PARIS RALLIES IN SECOND HALF TO DEFEAT BLINN MEN’S BASKETBALL

Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information

The Blinn College men’s basketball team raced out to a big first-half lead but could not maintain its hot start in a tough 77-72 Region 14 home loss to Paris Junior College on Saturday at the Kruse Center in Brenham, Texas.

The Buccaneers fell to 7-3 overall and 1-1 in region play.

“Hats off to Paris; they played hard for 40 minutes,” Blinn head coach Scott Schumacher said. “We played really well in the beginning of the game, but we had some injuries and foul trouble that hurt us, and Paris got momentum going late in the first half. Sometimes, it can be really hard to stop momentum once a team gets going, and that was the case for us tonight.”

Blinn was cruising in the first half as it built a 35-18 advantage with 4:50 remaining. The Dragons answered with a 17-6 run to close the half as the Bucs carried a slim 41-35 margin into the break.

Paris hit a 3-pointer to take the lead for good with 13:32 remaining in the second half.

Sophomore guard Dashawn Ceaser kept up his strong start to the season with a team-high 24 points. Caesar has scored 10 or more points in each of the Bucs’ contests this season and leads Blinn with 19.2 points per game.

Freshman guard Anthony Williams followed with 14 points and a team-best nine rebounds, and freshman guard/forward Ian Sedah added 12 points. Freshman guards Desmeon Jones and Kendarius Johnson chipped in eight points apiece.

Blinn’s season continues with a region road trip to Lamar State College-Port Arthur at 4 p.m. on Wednesday in Port Arthur.