Houston- The Centenary men's basketball team fell short, 68-55, to the University of St. Thomas Celts on Tuesday night in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest at the Jerabeck Center.
The Gents (17-7, 10-5 SCAC) will finish the regular season on Sunday at Colorado College (11-12, 8-6 SCAC). The Celts, ranked 13th nationally in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, improved to 22-2 and remained undefeated (15-0) in SCAC play. St. Thomas is now 12-0 at home and won its ninth game in a row.
Junior G Braeden Board (Rayne, La.) scored a career-high 25 points to lead all scorers on Tuesday. Senior G Jalen Behr (Athens, Ga.) joined him in double figures with 14. Three Celts reached double digits as Calvin Williams IV and Andrew Adebo each scored 14 and Nick Anderson had 12.
Centenary's five-game winning streak was snapped on Tuesday but the Maroon and White have still won six of their last nine games and are currently third in the conference standings, just a half game behind second-place Trinity (17-6, 10-4 SCAC).
The top six teams in the conference standings after the conclusion of the regular season will play in the SCAC Championship Feb. 24-26 in San Antonio. The top two seeds receive a bye into the semifinals.
The Celts, who were playing their final home game of the regular season on Tuesday, edged the Gents 54-50 at the Gold Dome on Jan. 10 in the previous meeting between the two teams and the rematch was another low-scoring affair as expected. The Gents and Celts entered Tuesday tied for the lead in the conference in scoring defense (62.4 PPG) and ranked 20th nationally in all of division III in the category.
The Gents have now held 20 of their 24 opponents this season to 70 points or less, 60 or less 10 times, and to 55 or less nine times. Centenary has now won at least 17 games in a season twice under head coach Chris Dorsey, and 14 or more four times, and are just one win 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 shot 33.9 % (19-56) from the floor for the game, 25.9 % (7-27) from beyond the arc, and 10-16 from the free throw line for 62.5 %. The Celts were 25-54 overall for 46.3 %, 7-19 from 3-point range for 36.8 % and 11-16 from the FT line for 68.8 %. Centenary shot 37 % (10-27) in the first half but dipped to 31 % (9-29) after halftime. The Celts shot 39.3 % (11-28) in the first half and heated up in the second half, making 14-26 shots for 53.8 %.
Board made 10-19 shots from the floor as his 10 made baskets are a season high, and he was 5-12 from beyond the arc, tying his single-game season high after finishing 5-5 in a home win over Belhaven in December. He added five rebounds, two assists, and two blocked shots in 37 minutes. Behr came off the bench and shot 5-15 overall, 2-2 from the free throw line, and made a pair of treys in his 23 minutes. He grabbed five rebounds and had two steals.
Senior G Ralph Johnson (White Castle, La.) scored seven points and had a team-best four assists in his 31 minutes. He was 3-4 from the FT line and had one rebound. Senior F Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) joined the 1,000-point club at the 18:19 mark of the second half when he made a pair of free throws. He was held to five points on the night but he grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and added three steals, an assist, a blocked shot, and he was 3-3 from the FT line.
Senior G Tykeem Singleton (Fort Worth, Texas) and freshman G Quentin Beverly (Katy, Texas) each scored two points. Senior G Kile Mingo (Cypress, Texas) was held scoreless but had a rebound and a steal in 11 minutes off the bench.
Freddie Ricks III, Angel Johnson, and Zack Golaszewski each scored seven points for the Celts and Andrew Nguyen, Joshua Sanchez, and Calen Anderson combined for seven and six rebounds. Johnson and Williams IV each grabbed a team-high seven boards and Adebo had six.
The Celts won a close battle inside, scoring 22 points in the paint to 20 for the Gents. St. Thomas also outrebounded Centenary 33-27 and had 12 second-chance points along with an 8-1 advantage in fast break points. The Gents, who had 15 second-chance points, only turned the ball over 11 times and forced the Celts into 13, but St. Thomas turned those 11 Gents' miscues into 16 points while the Gents scored 11 off of the Celt's mistakes. St. Thomas benefited greatly from its bench, scoring 31 points to 14 from the Gents' reserves.
The Celts held a 28-26 lead after a low-scoring first half and then outscored the gents 40-29 after halftime to seal the win. The lead changed hands multiple times in the opening minutes of the game until a jumper at the 11:00 mark by Ralph Johnson gave the Gents a 13-7 lead. Centenary held St. Thomas scoreless for give minutes until William IV scored to make it 13-9 at the 10:28 mark.
Golaszewski tied the game at 19-19 with a jumper at the 5:58 mark and then each team made multiple 3-pointers as the lead changed back and forth for several minutes. A free throw by Behr gave the Gents a 26-25 lead with 1:42 left before the break but a trey by William IV just before the halftime buzzer gave the Celts the 28-26 lead.
St. Thomas opened the second half on a 15-9 run to take a 43-35 lead with 9:37 left, and a layup by Adebo at the 7:39 mark gave the Celts their first double-digit lead (47-37) of the game. The Gents managed to cut their deficit to single digits late in the game, but the Celts' hot shooting and solid defense kept the Gents at bay to pull out the home victory.
The Gents will finish their regular season at Colorado College on Sunday in Colorado Springs, Colo. Centenary aims for a sweep of the season series after defeating the Tigers 63-58 at home on Jan. 13.
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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