SHREVEPORT, La. -- LeTourneau men's basketball had three players score 20-plus points as they defeated a tough Centenary squad, 98-87, inside the Gold Dome in Shreveport.

Deonte Jackson (28), Jackson Mayes (21), and Walker Blaine (20) were the scoring punch the YellowJackets (12-3) needed to fend off the Gents (3-8). Blaine added a game-high nine rebounds, while Jackson and Teigan Edwards notched six assists apiece. Jackson also stole the ball three times.

After LeTourneau took an early first-half lead, Centenary stormed back and jumped ahead by as many as five. The YellowJackets were able to answer, however, taking a five-point lead of their own with a Caedmon Liebengood layup at the 9:58 mark. 

Mayes would add five points in another small stretch later in the half to get the lead up to seven, and then another Mayes bucket plus a Connor Miller 3-pointer extended the lead to nine with 3:05 remaining in the half. The lead would get as high as 13, but a late Gents 3-pointer brought the lead down to 10 at the half.

An additional Miller triple early in the second half pushed the lead back to 12, but a subsequent 10-2 run by Centenary made it a four-point game. Later, the Gents were able to cut it to one, but Blaine hit a big three and Mayes drilled jumper to keep the lead more palatable. 

The Gents would not go away though, and eventually seized a two-point lead with 7:44 to go. Jackson would knock down a triple to re-take the lead for the YellowJackets, but Centenary then scored four straight to take a 3-point lead with 6:13 to go.

LeTourneau needed a knockout punch.

They landed it.

The YellowJackets outscored the Gents 16-2 the rest of the way to will their way to an 11-point win. Edwards and Blaine scored four apiece in this stretch and the whole squad made some key free throws at the end to pull away.

Quentin Beverly led all scorers with 32 points for the Gents, while Craig Collier scored 20. Jakobi Greenleaf grabbed seven rebounds and added four assists to pace Centenary in those categories.

UP NEXT

The YellowJackets will get the rest of the week off and then start ASC play versus Howard Payne next Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Solheim Arena. 

FOLLOW THE YELLOWJACKETS

Be sure to follow LeTourneau athletics all season long on letuathletics.com and social media at Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram for up-to-date scores, news, and other information.