Shreveport- Senior F Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) scored a game-high 26 points to lead the Centenary men's basketball team to a 63-58 over the Colorado College Tigers on Friday night in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play at the Gold Dome.

The Gents improved to 12-4 overall and 6-2 in SCAC play as Thomas scored 20+ points for the fourth game in a row and for the fifth time this season. The Tigers fell to 7-8 and 5-2 in the SCAC with the loss. The game was tied 28-28 at halftime and then the Gents outscored the Tigers 35-30 in the second half to secure the win. Centenary improved to 9-2 on its home court this season and is 32-8 in its last 40 home games.

Centenary shot 39.6 % (21-53) from the floor for the game and a solid 77.3 % (17-22) from the free throw line. The Tigers finished just 18-47 from the floor for 38.3 % and also struggled at the FT line, finishing 17-32 for 53.1 %. Both teams were off target from 3-point range, as the Gents were just 4-17 for 23.5 % and the Tigers 5-19 for 26.3 %. The Tigers outrebounded the Gents 38-33.

The Gents finished with seven assists, 12 steals, and two blocked shots while the Tigers recorded seven assists, 10 steals, and also blocked a pair of shots. Centenary finished with a 32-22 edge in points in the paint and scored 21 points off of turnovers to Colorado College's 19. The Tigers' bench scored 20 points and the Gents' 14, each team scored two fast break points, and the Tigers scored seven second-chance points to the Gents' six.

The Tigers played well offensively in the first half, shooting 45.7 % (11-24) from the floor and hit 3-8 from beyond the arc. The Gents' defense held the Tigers in check after halftime, as the Tigers dipped to just 30.4 % (7-23) and only connected on 2-11 attempts from beyond the arc for 18.2 %. Centenary was solid offensively in each half, finishing 37.5 % (9-24) from the floor in the first half and was even better after halftime, making 12-29 shot attempts for 41.4 %.

Senior G Tykeem Singleton (Fort Worth, Texas) joined Thomas in double figures as he finished with 13 points. Freshman G Quentin Beverly (Katy, Texas) scored seven points in 18 minutes off the bench with an assist, a rebound, and a steal on 205 shooting. He was 2-2 from the FT line and hit his only attempt from beyond the arc. Junior G Braeden Board (Rayne, La.) and senior G Jalen Behr (Athens, Ga.) each scored five points as Board had two rebounds and hit one trey, and Behr finished 2-10 from the floor and hit one trey in 24 minutes off the bench with four rebounds, two assists, and a steal.

Junior G Jerrick Baines (Alexandria, La.) scored two points in 18 minutes with two steals, a blocked shot, and a rebound. Junior G/F Dylan Hooter (Mandeville, La.) played a season-high 28 minutes and scored two points with four rebounds and three steals. Junior G Coby Harris (Lafayette, La.) started his second-straight game and scored three points with two rebounds and an assist.

Two Colorado College players scored in double figures as Dinari Boykin scored 17 and Adrian Price added 12. Boykin grabbed a team-best nine rebounds as he just missed a double-double. Trey Crawford scored five points off the bench in 30 minutes with six rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Price had four rebounds and blocked a shot and was 6-12 from the FT line. Scott Ruegg had nine points and six rebounds in 31 minutes with an assist and a steal. Kevin Dittman scored eight points in 13 minutes off the bench with two rebounds, a blocked shot, and a steal.

The Gents raced out to an 18-10 lead with 10:19 remaining in the first half after a Thomas layup. A pair of free throws by Thomas gave Centenary a 26-18 lead with 4:08 left and a layup by Thomas at the 2:01 mark made it 28-24 Gents but were the last points Centenary scored in the half. A free throw by Dittman with six seconds left capped a 10-2 run over the final four minutes for the Tigers.

The first 15 minutes of the second half was a back and forth battle with multiple lead changes as the Tigers and Gents stayed within a few points of each other. Beverly hit a tiebreaking trey at the 6:40 mark to give Centenary a 51-48 lead and a pair of free throws by Boykin made it 51-50.

Thomas made a layup to make it 53-50 and a layup by Singleton with 4:08 left increased the Gents' advantage to 55-50. A minute later, Singleton sank two free throws for a 57-50 lead. Two free throws by Price made it 61-55 with only 55 seconds left and a layup by Hooter on a run out made it 63-55 seven seconds later. The Gents were clutch from the FT line in the second half, making 9-12 and 6-6 in the final four minutes.

Thomas, who is averaging 22.7 PPG over the last four games, scored 14 points in the first half with seven rebounds and was a perfect 6-6 from the FT line. He then scored 12 points with five rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a blocked shot in the second half, shooting 4-4 from the floor and was 405 at the FT line.

The Gents will be on the road next weekend for a pair of conference games at Trinity and Schreiner. Centenary defeated both the Tigers (69-65) and Mountaineers (84-79) at home last month.

See the Gents' complete season schedule here:  https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/mbkb/2022-23/schedule

Admission is FREE to all Centenary home athletic contests. Live stats and live video stream are available for all Centenary home contests.

#GoCentenary #CTheOpportunity