Shreveport – The Centenary men's basketball team edged the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs, 62-59, on Friday evening in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship at the Gold Dome.
The Gents (8-3) advance to next weekend's semifinals and will face No. 2 seed St. Thomas (9-4) in Houston March 12, 13, or 14 as the exact date and time are TBD. The Celts defeated Dallas, 84-76 Friday night at home. Centenary and St. Thomas met last weekend at the Gold Dome as the Celts won 66-63 and the Gents returned the favor the next day with a thrilling 71-69 win in the regular season finale. The Bulldogs fell to 4-7 with Friday's loss, ending their season.
Centenary, the defending SCAC tournament champions, is an impressive 18-3 in its last 21 conference games dating back to Jan. 25, 2020 and is 10-2 in its last 12 home games. The Gents, who went 10-1 at home last season, are now 15-3 in their last 18 games at the Gold Dome.
Sophomore guard Ralph Johnson (New Iberia, La.) led the Gents with 19 points on 6-13 shooting in 39 minutes. He added five rebounds, two assists, and three steals. Johnson, the 2019-20 SCAC Newcomer of the Year, reached double figures for the sixth time this season and scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half.
SCAC Player of the Year candidate, sophomore forward Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) scored 12 points, as he has scored in double figures in 10 of the Gents' 11 games this season. He grabbed six rebounds, made 4-5 of his free-throw attempts, and had two assists. He entered the game ranked second in the conference in scoring (15.7 PPG) and rebounding (9.1 RPG). Thomas also entered Friday's action ranked second in the conference in steals, ninth in blocked shots, and 10th in free-throw percentage, and the league leader in defensive rebounds and ranks 12th in three-point field goals made and 15th in three-point FG %.
Freshman forward Tre Washington (Gibson, La.) came up big for the second-straight game for the Gents. The physical freshman scored 14 points in just 18 minutes off the bench. The 14 points are a new career high, breaking his previous high of 13 set last Saturday versus St. Thomas. Washington also had five rebounds and a steal. Junior guard Kile Mingo (Cypress, Texas) scored nine points in 27 minutes, nailing a pair of three pointers and grabbing five rebounds.
The Gents shot 40.7 % for the game from the floor while the Bulldogs shot just 34 %. Centenary's harassing defense held TLU to just 21.9 % in the first half as the Bulldogs made just seven of their 32 shot attempts. Centenary shot 37.5 % before halftime and 43.3 % in the second half.
TLU's offensive production improved in the final 20 minutes as the Bulldogs shot 52.4 % and 5 of 11 three-point attempts after making 5-12 in the first half. Caleb Lister led the Bulldogs with a game-high 25 points in 37 minutes. He went 5-11 from the field overall and was 4-7 from beyond the arc and added a game-high 11 rebounds. Sebastian Andrade scored 10 points and had 10 rebounds as they were the only two Bulldogs in double figures.
The Bulldogs held a 27-25 lead at halftime but Centenary outscored them by five (37-32) in the final period to claim the hard-fought win in the third meeting between the teams this season. The teams split a pair of games on the season's opening weekend Jan. 15-16 in Shreveport. Centenary recorded a 61-52 win in the season opener and the Bulldogs won 68-55 the next day. The Gents dominated the Bulldogs 77-56 on March 1, 2020 in Seguin, Texas to win the 2020 SCAC championship and clinch their first NCAA Tournament berth in school history.
Centenary held the edge in bench points (25-13) and outscored the Bulldogs in the paint, 20-14. Each team had eight second-chance points but the Gents had 14 points off of 15 TLU turnovers while the Bulldogs had none. The Gents only turned the ball over nine times all night and the rebounding battle was close and was won, 38-32 by Texas Lutheran. The game featured eight ties and 13 lead changes.
The Bulldogs turned their two-point halftime lead into a 42-33 advantage at the 14:06 mark in the second half and held the lead for the next eight minutes until Mingo hit a three to give Centenary a one-point lead at 50-49 at the 6:15 mark. The teams traded baskets over the next five minutes until a pair of free throws by Lister tied the game at 57-57 with 1:24 left.
The Gents made two free throws to go up 59-57 with just :53 second left but a basket by Andrade tied it with 42 seconds to go. Thomas then made a driving shot in the lane and got fouled and sank the ensuing free throw to complete the three-point play and put the Gents up 62-59 with just 29 seconds left. Centenary missed a pair of free throws which would have iced the game which gave the Bulldogs a chance but as usual, the Gents' suffocating defense stood tall and sealed the win.
Men's Tournament Bracket | Official Tournament Website
A link to the Gents' complete schedule can be found here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/mbkb/2020-21/schedule.
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