TRINITY VALLEY SWEEPS BLINN DOUBLEHEADER

No. 2 Trinity Valley slips by Blinn women, 73-67

Buccaneer men stifled by No. 11 Trinity Valley, 92-79

BUC WOMEN 

BRENHAM, Texas – Blinn College women’s basketball was within striking distance of No. 2 Trinity Valley Community College but could not come up with the key plays down the stretch in a 73-67 loss Tuesday night inside the P.E. Building.

“I honestly think we will only get better,” said Blinn head coach Jeff Jenkins. “When you play a motion offense and run a man to man defense then it is only going to get better every game.”

Trinity Valley did its best to key in on Blinn leading scorer Ebony Parker and forced other players to step up. The Buccaneers showed some balanced throughout the game but the loss lowered the Blinn record to 6-2 overall and 1-1 in Region XIV play.

Ekiya Gray did a good job of stepping up in leading Blinn with 15 points while Jeliah Preston tossed in 11 points. Parker was still able to chip in 10 points in the loss, well below her average of 22.8 points per game before the Trinity Valley game. Maya Singleton, Christalah Lyons and Alisha Washington each had 13 points to lead Trinity Valley.

Trinity Valley came out with a lot of defensive pressure in the opening quarter and used that pressure to jump out to an 18-11 lead in the first seven minutes. Blinn was able to crawl back into the game with the help of Gray with nine points in the quarter. Gray hit a jumper near the baseline and Penina Faumui nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to get within 22-19 of Trinity Valley after one.

Trinity Valley broke the game open to start the second by opening on a 10-2 run to take a 32-21 lead with 7:01 left. Preston scored five points in the quarter for Blinn but the Buccaneers still trailed by double-digits at the half, 43-33.

Blinn showed its balance in the third quarter with nine different players scoring as it helped the Buccaneers get within 59-54 heading into the fourth.

Defensive breakdowns and giving up too many second-chance points hurt Blinn in the final period as Trinity Valley was efficient enough on offense to hold on for the six-point victory.

Blinn will hit the road after the Thanksgiving holiday will a trip to face Temple College on Monday, Nov. 30 at 5:30 p.m.

BUC MEN

BRENHAM, Texas – Blinn College men’s basketball could not find a rhythm offensively and was held way under its normal points per game average in a 92-79 loss to No. 11 Trinity Valley Community College Tuesday night inside the P.E. Building.

Coming into the game, the Buccaneers were averaging 117.3 points per game but Trinity Valley disrupted the Blinn offense just enough. Blinn’s record now lowers to 8-1 overall and 1-1 in Region XIV play.

“I thought we had a lot of key turnovers in the first half and when you play against a good team then you can’t give them extra buckets,” said Blinn head coach Scott Schumacher. “I thought we missed a lot of shots that we normally make but it’s a learning experience.”

Corey Henderson and Morris Dunnigan each led the Buccaneers with 17 points while Victor Dukes had a strong second half and ended up with 15 points. John Dewey had a balanced game and scored 13 points. Trinity Valley was led by Josh Stamps with 21 points on mostly outside shooting.

Trinity Valley jumped to a 16-6 lead to open the game but Blinn was able to battle back momentarily. Balanced scoring early on helped the Buccaneers take an 18-17 lead after a jump shot by Dewey with 11:58 left in the first half.

Trinity Valley was able to get the lead right back to double-digits at 32-20 at the 8:12 mark and held on to lead 46-36 at the break. Dunnigan led the Buccaneers with eight points in the first 20 minutes.

Blinn was unable to cut the Trinity Valley lead to single-digits in the second half, even with strong performances by Henderson, Dunnigan and Dukes. Henderson scored 10, Dunnigan had nine and Dukes scored eight but Blinn still fell by 13 to Trinity Valley.

Blinn will back at home on Monday, Nov. 30 against Concordia University JV at 7:30 p.m.

For more information, visit www.buccaneersports.com.

(Story & photos courtesy, Jake Gordon, Blinn Information)