Centenary

Pony_Fan · Post by **Pony_Fan** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 9:21 am

Surely SMU can beat Centenary from the great Mid Con conference??

Gents Take to the Road for Battle with SMU

Alexander Starr

Jason Underwood

DALLAS, Texas—The Centenary men’s basketball team will open the road portion of its 2005-06 schedule at SMU on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Gents are primed for the upset after an 84-73 win in their season opener over the University of Texas at Tyler on Friday in the Gold Dome. The contest will be the first of three consecutive home dates for the Mustangs in Moody Coliseum after opening with a 71-64 loss to Louisiana-Monroe on the road.

Centenary (1-0) newcomers Alexander Starr, Jason Underwood, and Xavier Burnette all turned in fine performances for the Gents in their debut on Friday. Starr and Underwood each dropped in 14 points while Burnette added 12 points in the win. Transfer Larry Logan enjoyed a solid game in the paint as well, securing a game-high 11 rebounds.

SMU (0-1) suffered through shooting woes in its opener with ULM as the Mustangs managed just a 38.1 percent effort from the field. Derrick Roberts led the way with 19 points while Dez Willingham contributed 14 points in the loss. Devon Pearson will be a major concern for the Gents inside as he hauled in 16 rebounds against the Indians.

Centenary trails 9-2 in the all-time series against SMU, but the two teams haven’t met each other on the hardwood for almost ten years. The Mustangs prevailed 86-73 in the 1996 victory, a tough loss for the Gents as they dominated almost every category on the stat sheet. However, 19 turnovers for the maroon and white proved costly in the end.

The game will be the first against a Division I opponent for new head coach Rob Flaska. The Gents have not faired well on the road in the past and have not enjoyed a winning record away from the Gold Dome in 15 years. Flaska will look to change that trend tomorrow and will have help from the Dallas-area Centenary alumni as they have organized a dinner and will be in attendance to support the Gents at the game.

Charleston Pony · Post by **Charleston Pony** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 8:11 pm

tuning into all-access, looks like there might be 100 people out tonite for this one. where are the 1500???

smupony94 · Post by **smupony94** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 8:18 pm

Is the sound terrible or is it just my computer?

Pony_Fan · Post by **Pony_Fan** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 8:24 pm

The sound is awful. Had to work, couldn't make it to the game.

smupony94 · Post by **smupony94** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 8:27 pm

Sounds like I am picking up two different FM stations. Sucks for people not able to attend game.

Charleston Pony · Post by **Charleston Pony** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 8:59 pm

good 1st half for the Ponies. Nice to have a physical mis-match. I certainly hope we are playing much better than we did Sunday...and it's not just that Centenary is really horrible. I expect it could be both.

ponygirl08 · Post by **ponygirl08** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 10:41 pm

I just got back from the game. There were probably about 250 people there (thanks to Centenary fans) and SMU dominated the first half. They played a little slow the beginning of the 2nd, but then turned it on towards the end. It was a great start to the 05-06 season!!

Buckethead · Post by **Buckethead** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 11:15 pm

I was at the game and would estimate there were between 1000- 1500. Maybe 19 students. Guess they had to go party one more night before they head home, if they haven't already headed that way. Nice showing by the almuni band. Pretty boring game. But it was a win.

Pony_Fan · Post by **Pony_Fan** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 11:31 pm

Boring opponent, Mavs game, Thanksgiving, SMU playoff soccer...nobody pays attention until after Xmas usually.

smupony94 · Post by **smupony94** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 11:47 pm

Yes, all the basketball fans are at home listening to the soccer game.

smupony94 · Post by **smupony94** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 11:47 pm

Which SMU is up 3-0 over UCLA by the way

DickerJames · Post by **DickerJames** » Tue Nov 22, 2005 11:53 pm

I thought Dez looked pretty good, and I think he and Hopkins together will be a nice combo. I wish Bamba wasn't injured because we need a center. The Rack is a bust in my opinion. Wish Coach Tubbs had played Matt Williams more, I thought he looked good in the 2 minutes he was in the game even though he didn't attempt a shot. The lord knows we need a pure shooter on this team.

BarbaraAnn · Post by **BarbaraAnn** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 3:28 am

Buckethead wrote:Nice showing by the almuni band. Pretty boring game. But it was a win.

Ironically enough, there were only about 6 of us alums there.

And it was pretty boring.

Thanks for the ocmpliment.

RGV Pony · Post by **RGV Pony** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 8:12 am

DMN says there were 2100 people there. I guess that means there were about 2000 people on the side not in view of the "All Access" camera.

mustangbill67 · Post by **mustangbill67** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 11:40 am

RGV Pony wrote:DMN says there were 2100 people there. I guess that means there were about 2000 people on the side not in view of the "All Access" camera.

I took advantage of the new ticket upgrade policy and sat in the blue seats, which ended up being about one half full. This was a great idea by the Mustang Club. 2100 does seem high but it did appear the crowd was in the high 1000's.