Shreveport – The Centenary men's basketball team outlasted the Arlington Baptist University Patriots by a score of 90-86 in a non-conference contest on Monday evening at the Gold Dome.
The Gents improved to 3-1 while the Patriots fell to 2-4. Centenary has won 37 of its last 45 home games and the Maroon and White are 13-2 in their last 15 games at the Gold Dome.
The Gents will have a quick turnaround as they will face the Texas College Steers on Tuesday in a game played at LSUS set for 4 p.m. The game will be considered a home game for Texas College. Centenary defeated Texas College 89-72 at home on Nov. 8.
Centenary trailed 45-43 at halftime but outscored Arlington Baptist 47-41 in the second half to secure the win. The Gents shot the ball well, finishing an even 50 % (29-58) from the floor while the Patriots were also solid on offense, shooting 44.8 % (26-58) for the game from the field. Centenary finished 26.1 % (6-23) from beyond the arc and 26-40 from the free throw line for 65 %. Arlington Baptist was 10-22 from 3-point range (45.5 %) and 24-33 from the FT line for 72.7 %. The teams were whistled for a combined 51 fouls and shot 73 free throws.
The Gents' 90 points are a season high and they tallied a season-best 40 rebounds, winning the battle of the boards, 40-32. Centenary also shot 50 % or better for the second time this season after a season-best 54.5 % in its Nov 8 win over Texas College. Four Gents scored in double figures led by 22 from senior F Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas).
Thomas played all 40 minutes and was 7-11 from the floor, 2-4 from beyond the arc, and 6-7 at the FT line with eight rebounds, two assists and a steal. Junior F Jakobi Greenleaf (Houston, Texas) scored a season-high 21 points in 27 minutes as he was 9-10 from the floor and 3-4 at the FT line. Greenleaf, who has reached double figures in four-straight games, had for rebounds, a team-high three assists, and two steals. Sophomore G Dalyn Davis (Natchitoches, La.) came off the bench and matched his season and career-high in points with 16. He was 5-11 from the floor and a perfect 6-6 at the FT line with two rebounds and a steal.
Sophomore G Quentin Beverly (Katy, Texas) scored 10 points on 3-6 shooting in 25 minutes. He was 1-2 from beyond the arc and 3-6 at the FT line with six rebounds and an assist. Senior G Jalen Behr (Athens, Ga.) scored seven points and matched Thomas with a team-high eight rebounds. He played 16 minutes off the bench and was 1-4 from the floor, 1-3 from beyond the arc, and 4-8 at the FT line with three steals. Junior G Craig Collier (North Little Rock, Ark.) had six points in 13 minutes as he was 2-5 from the floor and 2-2 at the FT line with two assists and one rebound.
Freshman F Khristian Wilkerson (Killeen, Texas) had three points, six rebounds, an assist, and a block in 25 minutes on 1-5 shooting with one trey in four attempts. Senior G AJ Hall (Thibodaux, La.) also had three points in 13 minutes as he hit one trey in five attempts and had one steal. Freshman G Gerald Murage (Irving, Texas) scored two points in 20 minutes and had an assist and a rebound.
Damond Daniels led the Patriots with a game-high 26 points and Ahmad Webster and Michael Carter each scored 12. Three players – Davion Allen, Maurice Walker, and Eric Conner scored seven points apiece and Trae Johnson (6), Isaiah Melvo (5), and J'son Murray (4) combined for 15 points.
The Patriots shot 45.5 % from the floor in the first half while the Gents were a red-hot 51.9 % but still trailed by two points. Arlington Baptist nearly matched its first-half production, shooting 44 %, while Centenary shot 48.4 % and outscored the visitors by six points. The Gents finished with a decisive advantage in points in the paint (46-26) and scored 22 points off of turnovers while the Patriots scored 19. Centenary had a slight edge (12-8) in second-chance points and in fast break points (11-8) and received 32 points from its bench while the Patriots' reserves scored 51 led by Daniels' 26.
The teams traded baskets for the first few minutes of the first half until the Patriots built a six-point lead (17-11) at the 12:36 mark and then led by seven (24-17) with 9:57 remaining. The Gents trailed for the next seven+ minutes, briefly getting within three points but trailed between 4-8 points for the majority of the time. A trey by Wilkerson at the 2:11 mark tied the game at 34-34 as the Gents capped a 23-17 run.
The second half started off in a similar way that the first 20 minutes did as the Gents and Patriots traded baskets and the score remained close. The Gents, though, began to pull away and a jumper by Thomas gave the Maroon and White a 64-53 lead with 11:45 left. Centenary maintained a fairly comfortable lead over the next five+ minutes until a 3-point basket by Maurice Walker got the Patriots within three points at 73-70 at the 6:23 mark.
A trey by Damon Daniels tied the game at 73-73 with 5:07 remaining but two free throws by Collier 30 seconds later gave Centenary its lead back quickly. Daniels sank a pair of free throws to tie the game at 75-75 at the 4:20 mark and after Greenleaf made a pair to put the Gents up 77-75, Daniels hit a trey to give the Patriots a 78-77 lead with 3:57 left and he sank another pair of FT's with 2:31 left for an 81-79 Arlington Baptist lead.
Greenleaf then scored the Gents' next four points, making baskets at the 2:06 and 1:26 marks for an 83-81 Centenary advantage. Behr made one of two FT's with 1:06 left for an 84-81 lead and Daniels sank a pair with under a minute left to get the Patriots within a point at 84-83. A layup by Greenleaf made it 86-83 with 46 seconds left and Murage went 1-2 at the line with 32 seconds remaining for an 87-83 lead. Behr again made one of two attempts with nine seconds left to make it 88-83. Daniels nailed a trey with three seconds left to cut the Patriots' deficit to 88-86 but a foul sent Thomas to the line and he calmly sank two clutch FT's to make it 90-86 Gents and seal the win.
See the complete Gents' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/mbkb/2023-24/schedule
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