Colorado Springs, Colo. - The Centenary men's basketball team picked up a huge road win on Friday night as the Gents edged the Colorado College Tigers, 61-58, in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest inside Reid Arena.
The Gents (12-9, 7-5 SCAC) secured a season sweep of the series following a 77-71 win over the Tigers (12-8, 6-5 SCAC) at home on Dec. 31. Centenary now moves into a tie with Schreiner University (12-9, 7-5 SCAC) for third place in the league standings. The Gents have won three games in a row and seven of 10. Centenary recorded its first win at Colorado College since Jan. 4, 2019, a 74-49 victory, as the Gents had lost their last three games in Colorado Springs.
Centenary led 30-27 at halftime and each team scored 31 points in the second half. The Gents shot 43.1 % (22-51) from the floor for the game, 36.8 % (7-19) from beyond the arc, and 52.6 % (10-19) from the free throw line. Colorado College finished 23-67 from the floor for 34.3 %, 7-30 from beyond the arc for 23.3 % and 5-6 from the FT line for 83.3 %.
The Tigers finished with a decisive advantage on the boards, outrebounding the Gents 49-28. Colorado College totaled 14 assists, four steals, and blocked five shots while committing 21 turnovers. Centenary had eight assists, 13 steals, one blocked shot, and turned the ball over 15 times. The Gents' 13 steals are their second-most in a game this season after swiping 14 versus Southwestern on Jan. 7 at home.
The Gents scored 27 points off of the Tigers' 21 turnovers and Colorado College scored 14 points off of the Gents' 15 turnovers. Colorado College finished with a slight edge (28-24) in points in the paint while finishing with big advantages in both bench points (37-13) and second-chance points (23-5). Centenary scored eight fast break points to Colorado College's two.
Junior F Jakobi Greenleaf (Houston, Texas) scored a game-high 19 points and was joined in double figures by sophomore G Quentin Beverly (Katy, Texas) who had 10. Senior F Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) had nine, junior G Craig Collier (North Little Rock, Ark.) scored seven, senior G Tykeem Singleton (Fort Worth, Texas) had six, and senior G Jalen Behr (Athens, Ga.), freshman G Gerald Murage (Irving, Texas), and senior G Braeden Board (Rayne, La.) combined to score 10.
Greenleaf played 34 minutes and was 7-11 from the floor with one trey and grabbed four rebounds. He had a pair of steals and an assist as he reached double figures for the 11th time this season. Beverly recorded his sixth double-digit scoring performance as he was 3-6 from the floor, 3-5 from beyond the arc, and 1-2 at the FT line in 27 minutes with three rebounds and a pair of assists.
Thomas played 38 minutes and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds with a game-high and season-best six steals and added four assists, marking the ninth time this season that he has had at least four assists in a game. Collier was 3-9 from the floor with a trey, two rebounds, an assist, and a steal in 30 minutes. Singleton went 2-6 from the floor and 2-2 at the FT line in 24 minutes with six rebounds, a steal, and a blocked shot and Behr was 3-3 from the FT line with two rebounds and a steal in 14 minutes. Murage played 21 minutes and was 1-4 from the floor with one 3-pointer and two rebounds, and Board played seven minutes and was 2-3 at the floor with a steal.
Edgar Romero's 13 points led the Tigers and he was joined in double figures by Russell MacFarlane with 10. Dinari Boykin scored seven and seven players combined to score 28 points. Devin Philio and Adrian Price each grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and Kevin Dittman pulled down six.
The Gents started hot, jumping out to an 8-0 lead and held the Tigers scoreless until a layup by Asher Nofziger made it 8-2 at the 15:36 mark. A trey by Beverly gave the Gents a 14-4 lead at the 13:05 mark and after a basket by MacFarlane, Beverly struck again from deep to make it 17-6 with 12:34 remaining in the half.
The Tigers, though, began chipping away at their deficit and a 3-pointer by Dittman at the 6:05 mark gave the Tigers a 20-19 lead, their first lead of the game to cap a 14-2 run. The Tigers made the next basket for a 22-19 lead, but the Gents closed the half on an 11-5 run to take their three-point halftime lead.
Boykin scored the first give points of the half to give the Tigers a 32-30 lead, but the Gents responded with an 8-0 run to regain the lead at 38-32 with 15:46 left in the half. Ty Hendler's layup tied the score at 43-43, but Greenleaf responded with a clutch trey to give Centenary a 46-43 lead with 7:57 on the clock. A trey by Murage extended the Gents' lead to 49-43 with 7:08 left. With the Gents clinging to a 51-48 lead with 5:17 left, Greenleaf entered the game for Board and proceeded to score the Gents' next eight points.
Greenleaf's jumper with 3:03 left gave the Gents a 57-50 lead, but the Tigers scored the next five points to get within two points at 57-55 after a Hendler jumper with 1:03 remaining. Greenleaf sank a clutch jumper with 34 seconds left for a 59-55 lead and Singleton knocked down a pair of FT's with 12 seconds left for a 61-55 lead. Romero drained a long 3-pointer with five seconds left to make the score 61-58 and the Tigers called a timeout. Collier was fouled with three seconds left and had a chance to make it a two-possession game but he missed both FT's to give the Tigers one last chance but a half-court attempt sailed wide and the Gents escaped with the win.
Centenary has now held 10 opponents to 70 points or less this season, six to 65 points or less, and the 58 points matches the second-fewest allowed his season (75-58 win over Southwestern on Jan. 7). The Gents have won three games in a row for the second time this season as their longest winning streak this season is four from Dec. 19-Jan. 7. Centenary can match that streak with a win at Texas Lutheran on Feb. 9 and the Maroon and White have won nine of 13 dating back to a 91-87 victory at Dallas on Dec. 2.
Gents' Remaining Regular-Season Schedule:
Friday, Feb. 9: at Texas Lutheran – 5:30 PM
Saturday, Feb. 10: at Southwestern – 4 PM
Friday, Feb. 16: vs. Schreiner – 5:30 PM (Senior Night)
Sunday, Feb. 18: vs. Trinity – NOON
The top six teams in the standings at the conclusion of the regular season qualify for the 2024 SCAC Tournament which will be hosted by Centenary and held at the Gold Dome Feb. 23-25.
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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