Gents Edged By YellowJackets Friday At Home
The Centenary men's basketball team came up short to the LeTourneau University YellowJackets 80-75 on Friday evening in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest inside the Gold Dome.
Shreveport- The Centenary men's basketball team came up short to the LeTourneau University YellowJackets 80-75 on Friday evening in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest inside the Gold Dome.
The Gents (1-9, 0-2 SCAC) and the YellowJackets (7-3, 2-0 SCAC) were meeting for the second time this season after LeTourneau edged Centenary 63-62 in the league opener for both teams on Dec. 2 in Longview, Texas.
LeTourneau led Centenary 40-38 at halftime and outscored the Maroon and White in the second half, 40-37. The YellowJackets finished 27-68 from the floor for the game (39.7 %) while the Gents shot the ball well, finishing a season-best 45.8 % (27-59) from the floor. The game featured eight ties and three lead changes.
Both teams shot the ball well from 3-popint range, as the YellowJackets made 13-31 for 41.9 % and the Gents connected on 7-16 for 43.8 %. LETU made 13-16 at the free-throw line (81.3 %) and Centenary was 14-23 for 60.9 %. LETU outrebounded Centenary 41-35 and finished with a 15-6 advantage in second-chance points.
Centenary turned the ball over 10 times which led to 14 LETU points and the visitors turned it over 12 times which led to 15 points for the Gents. Centenary edged LETU 26-24 in a close battle in points in the paint and LETU finished with a 13-9 advantage in bench points. LETU scored 19 fast break points and Centenary had 11. The Gents finished with 10 assists, seven steals, and four blocked shots while the YellowJackets tallied 14 assists, five steals, and a block.
Freshman G Jaden Braden (Natchitoches, La.) led all scorers with a season-high 23 points as he reached double figures for the sixth time this season. Senior G Quentin Beverly (Katy, Texas) scored 18 and freshman G/F Kane Broussard (Iowa, La.) had 10.
Sophomore G Nicholas Addison (Cedar Hill, Texas) added eight, freshman C Bryce Evans (Austin, Texas) had seven, and junior F Dontarius Coleman (Gibsland, La.) scored five. Senior G Craig Collier (North Little Rock, Ark.) and junior F Me'Khai Taylor (New Orleans, La.) had two.
Braden was 8-13 from the floor and 7-13 at the FT line in 37 minutes with five assists, four rebounds, and a blocked shot and Beverly finished 6-15 from the floor, 3-6 from beyond the arc, and 3-4 at the FT line in 32 minutes with three rebounds, an assist, and a steal.
Broussard recorded his second double-double of the season with 11 rebounds and reached double figures for the third time this season and added a pair of blocked shots and a steal. He played 34 minutes and was 4-6 from the floor and 2-3 from beyond the arc. Evans played 32 minutes and had six rebounds, two assists, a blocked shot, and a steal. He finished 3-7 from the floor and made one trey in four attempts.
Addison was 4-9 from the floor in 33 minutes with five board, two assists, and two steals, Coleman played 11 minutes and was 2-2 from the floor with a trey, two steals, and a rebound. Collier was 2-2 at the FT line with one rebound in 14 minutes, and Taylor played four minutes in his season debut and had three rebounds while going 2-2 at the FT line.
Jackson Mayes led LETU with 22 points, Max Frels had 18, Branson Lynn had 12, and Logan Brinkoeter had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Teigan Edwards, one of LETU's top scorers this season, was held to just five points and fouled out in the second half. Edwards has been held to single digits three times this season and two of those came against the Gents.
Centenary jumped out to a 9-0 lead following a trey by Evans which prompted LETU to call a :30 timeout with 17:16 on the clock. Frels finally got the visitors on the scoreboard with a 3-pointer at the 16:29 mark. Brinkoeter then made a pair of FT's to tie the game at 10-10 with 14:48 left and a jumper by Alex Ferrell gave LETU its first lead of the half at 25-23 with 6:59 remaining before the break.
The teams traded baskets for the final six minutes of the half which featured four ties, five treys, and no lead larger than three by either team as LETU went into the locker room up by two at the break, 40-38.
LETU started the second half on a 12-7 run to take a 52-45 lead with 13:13 remaining, but a 12-5 run by Centenary tied the score at 57-57 following an Addison layup at the 9:17 mark. LETU, though, responded with an 11-1 run to make it 68-58 capped by a Mayes trey with 5:52 as it marked the first double-digit lead by either team.
The Gents fought back with an 11-5 run and cut their deficit to just four at 73-69 with 2:08 on the clock as Braden scored five points during the stretch and Beverly and Broussard each hit treys. Mayes, though, scored five quick points for LETU in just 30 seconds to boost the lead back to 78-69 with time running out. With just 1:12 left to play, Braden hit a jumper and after a LETU turnover, Addison made a layup to cut the deficit to three at 78-73 with 49 seconds remaining.
Brinkoeter missed a trey with 28 seconds left and 10 seconds later, Braden made a layup to bring the Gents within three at 78-75. Mayes was then fouled and made both FT's to make it an 80-75 game with only 15 seconds left and that was it as LETU survived a late Centenary rally to secure the road win.
The Gents will return to action next Friday when they face the McMurry University War Hawks at 5:30 PM in Abilene, Texas.
For more information or to donate to Centenary athletics and the men's basketball program, visit gocentenary.com/gocentenary/C_Club.
See the complete Gents' season schedule here: https://gocentenary.com/sports/mbkb/2025-26/schedule
#GoCentenary #CTheOpportunity