 %. Thomas also ranks second in minutes played, third in offensive rebounds, fifth in defensive rebounds, sixth in free throw %, seventh in steals, 10th in assists. Board is fifth in FT %, 13th in both defensive rebounds and steals, and Board and Thomas are tied for 13th in blocked shots. Singleton also ranks eighth in the league in offensive rebounds.
Junior G Jerrick Baines (Alexandria, La.) is 10th in the SCAC in 3-point FG's made this season and averages 7.6 PPG with seven double-digit scoring performances. Senior G Jalen Behr (Athens, Ga.) is averaging 6.2 PPG and is one of the league's top 3-point shooters as he ranks in the top 15 in 3-point FG's made. He has hit eight treys over the last four games and made at least two in a game nine times this season. Senior G Ralph Johnson (White Castle, La.) has scored in double figures three times this season and started three games in a row, averaging 29.7/minutes per game. Senior G Kile Mingo (Cypress, Texas) averages 5.4 PPG and has reached double figures four times this season. He has 174 treys in his career, the seventh-most in program history.
Thursday marks a special day on the Centenary campus as it is Founders' Day and "Giving Day" is being held in conjunction with this special occasion. The "Giving Day Basketball Challenge" will take place and there will be a drawing at halftime for a signed jersey from former Gent star and current Harlem Globetrotter Travion Kirkendoll.
See complete "Giving Day Basketball Challenge" info here: https://www.centenary.edu/giving/giving-day/
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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