Montgomery, Ala. – The Centenary men's basketball team defeated host Huntingdon College by a score of 89-70 in a non-conference contest on Saturday night in the Hawks Classic inside Catherine Dixon Roland Arena.
The Gents (2-0) took a 36-25 lead at the half and outscored the Hawks (1-1) in the second half, 53-45, to remain undefeated on the young season. Centenary opened its season with an 89-72 victory over the Texas College Steers in a non-conference contest on Wednesday at home.
Centenary shot 41.4 % (29-70) overall for the game and was impressive from both 3-point range (42.9 % (12-28) and the free throw line (19-25 for 76 %). Huntingdon finished just 32.9 % (24-73) overall and struggled from beyond the arc (6-22 for 27.3 %) and at the FT line (16-31 for 51.6 %). The Gents were outrebounded by the Hawks, 42-34, and forced 10 turnovers while only committing 10 themselves. The Gents recorded 12 assists, six assists, and blocked two shots while the Hawks tallied 10 assists, four steals, and three blocked shots.
Senior F Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) scored 15 points to lead the Gents, junior G Craig Collier (North Little Rock, Ark.) scored a season-high 13, and junior F Jakobi Greenleaf (Houston, Texas) scored 11 for the second game in a row. Max Gardner led the Hawks and all scorers with 23 points and BJ Brown joined him in double figures with 16.
Senior G AJ Hall (Thibodaux, La.) scored nine points for the Gents, and senior G Jalen Behr (Athens, Ga.) and freshman F Khristian Wilkerson (Killeen, Texas) each scored eight points. Sophomore G Quentin Beverly (Katy, Texas) and junior C Ruben Cazares (Tucson, Ariz.) each scored seven and freshman G Gerald Murage (Irving, Texas) added six. Senior G Chrys Jackson (North Las Vegas, Nev.) made his season debut and scored three points in six minutes and junior G Kyron Powell (Fort Worth, Texas) also made his season and gents' debut and scored two points and grabbed three boards in three minutes of action. Sophomore G Dalyn Davis (Natchitoches, La.) did not score but grabbed three rebounds and had a steal in 12 minutes.
Thomas, following his team-high 20 point-performance on Wednesday, was 5-10 overall, 3-4 from beyond the arc, and 2-3 at the FT line in 31 minutes with seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Collier played 17 minutes and was 3-9 overall, 3-5 from beyond the arc, and 4-4 at the FT line with two rebounds, an assist, and one steal. Greenleaf was 4-7 from the floor and 3-4 at the FT line in 15 minutes with three boards, an assist, and a steal. Hall finished 3-7 overall, 2-2 at the FT line, and made one trey in three attempts in his 14 minutes with two assists. Behr played 20 minutes off the bench and was 3-5 overall and 2-4 from beyond the arc with three rebounds and an assist, Wilkerson had four rebounds, two blocked shots, and an assist in 21 minutes as he shot 4-6 overall and 2-4 from the FT line.
Beverly played 22 minutes and had three rebounds and two assists as she went 4-5 at the FT line, his one trey, and finished 1-4 from the floor. Cazares played his best game of the young season with five rebounds, an assist, and a steal in 14 minutes as she made 3-7 shots overall with one trey and Murage was 2-3 overall, 1-1 from beyond the arc, and 1-1 at the FT line in 13 minutes.
The Gents shot 35.9 % from the floor in the first half and made eight treys in 19 attempts to build an 11-point lead at the break. Their offense was even better in the second half, shooting 48.4 % overall and the Gents made 19-24 attempts at the FT line and made four more from beyond the arc in nine attempts.
Centenary opened the game on a 6-0 run and held Huntingdon scoreless for the first four minutes. A Thomas trey made it 16-3 with 14:09 left and a Hall 3-pointer increased the centenary lead to 22-4 at the 12:44 mark. The Hawks, though, scored the next nine points to cut their deficit to 22-13 at the 8:33 mark but Centenary outscored Huntingdon 13-12 down the stretch and aided by the early large lead, took its double-digit lead into the locker room.
A free throw by Greenleaf made it 45-28 with 17:10 remaining in the second half and despite the fact the Hawks would cut their deficit to 10 a few minutes later, they could not keep pace with the Gents the rest of the way, leading the Maroon and White to a comfortable road win. Centenary finished with a 30-24 edge in points in the paint and each team scored 11 points off of turnovers. The Gents' bench was key, contributing 50 points while the Hawks' reserves scored 28. Huntingdon scored nine second chance and Centenary finished with five.
The Gents will face LaGrange College on Sunday at 2 p.m. in their final game of the weekend.
See the complete Gents' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/mbkb/2023-24/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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