Shreveport - The Centenary men's basketball team suffered a rare home loss on Friday evening as the Gents fell 70-59 to the Austin College 'Roos in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest at the Gold Dome.
The Gents (9-9, 4-5 SCAC) lost for the first time all season on their home court and lost their third in a row overall after a pair of road losses last weekend at Schreiner and Trinity. Austin College (8-9, 4-5 SCAC) earned a season sweep of the series after recording a 74-65 win in Sherman last month.
Centenary aims to shake of Friday's loss quickly as the Maroon and White face the University of Dallas Crusaders (7-10, 4-5 SCAC) on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Crusaders shocked St. Thomas, 86-85, in Houston on Friday night. The Gents, despite the rare home loss, are 6-1 at the Gold Dome this season and are an impressive 41-9 in their last 50 home games and have won 17 of their last 20 on their home court.
Centenary shot 40.7 % (22-54) from the floor, 8-24 (33.3 %) from beyond the arc, and 7-12 from the free throw line for 58.3 %. Austin College finished 39.7 % (29-73) overall, 27.8 % (10-36) from 3-point range, and shot just six free throws, making two, for 33.3 %. The 'Roos were busy in the glass, grabbing a whopping 51 rebounds to the Gents' 30. Austin College finished with 30 defensive rebounds and 21 on the offensive end, while 25 of Centenary's rebounds were on the defensive end and only five offensive boards.
The 'Roos finished with a decisive advantage in second-chance points (20-5) and won the battle of points in the paint, 28-20. Each team took care of the ball well as each committed just 10 turnovers. Austin College scored 10 points off of turnovers and Centenary scored six. The Gents scored 16 fast break points and the 'Roos had 10. Centenary's bench was a key in the game, outscoring Austin College's reserves, 23-8.
The Gents had 10 assists, six steals, and three blocked shots while the 'Roos finished with 12 assists, five steals, and also blocked three shots. Centenary has now recorded 10+ assists in a game 13 times this season,
Senior F Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) led the Gents with 16 points and junior G Craig Collier (North Little Rock, Ark.) scored 14 but were the only two Gents players to reach double figures. Senior G AJ Hall (Thibodaux, La.) added nine off the bench, freshman G Gerald Murage (Irving, Texas) and junior F Jakobi Greenleaf (Houston, Texas) each scored six, and three players - sophomore G Quentin Beverly (Katy, Texas), senior G Tykeem Singleton (Fort Worth, Texas), and senior G Coby Harris (Lafayette, La.) combined to score eight points.
Tristan Dick led the 'Roos and all scorers with 26 points, Joshua Joe scored 20, and Kidus Getenet had 12. Jackson Rennie had six off the bench, and three others combined to score six points. Nate Williams was held scoreless in seven minutes but had an assist, a steal, and a rebound. Dick was 10-22 from the floor in 37 minutes and nailed five treys in 15 attempts. He grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to record an impressive double-double with two steals and one assist. Joe grabbed six rebounds to go with his 20 points and was 9-19 from the floor with two treys as he played all 40 minutes. He grabbed six rebounds and dished out a pair of assists. Getenet played 33 minutes and was 5-11 from the floor, 1-5 from 3-point range, and 1-1 at the FT line with seven boards and two assists.
Thomas, who entered the game as the league's second-leading scorer, reached double figures for the 17th time this season as he was 6-12 from the floor, 2-3 from beyond the arc, and 2-3 at the FT line in 33 minutes with five rebounds, three assists, two steals, and two blocked shot. Collier notched his seventh double-digit scoring performance as he finished 6-11 from the floor in 26 minutes with a pair of treys and five rebounds, three assists, and a steal.
Hall played 27 minutes and was 2-5 from the floor, 2-4 from beyond the arc, and 3-4 at the FT line with two rebounds, an assist, and one steal. Murage was 2-3 from beyond the arc in 10 minutes with an assist and a rebound, Greenleaf was 3-5 from the floor in 29 minutes with two boards and one steal. Singleton was 2-9 from the floor in 32 minutes with five rebounds and one assist, Beverly was 1-4 from the floor in 11 minutes with two rebounds, and Harris played one minute and went 2-2 at the FT line.
Senior G Jalen Behr (Athens, Ga.), freshman F Khristian Wilkerson (Killeen, Texas), junior G Kyron Powell (Fort Worth, Texas), junior C Ruben Cazares (Tucson, Ariz.), senior G Chrys Jackson (North Las Vegas, Nev.), and senior G Braeden Board (Rayne, La.) all played and were held scoreless but combined to add four rebounds, an assist, a blocked shot, and a steal.
Centenary matched its season average in field goal % (40.7) in the game but was held 15 points below its season average in scoring (75.4 PPG). The Gents fell behind early in the game, 9-3, and trailed by five at 27-22 with 5:19 remaining. But, Centenary turned it around in the final five minutes of the half as the Maroon and White outscored Austin College 16-4 to take a 38-31 lead at halftime. A trey by Murage beat the first-half buzzer to make it a seven-point lead at the break.
The Gents led for the first seven+ minutes of the second half until a trey by Dick gave the 'Roos a 47-45 lead with 12:38 left. A jumper by Joe extended Austin College's lead to seven at 53-46 with 9:07 left and a layup by Getenet gave the 'Roos a double-digit advantage at 59-49 with just 6:05 left. A Thomas jumper made it 66-57 at the 2:36 mark, but the Gents would score just two points the remainder of the game – the two free throws by Harris.
See the complete Gents' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/mbkb/2023-24/schedule
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