Gents' Season Ends In NCAA Tournament With Loss To Nebraska Wesleyan

San Antonio, Texas – The Centenary men's basketball team's season came to and end on Friday evening as the Gents fell by a score of 58-41 to the nationally-ranked Nebraska Wesleyan University Prairie Wolves on Friday evening in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship at Calgaard Gym inside the Bell Center on the campus of Trinity University.

The Gents, Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament champions, finish their season with a record of 17-12 after making their second all-time NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2020. Nebraska Wesleyan, the American Rivers Conference regular-season champion, improved to 24-4 with Friday's win.

The Prairie Wolves, who entered the game ranked 19th in the country in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, will face winner of the next game between UT-Dallas-Trinity tipping at approximately 7:35 p.m.

Nebraska Wesleyan took a 26-24 lead at the half following a low-scoring defensive battle and stifled the Gents in the second half, outscoring them 32-17 to secure the win. The Gents struggled offensively as they shot a season-low 24.2 % (15-62) from the floor – 25.8 % in the first half and 22.6 % in the second half and scored a season-low 41 points. The Prairie Wolves shot 37.9 % (22-58) for the game but were held to a season-low 58 points after entering the game as one of the country's top offensive teams averaging 77.0 points per game.

Centenary finished 7-28 from beyond the arc (25.0 %) and 4-6 from the free-throw line (66.7%) while Nebraska Wesleyan was 10-26 from 3-point range for 38.5 % and a perfect 4-4 from the FT line. The Prairie Wolves outscored the Gents in the paint, 18-8 and had 14 second-chance points to Centenary's 10. The Gents committed just 10 turnovers which the Prairie Wolves turned into five points and Nebraska Wesleyan turned the ball over 20 times which the Gents turned into 13 points. The Gents finished with a slight edge in fast break points (7-4) and ended up with a 10-2 advantage in bench points.

The Gents had 14 steals, 11 assists, and five blocked shots while the Prairie Wolves finished with seven steals, 14 assists and also blocked five shots. Nebraska Wesleyan dominated on the glass, outrebounding Centenary 53-30. Centenary matched its single-game season high in steals, swiping 14 for the fifth time and posted double-digit steals for the eighth time. They posted double-digit assists for the 19^th time and also matched a single-game season high in blocked shots as their previous high was four.

Sophomore G Quentin Beverly (Katy, Texas) led the Gents with 14 points and was the only Centenary player to score double figures. He was 5-12 from the floor and 4-8 from beyond the arc in 34 minutes with two rebounds, two steals, and a blocked shot. Beverly reached double figures for the 12^th time this season and did so in eight of his last 11 games.

Senior F Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) scored seven points and grabbed 10 rebounds in his final game as a Gent and added five assists, five steals, and a blocked shot in 36 minutes. Thomas was 3-13 from the floor, 0-4 from 3-point range, and 1-2 at the FT line. Thomas posted another stellar season for the Gents as he cemented himself as one of the top players in division III program history and was one of the top all-around players in the conference.

He was named First-team All-SCAC, earning all-conference honors for the fourth-straight season and landed on the First Team for the second time. He reached double figures a staggering 23 times (21 times in the regular season and twice in the conference tournament and posted five double-doubles. Thomas ranked in the top 15 in the conference in 10 different statistical categories recorded seven double-digit rebounding performances and scored 20+ points eight times highlighted by a career-high 34 points at Dallas on Dec. 2.

Junior G Craig Collier (North Little Rock, Ark.) scored eight points in 19 minutes with one rebound as he was 3-7 from the floor and 2-5 from beyond the arc, junior F Jakobi Greenleaf (Houston, Texas) was held to just two points in 31 minutes as he was 1-8 from the floor with two rebounds, two assists, a season-high four steals, and a blocked shot. Senior G Jalen Behr (Athens, Ga.) started and was held scoreless in his 12 minutes as he was 0-6 from the floor and 0-3 from beyond the arc with two rebounds, two assists, a blocked shot, and a steal.

Freshman G Gerald Murage (Irving, Texas) scored five points in 23 minutes of the bench as he was 1-3 overall, 1-2 from beyond the arc, and 2-2 at the FT line with three rebounds and two steals. Senior G AJ Hall (Thibodaux, La.) chipped in two points off the bench as he was 1-7 from the floor and 0-4 from beyond the arc in 14 minutes with one assist and a rebound, senior G Braeden Board (Rayne, La.) had one point in seven minutes with two rebounds and an assist, and senior G Tykeem Singleton (Fort Worth, Texas) scored two in 24 minutes on 1-5 shooting overall with two rebounds and a blocked shot.

Jack Groeteke led all scorers with 20 points and was joined in double figures by Peter Lash (16) and Carter Glenn (13). Landon Torneten scored five, Conner Brown had two, and Andrew Brewer chipped in two off the bench. Groeteke was 8-11 overall, 2-3 from beyond the arc, and 2-2 at the FT line in 34 minutes with eight rebounds, four blocked shots, and one assist.

Lash recorded an impressive double-double with a whopping 21 rebounds (18 defensive and three offensive) as he played all 40 minutes and added three assists and two steals. Torneten played 29 minutes and had seven boards, four assists, two steals and a blocked shot and Glenn, who also played all 40 minutes, was 5-11 overall and 3-7 from beyond the arc and added three rebounds, three assists, and a steal. Brown played 24 minutes and was 1-6 overall with five rebound and three assists.

The teams remained within a few points of each other over the first few minutes of the game until a trey by Lash at the 14:27 mark gave the Prairie Wolves a 15-8 lead. Another 3-pointer by Lash at the 7:42 mark made it a 22-10 game, but the Gents clawed back and after Murage sank a pair of free throws at the 1:36 mark, they have closed to within three points at 24-21. Lash made a jumper at the 1:01 mark but Beverly drained a trey with 31 seconds left before halftime to make it 26-24.

Greenleaf's layup, and his lone basket of the game, tied the score at 26-26 just 14 seconds into the second half. But, Nebraska Wesleyan answered with a 12-0 run capped by two Groeteke free throws at the 15:25 mark for a 38-26 lead. The Gents were able to cut their deficit to 10 points but the Prairie Wolves built their lead back up to double-digits and retained control of the game for the remainder of the second half to coast to the win.

See the complete Gents' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/mbkb/2023-24/schedule

Live stats and live video stream are available for all Centenary home contests.

#GoCentenary #CTheOpportunity

portunity