Freshman G Gerald Murage (Irving, Texas) and the tenacious Gents' defense are on the road for a pair of league games this weekend.

February 8, 2024

Gents On Road For Pair of League Contests This Weekend

The Centenary men's basketball team aims to match its season-long winning streak as the Gents are set to face the Texas Lutheran University Bulldogs on Friday evening at 5:30 p.m. in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest inside Memorial Gymnasium.

Centenary (La.)

13-9,8-5 SCAC

Texas Lutheran

5-18,4-10 SCAC

Final

Centenary (La.) 13-9,8-5 SCAC

Texas Lutheran 5-18,4-10 SCAC

Seguin, Texas - The Centenary men's basketball team aims to match its season-long winning streak as the Gents are set to face the Texas Lutheran University Bulldogs on Friday evening at 5:30 p.m. in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest inside Memorial Gymnasium.

Live stats and live video are available for the game at the links below:

Stats: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/tlu/index.htm

Video: https://www.youtube.com/@tluathletics/streams

The Gents (12-9, 7-5 SCAC) enter Friday's play riding a three-game winning streak and earned a 61-58 win at Colorado College last Friday to secure a season sweep of the series following a 77-71 win over the Tigers at home on Dec. 31. Texas Lutheran enters Friday's contest at 5-17 overall and 4-9 in conference play. The Gents aim for a sweep of the Bulldogs following an 83-60 win at the Gold Dome last month. Centenary faces Southwestern University on Saturday in Georgetown, Texas at 4 p.m. to wrap up its weekend.

Centenary is alone in third place in the conference standings, a half game ahead of Schreiner (12-10, 7-6 SCAC) and a game ahead of Colorado College (12-9, 6-6 SCAC). Trinity (21-1, 12-1 SCAC) is atop of the standings and St. Thomas (17-4, 9-3 SCAC) is second. The Gents are 1-3 against Trinity, St. Thomas, and Schreiner so far this season but did knock off the Celts 75-60 at home on Jan. 30 and finish the regular season against Schreiner (Feb. 16) and Trinity (Feb. 18) at home.

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. Centenary has had recent success in the event as the only SCAC program to advance to four-straight tournament semifinals.

The Gents, 4-8 on the road this season, have won seven of 10 overall and are 8-1 at home. 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.

The Gents average 75.0 PPG, shoot 41.6 % from the floor, 32.4 % from beyond the arc, 71.3 % from the free throw line, and average 34.7 rebounds/game and 11.8 assists/game. Centenary has now recorded 10+ assists in a game 14 times this season and done so in four-straight games, 10+ steals four times, and blocked four or more shots four times.

Centenary has 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 has won nine of 13 dating back to a 91-87 victory at Dallas on Dec. 2.

The Bulldogs average 73.0 PPG, shoot 40.3 % from the floor, 32.4 % from beyond the arc, 71.3 % from the FT line, and average 39.0 rebounds/game and 15.0 assists/game. TLU is 3-7 at home this season and edged Dallas, 75-74, in its last game on Saturday in Irving, Texas. Senior G Xavier Phillips is the Bulldogs' leading scorer this season (12.4 PPG) and is joined in double figures by sophomore G Mason Wallace (10.3 PPG). Junior F Easton Allen is TLU's leading rebounder as he averages 6.1/game.

Gents' Individual Season Statistical Leaders:

Scoring: Senior F Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) – 17.0 PPG

Rebounding: Thomas – 8.4/game

Assists: Thomas – 3.3/game

Blocked Shots: Thomas – 0.7/game each

Steals: Thomas – 2.1/game

Thomas is the only Gent who averages double figures this season but six players average 6.5 PPG or better and four players average 3.4 rebounds/game or more. Junior F Jakobi Greenleaf (Houston, Texas) is second on the team in scoring (9.5 PPG) and second in rebounding (5.2/game). Junior G Craig Collier (North Little Rock, Ark.) averages 9.4 PPG, 2.6 rebounds/game, 1.9 assist/game and 1.0 steals/game.

Senior G AJ Hall (Thibodaux, La.) averages 9.3 PPG and 1.6 rebounds/game, senior G Tykeem Singleton (Fort Worth, Texas) averages 8.1 PPG and 4.6 rebounds/game, sophomore G Quentin Beverly (Katy, Texas) averages 7.7 PPG and 2.1 rebounds/game, and senior G Jalen Behr (Athens, Ga.) is averaging 6.5 PPG 3.4 rebounds/game, and 1.1 assists./game.

Freshman G Gerald Murage (Irving, Texas) averages 3.6 PPG and has played in 19 games and made seven starts, senior G Braeden Board (Rayne, La.) is averaging 2.0 PPG in seven games, freshman F Khristian Wilkerson (Killeen, Texas) averages 4.8 PPG and 1.9 rebounds/game in 19 games with six starts, and junior G Kyron Powell (Fort Worth, Texas) averages 1.7 PPG in 11 games and has made one start.

Senior G Chrys Jackson (North Las Vegas, Nev.) averages 2.7 PPG and has played in nine games, junior C Ruben Cazares (Tucson, Ariz.) is averaging 1.3 in 12 games with one start, and freshman G Bakari Nelson (Evergreen Park, Ill.) averages 1.3 PPG in six games with one start. Senior G Coby Harris (Lafayette, La.) has played in 16 games and sophomore G Kyron Williams (Bastrop, La.) has appeared in two games.

Thomas enters Friday's play as the league's fourth-leading scorer and third-leading rebounder. He also ranks second in assists per game and ranks in the top 15 in the conference in assist to turnover ratio, minutes played, defensive rebounds, blocked shots, field goal %, steals, free throw %, and 3-point field goals made. He is shooting 45.2 % from the field, 36.4 % from beyond the arc, and 77.6 % from the FT line. He has reached double figures 18 times this season and did so in 13-straight games to start the season. He has five double-doubles and has been named the SCAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week twice this season.

Greenleaf has reached double figures 11 times this season and is ranked in the top 25 in the league in both scoring and rebounding. He led all scorers with 19 points in the win at Colorado College last weekend as he 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. His 54.5 FG % leads the team and ranks third in the conference.

Centenary has made the most 3-point baskets in the conference (183) and the Maroon and White rank 68^th in the country in division III with 8.7 made/game. Collier and Thomas are in the top 15 in the SCAC in 3-pointers made and Beverly, Collier, and Hall are all in the top 15 in 3-point FG %. The Gents are once again a stingy defensive club as they rank 54^th nationally in 3-point FG % defense (30.2 %) and 56^th in overall FG % defense (40.2 %).

Centenary ranks 97^th nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 69.7 PPG, to rank third in the conference. The Gents are also 35^th in turnover margin (3.6 ratio) and 39^th in turnovers forced per game (16.52) and have forced 347 total turnovers.

The Gents are led by seventh-year head coach Chris Dorsey, who is one of the top young coaches in the country and has taken the program to new heights in his six-year tenure. He is 97-69 with the Gents including an impressive 63-39 mark in conference play. Centenary has now finished .500 or better in all six seasons under Dorsey and has made four trips to the SCAC championship game with two semifinal appearances, and are now an impressive 42-24 in their last 66 regular-season conference games dating back to Jan. 25, 2020.

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

Current SCAC Standings:

1 Trinity 21-1, 12-1 SCAC

2 St. Thomas 17-4, 9-3 SCAC

3 Centenary 12-9, 7-5 SCAC

4 Schreiner 12-10, 7-6 SCAC

5 Colorado College 12-9, 6-6 SCAC

6 Austin College 12-11, 7-7 SCAC