Jackson, Miss. - The Centenary men's basketball team dropped a close battle to the Belhaven University Blazers, 66-63, on Monday evening in a non-conference contest inside Rugg Arena.
The Gents (3-4) fell 75-62 to the Millsaps College Majors on Sunday and have lost three games in a row. The Blazers improved to 5-1 with the win.
Senior F Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) led the Gents in scoring with 22 points and freshman G Gerald Murage (Irving, Texas) had a season-high 15. Centenary shot just 32.4 % (23-71) from the floor for the game and also struggled from beyond the arc, connecting on just 7-28 attempts for 25 %. The Gents, however, were strong at the free throw line as they sank 10-12 attempts for 83.3 % and most impressively did not turn the ball over the entire game. The Maroon and White finished with 11 assists, seven steals, and four blocked shots.
The Blazers shot 42.9 % (24-56) for the game overall, 33.3 % (7-21) from 3-point range, and 68.8 % (11-16) from the FT line. Belhaven turned the ball over 14 times and finished with 16 assists, no steals, and five blocked shots. The Blazers won the rebounding battle, 46-27, and scored 19 second-chance points. Each team scored 26 points in the paint and each had eight fast break points. The Blazers' bench scored 22 points while the Gents received eight from their reserves. Centenary, which had four second-chance points, scored 12 points off of Belhaven turnovers.
Thomas matches his season high in points and scored 20+ for the third time this season. He has now scored in double figures in all seven games this season and done so in 30 of his last 33 games overall. Thomas finished 7-15 from the floor in 38 minutes, 4-7 from beyond the arc, and 4-5 from the FT line with six rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Murage reached double figures for the first time this season as he finished 6-13 from the floor and 3-3 from the FT line in 33 minutes. He grabbed three rebounds and had two assists and a steal.
Senior G Jalen Behr (Athens, Ga.) scored eight off the bench in 13 minutes on 3-9 shooting and made a pair of treys in seven attempts. He had two rebounds and an assist. Freshman F Khristian Wilkerson (Killeen, Texas) had an impressive all-around performance as he scored seven points, matched Thomas with a team-high six rebounds, and had a team-best three blocked shots with two assists and two steals in 34 minutes. Junior F Jakobi Greenleaf (Houston, Texas) scored six points and grabbed for boards in 37 minutes on 2-7 shooting and finished 2-2 at the FT line. He had a team-high three steals and added two assists, and sophomore G Quentin Beverly (Katy, Texas) scored five points and had three rebounds in 32 minutes. Senior G Coby Harris (Lafayette, La.) played four minutes and did not score but had an assist and a rebound and senior G Chrys Jackson (North Las Vegas, Nev.) was also held scoreless in his nine minutes but had two assists, two rebounds, and blocked a shot.
Judah Jordan led the Blazers with 21 points, Jemario Hersey scored 16, and Belhaven got eight points apiece from Luke Couch and Jonathan Lucas. Jacob Reese scored six with a game-high 11 rebounds, Jordan Marshall scored five, and Damien Wheaton chipped in two. Neal Terry was held scores but had five rebounds in his five minutes off the bench.
Jordan was 7-13 from the floor in 37 minutes, 5-10 from beyond the arc, and 2-2 from the FT line with six assists and a rebound. Hersey was 6-7 from the floor, 2-3 from beyond the arc, and 2-4 from the FT line in 27 minutes off the bench with four rebounds, two assists, and two blocked shots. Couch was 6-6 at the FT line with three rebounds and two assists in 29 minutes, Lucas was 4-5 from the floor with eight boards and an assist in 24 minutes, and Reese played 22 minutes off the bench and was 3-5 from the floor with his six points and 11 boards.
Centenary led 26-22 at halftime after a back and forth first 20 minutes where the largest lead by either team was just six points. The Blazers were able to pull away slightly on a Lucas layup at the 6:51 mark to make it 18-12, but the Gents answered back over the next few minutes and took a six-point lead of their own, 26-20, with just 1:17 remaining following a trey by Thomas.
The teams traded baskets in the opening minutes of the half as the score was tied or the teams stayed within a point or two of each other until a three-point play by Murage gave the Gents a 44-39 lead with 11:21 remaining. Centenary would maintain a lead until a 3-pointer by Jordan gave Belhaven a 56-54 lead with 4:47 left. A quick 7-2 run gave Centenary a 61-58 advantage at the 2:52 mark after a trey by Thomas, but a 6-0 run over the next two minutes capped by a pair of FT's by Couch gave the Blazers a 64-61 lead with only 22 seconds left in the game. Thomas made a jumper to cut it to 64-63, but Jordan sank a pair at the line with 11 seconds remaining and Thomas missed a potential tying trey with two seconds left that allowed Belhaven to escape with the win.
Centenary begins Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play this weekend on the road as the Maroon and White are at Austin College on Friday, Dec. 1 at 6 p.m. and then at Dallas on Saturday at 4 p.m.
See the complete Gents' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/mbkb/2023-24/schedule
Admission is FREE to all Centenary home athletic contests. Live stats and live video stream are available for all Centenary home contests.
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