Early Push not Enough for Men's Basketball at Centenary
SHREVEPORT, La. – The University of Dallas men's basketball team (10-11, 4-7 SCAC) dropped an 86-73 final at Centenary College (13-9, 6-6 SCAC) on Sunday afternoon. Dallas has dropped three in a row for the first time since opening the campaign and fell 0-2 against the Gents on the season.
The Crusaders jumped out to an early 18-4 advantage on the strength of 11 unanswered points to begin the contest. Centenary's James Sapp would get a dunk just over 15 minutes left in the first half to end the Maroon and White's field goal drought.
However, Dallas would keep the momentum rolling with 10 out of the next 14 points coming to build its largest lead of the contest at 15 with 12:26 left until intermission. Freshman Prince Giadolor (Rockwall, Texas) would net eight of his 10 points in the stanza during that span, including a free throw that lifted UD to its largest edge of the game.
Centenary shifted the tide over the next six minutes to cut the margin to 24-20, and would later knot the contest a trifecta from Travion Kirkendoll with 4:41 ticks left in the half. Overall the Gents closed the frame on a 31-10 scoring span that included five of the team's six three-pointers in the game. The home squad was up 37-30 at the break.
In the second half, the first four points went to Centenary to build its first double-digit lead of the day. The gap widened to as many as 19 with 7:09 left in regulation after a pair of free throws by Kendall Demouchet.
Junior Michael Sarrat (Colleyville, Texas) would notch 18 of his career-high 25 points in the second half.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Behind Sarrats personal best and game-high, was Giadolor's 18 points. The forward scored his third highest total of his career and was two points off matching a career-high.
- Junior Lorenzo Gonzalez rounded out a trio of double figure performers with 11 points, and surpassed 500 career points by one. Classmate Tom Kaiser (Nashville, Tenn.) added 11 rebounds, and 10 of his boards came from the defensive glass. Giadolor added seven boards.
- Dallas shot 36.2 percent from the floor and 25 percent from downtown. The Gents were 47.8 percent in field goal shooting. The rebounding total was nearly even, with Centenary edging UD 41-40.
- The Crusaders won the turnover battle 14-12, but the opposition took advantage of a 22-8 scoring swing on points off miscues. The Maroon and White also had an 19-2 edge on second chance points and 40-26 edge on points in the paint.
- The Gents were led by Demouchet offensively with 21 points. Kirkendoll clinched a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Justin Cueto drained all four of his field goals from three-point land to equal 12 points. Sapp tossed 10 from the bench.
UP NEXT
Dallas returns one last time this regular season at the Maher Center for a pair of conference tip-offs. The Crusaders will welcome first place Texas Lutheran University on February 12 at 6 p.m.