By PATRICK MEEHAN, Centenary Sports Information Director
Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference basketball begins nearby for both Centenary teams next Tuesday against LeTourneau across the state line in Longview.
The men’s game tips at 5:30 with the women following at 7:30. That’s as close as the teams will play to home for a while. The Gents play at the Gold Dome on Dec. 19 against Mary Hardin-Baylor. The Ladies aren’t home until Jan. 2.
Both Centenary teams dropped non-conference road games Tuesday.
The Ladies lost 67-59 to the Wiley Wildcats inside Alumni Gymnasium in Marshall.
Centenary (1-5) is now 1-2 on the road this season while the Wildcats (5-2) are 3-2 at home. The teams were meeting for the first time since Nov. 11, 2023 when Wiley recorded a 69-35 win at home.
Freshman guard Nakaylyn Wells and senior guard Amiyah Barrow combined to score 24 of the Ladies’ 59 points as Wells had 13 and Barrow finished with 11.
A bad second half cost the Gents in an 83-62 loss to Mary Hardin-Baylor inside the Cru’s Mayborn Campus Center in Belton, Texas.
The Gents (0-5) and Cru (2-2) were tied at 36-36 at halftime, but UMHB outscored Centenary 47-26 in the second half.
Sophomore guard Trenton Thomas led the Gents with a season-high 13 points and senior guard Quentin Beverly scored 12.
MEN’S SWIMMING: Sophomore Hunter Hedges was named the SCAC Men’s Swimmer of the Week after he recorded a pair of individual wins over the weekend in the “Mid-Season Invitational” hosted by Hendrix College in Conway, Ark. He claimed victories in the 400 IM (4:34.12) and 100 breast (1:02.64) and now has eight wins this season.
WOMEN’S SWIMMING: Junior Reece Esser continued her impressive season with three individual wins in the “Mid-Season Invitational” as she won the 50 free (25.11), 100 free (55.47), and 100 fly (59.98) and also finished as runner- up in the 200 back (2:23.18). Esser now has 11 wins this season.
The Ladies and Gents return to action in the Austin College Invitational on Jan. 10 in Sherman, Texas.
FOOTBALL: Headlined by senior running back Obadiah Butler, 12 Gents were included on the 2025 All-SCAC Team, the league office announced on Tuesday.
Butler, one of the more productive running backs in Division III, earned first-team honors.
The other 11 Centenary players were honorable mention. That included four Gents from Shreveport: senior defensive lineman Rhema Getter (Captain Shreve), junior defensive lineman D’Qavion Lemons (Southwood), junior linebacker Devon Strickland (Byrd) and sophomore receiver Christopher Jackson (Calvary Baptist).
Other Gents getting recognized as HM picks were freshman receiver Theo Dunn, junior offensive lineman Alexander Hamilton, sophomore defensive back Dwayne Mills Jr., freshman defensive back TJ Ranson, junior offensive lineman Jaylon Simmons, junior defensive back Bryan Washington and sophomore linebacker Collin Watkins.
SOCCER: The 2025-26 Academic All-District® Men’s and Women’s Soccer teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, were announced on Tuesday and four Centenary scholar-athletes were recognized for their excellence in the classroom.
Representing the Gents was junior defender Hayden McConnell. Ladies voted to the team were senior defender/midfielder Kylie Zeller, senior defender Madi Cooley, and midfielder/forward Lowrey Lain.
Contact Patrick at pmeehan@centenary.edu