Dallas Falls to Centenary in Saturday's Conference Action
IRVING, Texas - The University of Dallas men's basketball team dropped its second conference game of the season to Centenary College 77-62 on Saturday afternoon. The Crusaders (4-4, 0-2 SCAC) had three players reach double-figures, but were unable to defend the strong duo of Cedric Harris and Ty Prince of the Gents who finished with 21 and 20 points, respectively. UD slightly edged Centenary (5-4, 2-0 SCAC) 36-35 on rebounds, but turned the ball over twice as much as the Gents. Dallas hung with Centenary and went on a roll with five minutes to play with an 11-0 run. Harris would drill a couple of treys late, as the Gents would go on to make more shots at the line to grab the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) victory.
The Gents grabbed an early lead in the contest, but a three-pointer from Jacob Giunta (Keller, Texas) gave Dallas its first lead (6-5). Centenary and Dallas exchanged buckets early and often as both teams opened the game 3-4 for the game. Centenary would grab a five-point lead, but that is as far as Dallas would let the lead slip, as they would eventually tie the game at 19 at the under 12 media timeout. Out of the timeout Centenary regained the lead after two free throws from Tykeem Singleton. UD grinded out some tough rebounds and found open players for big shots to secure a 26-23 UD lead.
CC then tied it up again with another trey, and went on to find a 7-0 run to go up 30-26 with five minutes remaining in the first half. Michael Wambsganss (Denver, Colo.) made it a two-point game with two made free throws. Centenary found some late buckets including a three-pointer from Seth Thomas to take a ten-point lead (43-33) into the halftime break. Prince led all scorers with 13 points in that half and five rebounds, as Harris added eight points. Dustin Mathis (Forth Worth, Texas) led Dallas with 11 points at the break.
Four minutes into the second half, Centenary found one its biggest leads when they went up by 12 points after a deep three-pointer from CJ Small to put the Gents up 51-39. Centenary would push its lead to 15 (59-44) at the under 12 media timeout. After falling behind by 19 points, Scott Bolen (Houston, Texas) then started a key 11-0 Dallas run with the old fashioned bucket plus one at the line to make it a 68-57 game at the 4:48 mark. Harris ended the Crusaders long run with a deep three-pointer from the right side, which would put an end to the Dallas comeback. The Gents took control of the game in the final three minutes and would go on to take the conference victory.
Harris led the Gents with 21 points, making six three-pointers and eight rebounds. Prince followed right behind his teammate with 20 points helping Centenary shoot 45.8% (27-59) from the field and 40% (10-25) from behind the arc. Prince was also 3-3 from the charity stripe as the Gents would finish 13-16 from the free throw line. The Gents scored 30 of their points in the paint.
Mathis finished with 18 points (4-8 from behind the arc) and notched a season-best six of the team's 14 assists. Giunta added 12 points and six boards, while Wambsganns contributed 10 points. Letrell Toussaint (Waco, Texas) attacked the glass once again coming down with 10 rebounds to lead UD.
UP NEXT
Dallas will host Eureka College on December 30th for the final contest of 2019. First tip is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. from the Maher Center.