BUC HOOPS SWEEP McLENNAN AT KRUSE CENTER

Buccaneer Women down McLennan in home opener, 100-90

Buccaneers open the season with five-straight wins

BRENHAM, Texas — The Blinn College women’s basketball team (5-0) defeated McLennan Community College, 100-90, on Tuesday night in the Buccaneers’ home opener at the Kruse Center.

“To be able to score 100 points against a good team like McLennan that came in here undefeated makes me really proud,” said Jeff Jenkins, Blinn head coach. “We didn’t play our best basketball, but we competed and made a lot of shots. We are really good offensively this season.”

Kristine Ezimako led Blinn’s offense with 24 points, while Gabriela Bosquez followed with 22 points. Alanna Spencer led the Buccaneers with six three-pointers for 18 points.

“I was really hyped up to play in this game in front of our home crowd because the energy that me and my teammates have this year is amazing,” Ezimako said.

Blinn totaled nine three-pointers in the game and shot three early as Bosquez, Spencer and Soders all scored from downtown in the first quarter. However, McLennan was able to manage a 21-16 lead at the end of the opening quarter.

Ezimako scored 24 points in the second quarter for the Buccaneers to take a 43-40 lead at the halftime. Spencer and Ezimako combined for six straight points to even the score 24-24 with 8:32 on the clock. McLennan answered back with a run to pull ahead 30-25, but a three-pointer by Ezimako tied the game 30-30 at the 4:07 mark. Eddings hit a two-pointer and Ezimako shot two free throws and a layup for the Buccaneers to lead 36-30.

In the third quarter, Ezimako scored five points as Blinn took off on a run for a 10-point lead (59-49). Blinn jumped to a 73-62 lead heading into the final quarter.

Spencer kept things rolling for Blinn by hitting three shots from downtown as the Buccaneers went on a 19-9 run for a 92-71 advantage with 4:30 left. Bosquez scored the final point of the game from the free-throw line with 13.6 seconds left for Blinn to hit triple-digit points on the scoreboard.

Next, the Buccaneers will head back on the road to compete in the Coastal Bend Classic in Beeville. The Buccaneers will open the tournament against Ranger College on Thursday, November 14, at 5:30 p.m.

 Buccaneers rally back to defeat McLennan, 89-86

Tristan Ikpe scores a season-high 21 points

BRENHAM, Texas — The Blinn College men’s basketball team (5-1) came back from a 13-point deficit in the second half to defeat McLennan Community College, 89-86, on Tuesday night at the Kruse Center.

“These guys were resilient and enjoy playing basketball and being coached, so I give them the credit for continuing to play hard until the buzzer,” said Scott Schumacher, Blinn head coach. “Our home crowd is phenomenal and we had great support tonight. I love playing home games here at Blinn College.”

Tristan Ikpe led Blinn with a season-high 21 points, AJ Rainey and Cardell McGee each chipped in 18 points, and Markus Vallien recorded 12.

“It feels good to fight back and come out on top after a rough start to the second half,” Ikpe said. “We all trust each other, so that kept us going. Our defense got a lot of stops down the stretch and we followed through with plays on offense.”

McLennan and Blinn went back and forth in the first half until the Highlanders pulled ahead 31-25. Vallien hit back-to-back three-pointers for the Buccaneers to gain on McLennan, 33-31, while Ikpe scored four straight points for Blinn to even the score, 35-35. However, the Highlanders finished the opening half on a 14-7 run to lead 49-42 moving into the final half.

McLennan took off in the second half on a 10-4 run to lead by 13 points. Pedro Castro led Blinn with four points on a 6-0 run for the Buccaneers to pull within one point of McLennan with 6:35 left (77-76). With two minutes remaining, Rainey scored four straight points to even the score 84-84 and Blinn took the lead for the first time in the half on a two-pointer by Uriel Velis. Rainey made two free throws for Blinn to lead, 88-84, with 48.5 seconds remaining. Blinn was able to limit McLennan to just two points in the final minute for the win.

Next, Blinn will compete against Lone Star College-Tomball on Thursday, November 14, at 7 p.m. in the Kruse Center.

For more information, visit www.buccaneersports.com.

(COURTESY: Tara Dreyer, Blinn Information)