Gents Basketball Claim Another Win on Senior Day
Information provided by Gocentenary
The Centenary men's basketball team completed a weekend sweep of Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference opponents with a 72-51 victory on Sunday afternoon over the Texas Lutheran University Bulldogs on Senior Day at the Gold Dome. The Gents (14-6, 8-4 SCAC) cruised past Southwestern, 71-52, on Friday night and improved to 11-2 at home this season and are 34-8 at the Gold Dome over the last 42 games. Sunday's win sets a new division III era (2012-present) single-season record for home wins, as the previous record was 10. Centenary has now won 14 or more games in a season three times under head coach Chris Dorsey and eight or more conference games in the regular season four times.
Centenary has now held 16 of its 20 opponents to 70 points or less, 60 or less eight times, to 55 or less seven times. The Gents' defense restricted the Bulldogs to just 33.9 % (19-56) shooting from the floor and 9-34 from beyond the arc for 26.5 %. The Maroon and White were especially tough on the Bulldogs in the first half, as the visitors finished 26.1 % as they made just six baskets in 23 attempts. TLU improved in the second half, shooting 39.4 % (13-33) but could not keep pace. The Gents entered the weekend ranked 49th in the country in division III in scoring defense, allowing just 65.2 PPG. They also entered the weekend game ranked sixth in the country in division III in turnovers forced per game (20.8) and 18th in turnover margin (+4.6) and in both Friday and Sunday's games, the Gents stayed true to their reputation after forcing 21 TO's against the Pirates and only giving it away 16 times for a +5 margin and finished with the same margin on Sunday.
Senior G Tykeem Singleton scored a game-high 15 points on Sunday to lead the Gents, senior F Seth Thomas was next with 13, and junior G Braeden Board and senior G Jalen Behr each scored 12. Freshman G Quentin Beverly added nine and senior G Ralph Johnson had eight. senior Xavier Johnson hit a late 3-pointer to the delight of the crowd, his first points since November.
Centenary finished 5-20 from beyond the arc, three from Behr, one from Beverly, and one from Xavier Johnson. Centenary was solid at the FT line, making 15-20 for 75 % and TLU was 4-7 for 57.1 %. The Gents won the battle inside, scoring 32 points in the paint to 20 for the Bulldogs and finished with a 14-8 advantage in second-chance points. Centenary scored 17 points off of turnovers, the Bulldogs scored nine, and the Gents had a slight edge (6-2) in fast break points. Centenary also scored 24 bench points while TLU had 15.
The Gents scored the first nine points of the second half to extend their lead to 41-19 at the 16:33 mark, and the Bulldogs did not score until Wallace hit a trey with 15:11 remaining to make it 41-22. The Gents' lead grew to 47-22 after a jumper by Thomas with 13:23 left and the Maroon and White were able to maintain a 15-25-point advantage for the remainder of the half to eventually win by 21.
The Gents are on the road next weekend for a pair of SCAC contests - Friday, Feb. 3 at the University of Dallas (7:30 PM) and on Saturday, Feb. 4 at Austin College (6 PM).
