Gents Set For Rematch With UMHB On Friday Night At Home
The Centenary men's basketball team will close the calendar year on its home court on Friday evening with a non-conference contest against the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Cru at 6 PM inside the Gold Dome.
Shreveport- The Centenary men's basketball team will close the calendar year on its home court on Friday evening with a non-conference contest against the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Cru at 6 PM inside the Gold Dome.
Live stats and live video are available for the game at the links below:
STATS: https://gocentenary.com/sports/mbkb/2025-26/boxscores/20251219_zn5p.xml
TICKETS: https://fan.hudl.com/tickets/VGlja2V0ZWRFdmVudDY4ZWQ2YmM5ZGExNjhlMDYzZTFmZmM1Yw==
Get your special-priced tickets NOW for the game as we celebrate the holidays! Adults get in for $5 and children 12 & under FREE! Santa Claus will be there for pictures with the kids, we will have free prizes and halftime contests, so come and have some fun with us and cheer on the Gents!
The Gents (1-7) and Cru (6-4) will meet for the second time this season after UMB recorded an 83-62 win over Centenary on Nov. 25 in Belton, Texas. The teams were tied at 36-36 at halftime, but UMHB outscored Centenary 47-26 in the second half to secure the victory.
Centenary is coming off of a 103-82 loss to the Howard Payne University Yellow Jackets last Friday in Brownwood, Texas while UMHB defeated Concordia University 96-82 on the road on Sunday. The Gents are 0-2 at home so far this season and the Cru are 3-3 on the road.
The Gents average 67.5 PPG, shoot 40.8 % from the floor, 26.5 % from 3-point range, and 71.7 % from the free-throw line while averaging 32.9 rebounds/game, 9.3 assists/game, 7.0 steals/game, and 2.0 blocks/game. Centenary's defense has been solid and tested against a difficult schedule through eight games, as the Gents rank fourth in the conference in scoring defense (76.6 PPG) and are second in 3-point FG % defense (29.8) which ranks 87th nationally.
Four Gents enter Friday's game averaging double figures in scoring, led by senior G Craig Collier (North Little Rock, Ark.) at 15.6 PPG with senior G Quentin Beverly (Katy, Texas) right behind him with 14.6 PPG.
Freshman G Jaden Braden (Natchitoches, La.) averages 10.6 PPG and sophomore G Nicholas Addison (Cedar Hill, Texas) is at 10.4 PPG.
Freshman G/F Kane Broussard (Iowa, La.) is averaging 6.5 PPG, freshman C Bryce Evans (Austin, Texas) 5.1 PPG, junior F Dontarius Coleman (Gibsland, La.) 4.0 PPG, and sophomore G Trenton Thomas (Cedar Hill, Texas) 2.2 PPG.
Beverly and Collier both rank in the top 15 in the league in scoring and Braden is 30th. Addison is the Gents' leading rebounder (7.6/game) and ranks sixth in the league and is the team leader in FG % (57.8) which is good for fifth in the conference. Beverly (72.5), Braden (68.4), and Collier (76.2) are three of the Gents' top FT shooters of those players who have attempted 10+ this season.
Addison's 1.6 steals/game also lead the team and are 14th in the SCAC, Beverly and Collier are also both ranked in the top 15 in 3-point FG made, and Evans leads the team and ranks eighth in the conference in blocked shots (0.8/game). Beverly (third) and Braden (seventh) are both in the top 10 in the league in minutes played as Beverly averages a team-best 33.8 minutes/game and Braden 32.1.
Collier was named the SCAC Men's Basketball Offensive Player of the Week on Monday after he averaged 21.5 PPG in two games last week. He scored 15 against ETBU on Dec. 9 before his 28 on Friday at Howard Payne. Collier hit the game-winning shot against ETBU with a 3-pointer with 15 seconds remaining to put the Gents ahead 64-62 and give them their first win of the season. He hit 9-of-15 3-pointers over the week to shoot 60 percent and was perfect from the free throw line.
A glance back at the first meeting between the teams this season on Nov. 25:
Centenary shot 38.1 % (24-63) from the floor while UMHB finished 44.8 % (30-67). Both teams shot the ball well from beyond the arc as the Gents finished 12-35 and the Cru went 11-26. UMHB was 12-18 from the free-throw line while Centenary was 2-7, the Cru outrebounded the Gents 42-37 and the Gents turned the ball over 19 times and the Cru 14 times. UMHB scored 26 points off of turnovers and Centenary scored 17.
Both teams shot the ball well in the first half, with the Gents at 43.8 % and the Cru at 44.1 %. UMHB shot even better in the second half (45.5 %) but Centenary dipped to 32.3 %. The Gents finished with 10 assists, seven steals and four blocked shots while the Cru tallied 16 assists, nine steals, and three blocked shots.
UMHB won the battle inside, finishing with 30 points in the paint to 20 for Centenary, finished with an 18-3 edge in second-chance points, 13-6 in fast break points, and 41-24 in bench points. Thomas scored a team-high and season-high 13 points for the gents as he came off the bench and played 17 minutes and finished 5-8 from the floor and 3-5 from beyond the arc with three rebounds and a pair of assists as he recorded his first double-figure scoring performance of the season.
Beverly scored 12, Collier added eight, Braden and Broussard each scored seven and Addison and Evans each had six.
Four UMHB players reached double figures – Cam Stinson led all scorers with 19 points, Hudson Johnson had 18, Donta Coady had 13, and Zach Engels added 11. Connor Zamiara scored seven, Grant Jessen had five, Daniel Hutson four, and Zach May and Elijah Lawrence each scored three. Addison pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds and Engels matched him with 10 for the Cru.
The Gents raced out to a 13-0 lead just three minutes into the game as Broussard, Evans, and Beverly all nailed treys and Braden and Addison made baskets. The Cru finally got on the scoreboard with 15:57 left in the first half on a tip-in by Coady and UMHB kept chipping away at the lead until finally tying the game at 28-28 on a Stinson trey with 4:38 left in the half.
Thomas hit a 3-pointer at the 2:41 mark to increase the Centenary lead to 35-30, but the Cru finished the half on a 6-1 run capped by a Hudson trey at the buzzer to tie the game at 36-36. UMHB scored the first nine points of the second half to lead 45-36 at the 18:02 mark. Coleman hit a trey at the 11:46 mark to cut Centenary's deficit to 50-49 but a 28-6 run by the Cru expanded their lead to 78-55 with 5:25 left as they cruised to the win.
The Gents will be off until they return to action on Dec. 30 for an exhibtion game at Grambling State University set for NOON in Grambling, La. Centenary's next regular-season action will be on Friday, Jan. 2 (5:30 PM) against LeTourneau University at home in conference play.
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
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