Gents Set For 2023 SCAC Championship On Friday
The Centenary men's basketball team will make its 10th-straight appearance in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday evening when the No. 3 seed Gents take the court against the No. 6 seed Southwestern University Pirates in a quarterfinal contest set for 7 p.m. at the Ron & Genie Calgaard Gymnasium on the campus of Trinity University.
San Antonio, Texas- The Centenary men's basketball team will make its 10th-straight appearance in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday evening when the No. 3 seed Gents take the court against the No. 6 seed Southwestern University Pirates in a quarterfinal contest set for 7 p.m. at the Ron & Genie Calgaard Gymnasium on the campus of Trinity University.
Live stats and live video are available for the game at the links below:
Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=458882
Video: https://www.youtube.com/live/k3vKrceBHeo?feature=share
The Gents enter the championship at 17-8 overall and finished 10-6 in SCAC play during the regular season. The Pirates are 10-15 overall and 6-10 SCAC. Centenary swept the season series over Southwestern with a 58-49 victory in Georgetown, Texas on Dec. 16 and a 71-52 win at home on Jan. 27. The Maroon and White have won six games in a row over the Pirates and lead the all-time series 16-9.
The Gents-Pirates winner will face No. 2 seed Trinity (19-6, 12-4 SCAC) at 7 p.m. on Saturday in the second semifinal contest as the Tigers received a bye. No. 1 seed and regular-season champion St. Thomas (23-2, 16-0 SCAC) received a bye and will face the winner of the other quarterfinal between No. 5 Schreiner (12-13, 6-10 SCAC) and No. 4 Colorado College (12-13, 9-7 SCAC) in Saturday's first semifinal set for 5 p.m. The championship game is set for Sunday at 2 p.m. The winner of this year's championship tournament will represent the conference in the NCAA Tournament as the league's automatic qualifier.
The Gents fell 66-55 at Colorado College on Sunday in the regular-season finale for both teams as Centenary was held to just 55 points for the second game in a row after dropping a 68-55 decision to St. Thomas in Houston on Feb. 14. Senior G Tykeem Singleton (Fort Worth, Texas) led the Gents with 15 points and freshman G Quentin Beverly (Katy, Texas) was just behind him with 13. Senior G Jalen Behr (Athens, Ga.) finished with eight and senior G Kile Mingo (Cypress, Texas) added seven. Junior G Braeden Board (Rayne, La.) and senior F Seth Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) each scored four.
The Gents enter the postseason as one of the top defensive clubs in the country in division III as they rank 21st nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 62.8 PPG, and in the top 55 in both field goal percentage defense and 3-point FG % defense. The Gents are also 20th nationally in turnover margin as they force their opponents into an average of 19.9/game.
Centenary, who proved to be a very balanced team on both sides of the ball, finished the regular season in the top five in the conference in turnover margin, scoring defense, free throw %, steals, FG % defense, 3-point FG % defense, scoring margin, blocked shots, and 3-point FG made.
The Gents held 21 of their 25 opponents this season to 70 points or less, 60 or less 10 times, and to 55 or less nine times.
Thomas is the Gents' leading scorer (15.2 PPG) and rebounder (7.4) this season and ranks third in the conference in scoring and fourth in rebounding. He is also second in minutes played, fourth in FT %, in the top five in both offensive and defensive rebounds, tied for sixth in steals, eighth in FG %, 11th in assists, and 14th in blocked shots. The sensational senior has reached double figures 21 times this season and did so in 17-straight games.
He joined the 1,000-point club on Feb. 9 in a home win over John Melvin University as he is now one of just 36 in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark. He joined the 500-rebound club on Jan. 29 against Texas Lutheran, as he becomes just the 19th player in program history to score 1,000 points and grab 500 rebounds in a career. He recorded six double-doubles and was named the SCAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week three times during the regular season.
Singleton reached double figures 13 times this season and is the Gents' second-leading scorer at 8.9 PPG and is tied with Board for second on the team in rebounding (4.8/game). Singleton, who recorded a pair of double-doubles this season, is in the top 30 in scoring in the SCAC as well as in the top 20 in rebounding and top 10 in offensive rebounds.
Beverly reached double figures seven times and done so in three of the last four games as he is likely to be named to the conference's all-freshmen squad.
Board is the Gents' third-leading scorer this season (8.7 PPG) and reached double digits nine times, highlighted by a career-high 25 points against St. Thomas earlier this month and recorded one double-double this season. He ranks in the top 30 in the conference in scoring and in the top 15 in FT %, blocked shots, defensive rebounds, and steals.
Senior G Jalen Behr (Athens, Ga.) averages 7.2 PPG and 3.0 RPG and reached double figures seven times and in four of his last seven games, highlighted by a career-best 19 in the win over John Melvin. Behr, one of the Gents' and conference's top outside shooters, ranks in the top 15 in the league in 3-point FG made. Senior G Kile Mingo (Cypress, Texas) has reached double figures four times and averages 5.3 PPG. He has 177 treys in his career, the seventh-most in program history. Senior G Ralph Johnson (White Castle, La.) averages 4.4 PPG and has reached double figures three times this season.
The Gents have a deep rotation as junior G Coby Harris (Lafayette, La.), junior G/F Dylan Hooter (Mandeville, La.), junior G Chrys Jackson (North Las Vegas, Nev.), and freshman G Cameron Walker (Bossier City, La.) all have played 15 games or more this season.
Southwestern is paced by Brock Luechtefeld who is the Pirates' leading scorer (9.5 PPG) and rebounder (5.6 RPG). Preston Hannah matches Luechtefeld with 9.5 PPG and the next three top scorers for Southwestern are Luke Hatcher (8.6 PPG), Jacob Hester (8.0 PPG), and Zac Black (7.7 PPG).
Centenary has now finished .500 or better in all six seasons under head coach Chris Dorsey as the Gents have established themselves as one of the most successful programs in the conference under his direction, winning 55 conference games and their 38 wins from 2017-21 led the conference in that span. The Gents are now an impressive 35-19 in their last 54 conference games dating back to Jan. 25, 2020. Centenary has made four trips to the SCAC championship game under Dorsey, and also have two semifinal appearances. The Gents have won 13 or more games in a season five times in Dorsey's tenure and eight or more conference games four times.
Dorsey, now 84-59 and 56-34 in league games, led the Gents to their best season in the division III era and one of the most successful seasons in program history in 2019-20 as the Maroon and White won their first SCAC Tournament title to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history, losing a heartbreaker, 83-81, at UT-Dallas.
Centenary has now won at least 17 games in a season twice under Dorsey, and 14 or more four times, and are just one win away from matching the division III era (2012-present) single-season record of 18, previously set in the 2019-20 season under Dorsey and in 2013-14.
The Gents went 1-1 in last season's championship in Sherman, Texas, defeating Texas Lutheran 64-56 in the quarterfinals and falling 75-56 in the semifinals to St. Thomas.
A complete tournament schedule is below:
Friday - Quarterfinals at Trinity University
Game 1 - 5 p.m. CT - #4 Colorado College vs. #5 Schreiner
Game 2 - 7 p.m. CT - #3 Centenary vs. #6 Southwestern
Saturday - Semifinals at Trinity University
Game 3 - 5 p.m. CT - #1 St. Thomas vs. Winner of Men's G1
Game 4 - 7 p.m. CT - #2 Trinity vs. Winner of Men's G2
Sunday - Finals at Trinity University
Game 5 - 2 p.m. CT - Winner of Men's G3 vs. Winner of Men's G4
For more information on the 2023 SCAC Men's Basketball Tournament, click here for the official website.
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.
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