(Story Courtesy of Centenary College Sports Information Department)
Richardson, Texas – The Centenary men's basketball team fell in heartbreaking fashion to the UT-Dallas Comets, 83-81, on Friday evening in the first round of the 2020 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship at the UTD Activity Center.
The Gents (18-10) lost for the first time in 11 games as their most successful season in the division III era ended as they played first NCAA Tournament game in school history. Senior guard Cedric Harris fired a potential game-winning three pointer from the corner that bounced off the rim as time expired allowing the host Comets (22-6) to escape with the victory. UT-Dallas advances to the second round to face Whitworth (22-6), a winner over LeTourneau in the earlier game on Friday.
Centenary, the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament champion, had their division III-era best 10-game winning streak snapped as the Gents lost for the first time since a 72-67 defeat at Colorado College. The Maroon and White set division III era program records this season for conference wins in a single season (15) and home wins (10) in a single season in the division III era as the Gents went 10-1 at home.
Harris led all scorers with 26 points as he shot 9-20 from the field and 7-17 from three-point range in 37 minutes. He grabbed six rebounds and had three steals and a block. Harris, the 2019-20 SCAC Player of the Year, All-SCAC First Team selection, and SCAC Championships MVP, eclipsed the 20-point mark for the 15th time this season. Harris, one of the most accomplished players in Gents history, ranks in the top 15 in all-time in scoring and rebounding and his 262 career three-point baskets ranks second all-time in program history.
Freshman guard Ralph Johnson, the 2019-20 SCAC Newcomer of the Year, scored 15 points and had six rebounds on 6-10 shooting in 36 minutes. Sophomore forward Ty Prince, last season's SCAC Newcomer of the Year, scored 14 points in 32 minutes. Sophomore guard Kile Mingo, came off the bench and scored 11 points in 23 minutes, including three clutch three-point baskets. Mingo finished the season with 41 points in the final three games including 30 in two games in last weekend's SCAC Championship.
Centenary shot 46.9 % from the floor for the game (30-64), an identical 46.9 % from three-point range. The Comets were on point as well as they shot 55.9 % (33-59) from the floor and 45.5 % (10-22) from three-point range. The Comets led 44-43 at halftime after each team made over 50 % of their shots from the floor. Harris had 17 points at the break as he made 4-8 from beyond the arc.
Forward Kelden Pruitt led the Comets with 19 points in 32 minutes and center Hans Burwitz recorded a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Jalen Weber had 17 points and Xavier Ferrell chipped in 15. The Comets outrebounded the Gents, 35-29. UT-Dallas raced out to a 14-point lead (23-9) at the 12:49 mark of the first half, its biggest advantage of the game, but the Gents outscored the Comets 34-21 the remainder of the half to close to just a single point deficit at intermission.
UT-Dallas came out of the locker room hot after halftime and took an 11-point lead (62-51) at the 13:38 mark but a 14-4 run by the Gents punctuated by a thunderous fast break slam dunk on a steal and breakaway by Prince cut the Comets' lead to a single point, 66-65 at the 9:31 mark. UT-Dallas led by five, 81-76, at the 2:53 mark, by the relentless Gents would not go away. A pair of Johnson jump shots cut the Comets' lead to one, 81-80 with just over a minute to play. A dunk by UT-Dallas at the 1:01 mark made it an 83-81 game and Prince converted one of two free throws to make it an 83-81 game with 37 seconds remaining.
Sophomore Tykeem Singleton grabbed the offensive rebound and the Gents had three good looks at the basket, including a three-point attempt by Harris, but all three attempts were off target and the Comets grabbed the rebound and Johnson fouled Weber. He missed his free throw attempt and Prince secured the rebound and raced up the course and got the ball to Harris for the final shot.
The Gents won their first SCAC Tournament on March 1 with a convincing 77-56 victory over the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs in Kerrville, Texas. The 21-point margin of victory was the largest in the 18-year history of the SCAC tournament. Centenary earned the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament for the first time in school history and won the title game for the first time after three previous appearances came up short, most recently in 2018. The Gents were the No. 2 seed all three previous times they made the title game.
The win also marked the Gents' first men's basketball conference title since 1980 when the Maroon and White claimed both the regular season and conference tournament championships while a member of the Trans America Athletic Conference (now the Atlantic Sun Conference).
