MARSHALL, Texas - Senior James Sapp joined an exclusive club in the season opener Tuesday night, November 15.
On a layup with 5:18 left in the game, Sapp became only the 32nd Gent in the 92-year history of the Maroon and White basketball program to score 1,000 career points. However, the Gents could not overcome a nearly seven-minute drought to begin the second half as Centenary (0-1) fell to East Texas Baptist (1-0) in the season opener for both teams.
Besides the scoring milestone, Sapp also added five rebounds. With 695 career rebounds, he is five away from becoming just the ninth Gent to eclipse the 700 rebound mark.
With Centenary down 15 early, the Gents crawled back to tie the game late in the first half. Down 34-24, the Maroon and White went on a 14-4 run to knot the game at 34. Junior KJ Boyd and freshman Cedric Harris hit back-to-back triples. The Tigers followed with a layup, but Harris dialed it up from range again to cut the deficit to three.
After two free throws by East Texas Baptist, the final three of the game by Harris and a fastbreak layup from freshman Treylan Matthews tied the game at 38 with three minutes until half. Harris finished the game with nine points on 3-for-4 shooting from behind the arc. While Centenary went 6-for-9 from three in the first half, it hit only 1-of-6 in the second half.
Junior Travion Kirkendoll led the gents with 25 points, including a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe. Sophomore Treylan Matthews added 21, while Boyd came off the bench for 10.
Shooting 46.9 percent (15-for-32) in the first half, the Gents went cold with 9-for-33 (27.3 percent) shooting in the second half.
East Texas Baptist used an 18-3 run, spanning a total of 10 minutes across both halves, and a 57-30 edge on the boards in the game. Tied at 38, Dylan Augustine hit a three. Centenary split from the line, but the Tigers' Tyler Day hit a three. Will Thomas hit a layup to extend the deficit to seven before half, but Matthews answered with a driving layup for the Gents seconds before half.
It looked as if the Maroon and White would get a defensive stand before half after an East Texas Baptist missed shot, but Robby Dooley corralled the rebound and got the putback at the buzzer.
The Tigers used turned 22 offensive boards into 22 second-chance points in the game.
Augustine led the home team with 20 points, including a 6-for-9 mark from beyond the arc. Jordan Gosey added the double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds. Thomas came off the bench for 17 boards.
East Texas Baptist scored the first 11 points of the second half to build a 59-41 lead with 13 minutes left. The Tigers never led by less than eight the rest of the way.
Centenary returns to action this weekend for the Southern Athletic Association-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Classic. The Gents battle Hendrix Saturday at 5 p.m., before closing out the weekend Sunday against host MIllsaps at 5 p.m.
