Shreveport- The Centenary men's basketball teams' late rally came up short on Friday night to the Schreiner University Mountaineers in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference game as the Gents fell 84-78 on Senior Night at the Gold Dome
The Gents (14-10, 9-6 SCAC) had their season-high five-game winning streak snapped and lost for just the second time all season at home. The Mountaineers, battling to get into next weekend's conference tournament, improved to 13-11 overall and 8-7 in SCAC play and earned a season sweep over the Gents following a 75-71 victory in Kerrville, Texas last month. Centenary, 8-2 at home this season, is still winners of 19 of its last 23 games at the Gold Dome and the Maroon and White have won 43 of its last 52 home contests.
Centenary honored its six seniors following the game- G Jalen Behr (Athens, Ga.), G Braeden Board (Rayne, La.), G AJ Hall (Thibodaux, La.), G Coby Harris (Lafayette, La.), G Chrys Jackson (North Las Vegas, Nev.), and G Tykeem Singleton (Fort Worth, Texas). Senior F Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) returned for this season, his fifth, but was honored last season.
The Gents came out hot and took a 9-0 lead just two and a half minutes into the game, but Schreiner battled back and managed to tie the score at 17-17 on a 3-pointer by Christian Caldwell at the 12:17 mark. Thomas' layup gave Centenary a 21-19 lead with 10:34 remaining in the half, but that was its last lead of the game as Schreiner regained the lead at the 8:30 mark on a 3-pointer by Michael Robertson and finished the half on a 22-12 run to take a 41-33 halftime lead.
Hall hit a trey with 6:13 remaining to cut the Gents' deficit to 29-24 but Centenary was held scoreless for just over three minutes until a layup by Hall made it 35-26 Schreiner with 2:59 left. Schreiner led by 10 on three different occasions in the final few minutes of the half before taking its eight-point advantage to the locker room.
Centenary shot 39.2 % (29-74) for the game from the floor, just 28.9 % (11-38) from beyond the arc, and went 9-14 from the free throw line for 64.3 %. Schreiner finished a strong 53.8 % (28-52) from the floor, went 8-12 from beyond the arc for 66.7 %, and 20-26 from the FT line for 76.9 %.
The Gents finished with 13 assists, eight steals, and three blocked shots while the Mountaineers totaled 17 assists, four steals, and one block. Schreiner dominated on the boards, 49-28, and overcame 22 turnovers while the Gents turned it over just eight times. Centenary has now recorded 10+ assists in a game 17 times this season, in three-straight games and in seven of its last nine.
Schreiner won the battle in the paint, 38-24, and scored 12 second-chance points to Centenary's eight. Centenary scored 17 points off of turnovers to Schreiner's 13, and held a 24-14 edge in bench points and 20-13 in fast break points.
Four Gents reached double figures, as Behr and Thomas each scored 15, sophomore G Quentin Beverly (Katy, Texas), and Hall 12. Schreiner also had four in double figures as Cristian Rodriguez led all scorers with 22 points, Kamden Ross had 20, Jalen Ned scored 13, and Beau Cervantes added 10. Dylan Mackey, Damian Maldonado, Caldwell and Robertson combined to score 19 points. Ross, who entered Friday's game as the league's leading scorer (19.0 PPG) and rebounder (13.4 RPG) recorded his 21st double-digit scoring performance and made it 17 in a row dating back to Nov. 19. He also notched his 16th double-double of the season.
Behr played 26 minutes and was 6-12 from the floor and 3-8 from beyond the arc in 26 minutes with three rebounds and an assist and scored in double figures for the sixth time. Thomas played 35 minutes as he finished 6-15 from the floor and 3-3 at the FT line with six rebounds, a season-high tying six steals, five assists, and a blocked shot as he reached double figures for the 20th time this season.
Beverly, who scored in double figures for the ninth time, was 5-12 from the floor in 36 minutes and 3-8 from beyond the arc with two rebounds and a steal. Hall reached double figures for the eighth time as he finished 4-7 from the floor, 2-4 from 3-point range, and 2-2 at the FT line in just 11 minutes off the bench and grabbed three rebounds.
Junior F Jakobi Greenleaf (Houston, Texas) scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds in 20 minutes as she was 3-7 from the floor and 3-6 from the FT line with two blocked shots and an assist. Freshman G Gerald Murage (Irving, Texas) scored four points in 24 minutes as he also had two assists and a rebound, Board hit one trey and added an assist in four minutes, Jackson also hit a 3-pointer in his four minutes off the bench and grabbed two rebounds with one assist. Junior G Craig Collier (North Little Rock, Ark.) and junior C Ruben Cazares (Tucson, Ariz.) each scored two points. Cazares played 12 minutes and added two rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Harris and freshman F Khristian Wilkerson (Killeen, Texas) each played but neither scored.
Schreiner remained hot on offense to start the second half, going on a 9-2 run to take a 50-35 lead at the 16:53 mark following a basket by Ross. The Mountaineers maintained a double-digit lead for the next three+ minutes until a layup by Thomas brought the Gents within single digits at 55-46 with 13:12 remaining. Murage made one of two FT attempts at the 6:19 mark which cut the Gents' deficit to 71-64. Ross put the Mountaineers back up by 11 at 77-66 with 3:01 left and then a Mackey layup made it 79-66 and the Gents called a timeout.
Hall then converted a three-point play to make it 79-69 and Board, who checked in the game just a minute earlier, nailed a 3-pointer to make it a 79-72 game with 1:17 left and send the crowd into a frenzy. Rodriguez went 1-2 at the line and Jackson drilled a 3-pointer of his own with 54 second left to make it an 80-75 game. Mackey then turned the ball over Schreiner's next time down the court and Thomas stole the ball and fed Hall for a 3-pointer to make it 80-78 with just 31 seconds left and the Gents found themselves down just two. Hall fouled Ned with 27 seconds left and he hit both FT's to make it 82-78. Board missed a 3-point attempt on Centenary's next possession and Caldwell stole the ball and found Ross for a layup with two seconds remaining to make it 84-78 and seal the win.
Schreiner improved to 6-7 on the road this season and snapped a four-game losing streak with its last win coming against Southwestern on Jan. 20. Schreiner had also not won on the road since a 74-70 victory at Southwestern on Dec. 2.
The top six teams in the standings at the conclusion of the regular season, which ends on Sunday, qualify for the SCAC Tournament. Trinity University (22-1, 13-1 SCAC) has clinched the No. 1 seed in the championship and will be the Gents' opponent on Sunday in the regular-season finale. The University of St. Thomas (18-5, 10-4 SCAC) has also clinched a berth as the Celts are one game ahead of the Gents. Centenary fell 87-77 at Trinity in San Antonio last month and split the season series with the Celts. Trinity was scheduled to face St. Thomas on Friday night in Houston and then Schreiner faces the Celts there on Sunday.
Current SCAC Standings and remaining schedules:
1 Trinity 22-1, 13-1 SCAC at St. Thomas, at Centenary
2 St. Thomas 18-5, 10-4 SCAC vs. Trinity, vs. Schreiner
3 Centenary 14-10, 9-6 SCAC vs. Trinity
4 Schreiner 13-11, 8-7 SCAC at St. Thomas
5 Colorado College 13-10, 7-7 SCAC vs. Austin College
T6 Austin College 12-12, 7-8 SCAC at Colorado College
T6 Dallas 11-13, 7-8 SCAC at Colorado College
8 Texas Lutheran 5-19, 4-11 SCAC vs. Southwestern
9 Southwestern 2-22, 1-14 SCAC at TLU
Tournament Seeding Notes and Scenarios: Centenary could get as high as the No. 2 seed in next weekend's tournament and can be no lower than the fourth seed as only Schreiner and St. Thomas (and Trinity) could possibly finish ahead of Centenary.
Trinity has clinched the No. 1 seed and both Texas Lutheran and Southwestern are eliminated.
Out of the group of these four teams – Austin College, Colorado College, Dallas, and Schreiner, three will make the tournament and one will not.
See the complete Gents' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/mbkb/2023-24/schedule
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