Shreveport - The Centenary men's basketball team finished 2023 on a high note as the Gents earned a hard-fought 77-71 victory over the Colorado College Tigers on Sunday afternoon in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest on New Year's Eve inside the Gold Dome.
The Gents (7-6, 2-2 SCAC) raced out to a 38-24 halftime lead and fended off the Tigers (6-5, 2-2 SCAC) to improve to 4-0 on their home court this season. Colorado College outscored the Maroon and White in the second half, 47-39, but came up short as the Gents won for the 39th time in their last 47 home games. Centenary has now won five of the last seven games between the two teams and improved to 15-2 in its last 17 home games.
Sunday's contest was a showcase of two of the league's top teams as the Tigers were picked to finish third in the SCAC preseason poll while the Gents were predicted to finish fifth. Centenary, the only SCAC program to advance to four-straight tournament semifinals, will host the 2024 SCAC Tournament Feb. 23-25 at the Gold Dome. The Tigers posted their most wins (12) since 2017-18 last year. The top six teams in the standings at the conclusion of the regular season qualify for the event.
Centenary shot an even 40 % (20-50) from the floor on Sunday, 31.8 % (7-22) from beyond the arc, and a solid 76.9 % (30-39) from the free throw line. Colorado College finished 22-57 for 38.6 % overall and was 19-27 (70.4 %) from the FT line, but struggled from distance, hitting only 8-33 attempts from beyond the arc for 24.2 %. The Gents shot 43.5 % in the first half and a solid 37 % after halftime while the Tigers were cold-shooting in the first 20 minutes, hitting just 7-25 attempts for 28 % but heated up in the second half to finish 46.9 %.
Senior F Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) led all scorers with 22 points and was one of five Gents to reach double figures. Asher Nofziger came off the bench to score a team-best 18 points for the Tigers while Gavin Carter, also in a reserve role, joined him in double figures with 14.
Thomas, the conference's leading scorer, has reached double figures in all 13 games this season and just missed his fourth-straight double-double as he grabbed a team and game-high nine rebounds. He was 3-9 from the floor, 1-2 from beyond the arc, and a busy 15-18 from the free throw line in 37 minutes with four assists and a steal.
Senior G AJ Hall (Thibodaux, La.) scored 13 points in 21 minutes off the bench on 5-8 shooting as he was 3-3 at the FT line with two rebounds and one assist. Senior G Tykeem Singleton (Fort Worth, Texas) made his season debut and was one of three Gents to score 11 points as senior G Jalen Behr (Athens, Ga.) and junior G Craig Collier (North Little Rock, Ark.) also did so. Sophomore G Quentin Beverly (Katy, Texas) scored four, junior F Jakobi Greenleaf (Houston, Texas) had two, and senior G Braeden Board (Rayne, La.) scored three as he was also making his first appearance this season.
Scott Ruegg scored eight for the Tigers, Edgar Romero had six, Devin Philio and Ty Hendler each scored five, Adrian Price scored four, and Trey Crawford and Dinari Boykin each added three. Boykin, who entered the game as the Tigers' leading scorer at 12.9 PPG, finished just 1-5 from the floor in 12 minutes and was 0-2 from beyond the arc and 1-1 at the FT line. He turned the ball over four times, committed three fouls, and had five rebounds. Ruegg, the Tigers' second-leading scorer this season (11.0 PPG) struggled shooting the ball as he was just 3-15 from the floor and 2-12 from 3-point range in 28 minutes. He had four assists, three rebounds, and a steal.
The Gents won a close rebounding battle, 37-36, and forced the Tigers into 19 turnovers while Centenary turned the ball over 14 times. Each team scored 26 points in the paint but the Gents scored a key 28 points off of turnovers while the Tigers managed just 10. Colorado College had 13 second-chance points to Centenary's four, the Gents edged the Tigers 12-11 in fast break points, and the Tigers' bench was a big part of the game as they provided 46 points while the Gents' reserves scored 27.
Singleton, who earned Honorable-Mention All-SCAC honors last season as one of the conference's top all-around players, was a welcome face on Sunday as he finished 4-8 from the floor, 1-3 from beyond the arc, and 2-4 from the FT line in 24 minutes with five rebounds and two steals. Behr played 33 minutes and was 3-8 overall, 2-6 from 3-point range, and 3-4 from the FT line with eight boards and two steals.
Collier played 28 minutes and shot 3-9 from the floor, 2-4 from beyond the arc, and 3-4 from the FT line with three rebounds, two assists, and a steal. Beverly played 16 minutes and was 1-1 from the floor and 2-2 at the FT line with a rebound and a steal, Greenleaf was 2-4 from the FT line with an assist in 13 minutes, and Board hit one trey in three attempts with an assist, a blocked shot, and a rebound in nine minutes as he transitioned from the football field back to the hardwood on Sunday. Freshman G Gerald Murage (Irving, Texas), junior C Ruben Cazares (Tucson, Ariz.), and junior G Kyron Powell (Fort Worth, Texas) each played but did not score.
The game was a back and forth affair for the first eight minutes until an emphatic dunk on a breakaway opportunity by Hall gave the Gents a 20-10 lead at the 7:45 mark of the first half and a 3-pointer by Behr with just 32 seconds before the half made it 38-24. Kevin Dittman was fouled shooting a trey and sank all three which enabled the Tigers to get their deficit to single digits at 40-33 with 17:48 remaining in the second half that capped a 9-2 early run.
A Hall layup with 12:15 left pushed the Gents' lead back to double digits at 47-35 with 13:45 left but a quick 11-4 run by the Tigers capped off with a trey by Romero made it 51-46 Gents with 11:23 left. CC got with four briefly at 56-52 with 8:53 remaining, but the Gents went on a 13-7 run to take a 69-59 lead after a three-point play by Thomas at the 5:37 mark. But, timely FT shooting and solid defense over the final five minutes enabled the Gents to secure the win.
The Gents will remain at home for a pair of league contests next weekend – Friday, Jan. 5 versus Texas Lutheran University (5:30 p.m.) and on Sunday, Jan. 7 against Southwestern University (Noon).
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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