By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
A long holiday break sounds good but for the Centenary Gentlemen, it’s been bittersweet. All the much better, then, that their basketball season resumes at home on Friday.
The Ladies and Gents get going again on Friday at home against Dallas, and are home again Saturday against the Kangaroos of Austin College. Bossier Parish Community College tips off Saturday afternoon at home. The LSUS teams don’t play again until next Tuesday.
MEN
CENTENARY: Why was the break bittersweet for the Gents? Centenary was stunned in the final seconds Dec. 18 at Texas Lutheran University, 68-67, as the Bulldogs snapped the Gents’ eight-game winning streak in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest in Seguin, Texas. The Gents (9-3, 3-1 SCAC) lost for the first time in over a month, dropping a game for the first time since a 63-51 home defeat to Louisiana Christian University on Nov. 16.
Centenary, which extended its season-best winning streak to eight a night earlier with a gritty 58-49 win at Southwestern, was aiming for its longest unbeaten streak since winning 10 in a row during its 2019-20 conference championship season.
Next game: Friday at home vs. Dallas, 6 p.m., Gold Dome.
LSUS: The Pilots also had a dramatic contest on the road going into the break, but held off Wayland Baptist 92-90 Dec. 19 in Fort Worth. For the 18th-ranked visitors (9-3, 4-1 in the Red River Athletic Conference), Jalen Brooks posted 30 points and 14 rebounds to lead the win over the No. 22 hosts (8-4).
Next game: Next Tuesday at home vs. Louisiana Christian, 7:30 p.m. at The Dock. LC’s coach and athletics director is former Captain Shreve standout Reni Mason.
BOSSIER PARISH CC: The Cavaliers (7-5) have won two in a row but will momentum carry through an 18-day break? The upcoming schedule favors BPCC, with five home games in the next six outings. The Cavaliers are averaging 85 points per game in a balanced attack with five players scoring at least 10 points per game, topped by the 13.5 average by Christian Caldwell.
Next game: Saturday afternoon at 2 at Billy Montgomery Gym when the Baton Rouge Capitols visit.
WOMEN
LSUS: The Lady Pilots (9-4, 3-2 in the Red River Athletic Conference) blasted visiting Paul Quinn 80-46 on Dec. 17 behind 21 points from Angel Reese and a double-double by Chelsey White (12 points, 11 rebounds).
Next game: At home Saturday at 4 against Louisiana Christian, formerly known as Louisiana College.
CENTENARY: Freshman forward Kyra Stokes, a hometown product, scored a season-high 16 points and grabbed a season-best 12 rebounds in the Ladies’ 64-50 loss at Texas Lutheran Dec. 18 as she earned her first-career double-double in just her fifth game of the season.
Stokes, who scored eight points an evening earlier against Southwestern in her first action in over a month, played 34 minutes and was 7-12 from the floor with two steals, an assist, and a blocked shot. The Ladies are 0-13 overall, 0-4 in conference play.
Next game: Friday at home vs. Dallas, 4 p.m., Gold Dome.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com