BLINN MEN KEEP ROLLING WITH A WIN OVER KILGORE

Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information

The Blinn College men's basketball team is officially on a roll.

The Buccaneers pulled away from Kilgore College in the second half of a Region XIV matchup on Saturday, earning a 73-59 win over the Rangers at the Kruse Center in Brenham, Texas.

With the victory, Blinn (13-11, 10-7 Region XIV) has won seven of its past nine region tilts and moved into a fourth-place tie with Lee College. The Bucs own the head-to-head tiebreaker with Lee thanks to a victory over the Navigators on Jan. 22.

"In this region, any time you win a game you're in a good place," Blinn head coach Scott Schumacher said. "Our guys are seeing their work and blood, sweat, and tears going toward something positive, and we feel like we're on a nice run right now."

Blinn – which upset 17th-ranked Angelina College at home on Wednesday – saw its late-season surge continue against Kilgore thanks to a go-ahead run at the end of the first half.

The Bucs trailed by as many as eight points in the opening half, but faced with a 25-19 deficit with less than 8 minutes remaining before the intermission, they went on an 18-7 run to take the lead for good.

Sophomore guard Reese Miller opened the run with a floater off the glass and closed it with an identical shot from almost the exact same spot from the floor.

Miller hit another floater off the backboard in the final 20 seconds of the half to send Blinn into the break leading 37-32.

Sophomore forward Anthony Isaac got the Buccaneer offense going again with a free throw to begin the second half, and freshman guard Dashawn Ceaser immediately followed with a step-back 3-pointer. Isaac gave his time its first double-digit cushion of the game when he buried a pair of free buckets at the 13:43 mark.

Miller continued his mastery of the glass with another floater off the backboard that pushed the hosts' advantage to 64-46 with 5:55 to go.

The Rangers made it an eight-point game with just under 3 minutes to play, but Blinn sophomore forward London Maiden scored a layup off a nifty pass from sophomore guard Jaden Andrew, and followed it with a two-handed slam dunk to keep his team in control for good.

"Our guys did a really good job defensively and made it really difficult for Kilgore to get off good shots," Schumacher added. "On the flip side, we were moving the ball well and getting the right looks, and our guys did a great job of playing hard and playing together to make sure we came out on top."

For the game, Miller paced Blinn with 22 points, including a 3-for-3 performance from 3-point range, and added four assists. Isaac racked up 17 points and 12 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season, and tacked on seven assists. Maiden and freshman guard Jakeel Registe had 12 and 10 points, respectively, and Andrew dished out seven assists. Maiden had eight rebounds.

The Bucs continue their season with a region road trip to Lamar State College-Port Arthur scheduled for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 19, in Port Arthur, Texas.