BLINN MEN’S BASKETBALL EARNS FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON
Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information
The Blinn College men's basketball team found its way into the win column Tuesday with a 90-84 home victory over Southern Arkansas University at the Kruse Center in Brenham, Texas.
The win moved the Buccaneers to 1-2 on the season.
"Our guys have worked hard all fall, and for them to finally get to enjoy a win is big because they deserve it," Blinn head coach Scott Schumacher said. "I thought we played well, and even when Southern Arkansas made runs on us, we held up and never relinquished our lead. I thought we did a tremendous job of improving as a basketball team, and a lot of our guys got a lot of quality minutes that will help us long term."
From the outset, SAU Tech showed Blinn it came to play, hitting a quick 3-pointer to open the scoring. Bucs sophomore guard Reese Miller answered with a triple of his own, signaling what would be a back-and-forth first half.
The Rockets lived and died by the 3 ball for most of the night, using a conversion from long distance to take their final lead of the game, 19-16, with about 13 minutes remaining in the opening half.
From there, the Bucs kickstarted a 31-12 run on a layup from freshman guard Jakeel Registe. Freshman forward Ziyade Ndancky followed with a pair of free throws to put Blinn ahead for good.
The Bucs led 47-38 at the break.
Though the Rockets never erased Blinn's lead, they did continue to give the hosts trouble, pulling within three points twice and two points once after the intermission.
Ahead just 65-62 with just over 8 minutes to go, Miller, Ndancky, and freshman guard Jerry Peoples were instrumental in guiding the Bucs home as Miller sank a jump shot, Ndancky buried two free throws, and Peoples drilled a trey to complete a 7-0 push with 6:20 left.
SAU Tech came no closer than six points the rest of the way.
"Our offense was a big point of emphasis for us this week after struggling a bit in our first two games," Miller said. "We focused on moving the ball and taking good shots, and because of that we were able to convert. Now we just need to improve our defense."
On the night, six Bucs scored in double figures. Miller paced his team with 17 points, sophomore forward London Maiden had 14, Registe tallied 13, sophomore forward Anthony Isaac and freshman guard Dashawn Ceaser had 11 apiece, and Ndancky added 10.
Tuesday's triumph was the first collegiate win for Blinn's seven freshmen.
"Coming to Blinn, this freshman class was determined to listen to our coaches, get better as basketball players, and win," Registe said. "As long as we continue to listen and learn and stay locked in as a team, I think more wins are coming. It is very hard to win collegiate basketball games, so once you get one under your belt you have to work to stay on that path, and we're prepared to do that."
Next up for Blinn is the two-day Blue Bell Classic, hosted by the Bucs. Blinn faces the University of Arkansas-Cossatot on Friday at 7 p.m., and will take on Dallas College Cedar Valley at 3 p.m. on Saturday.