BUCCANEER MEN’S BASKETBALL RALLY FOR WIN OVER TYLER 74-65

Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information

With eight minutes remaining Saturday, the Blinn College men's basketball team trailed Tyler Junior College by 12 points.

Fortunately for the Buccaneers, that was eight minutes too many.

Blinn erased its double-digit deficit by way of a game-ending 29-8 run and prevailed 74-65 over its Region 14 rival at the Kruse Center in Brenham, Texas.

The Buccaneers (16-7, 10-5 Region 14) earned their fifth consecutive win and second in a row in which they trailed by double digits in the second half. Blinn has also won nine of its last 10 games – all region tilts.

The Bucs also avenged a 78-69 road loss to Tyler on Jan. 23.

"We just battle; that's who we are as a team," Bucs head coach Scott Schumacher said. "Even when things weren't going our way today, we told our players in the huddle not to panic and to stick to what we were trying to do. We kept grinding, we kept our heads down, and we played hard."

Blinn also outscored the Apaches 46-29 in the second half.

After a pair of makes at the free throw line had Tyler ahead 59-47 with eight minutes remaining, freshman forward Rollings Kamanda sent the Bucs on their way with a rebound and a putback bucket on Blinn's ensuing possession.

Kamanda added another second-chance make moments later to cut Tyler's lead to single digits, and after a shot clock violation by the visitors, sophomore guard Dashawn Ceaser drilled a 3-pointer from the corner.

Caesar added a floater as he was fouled and hit the subsequent free throw, and freshman guard Desmeon Jones answered a Tyler bucket with a layup.

After the Bucs made a defensive stop, freshman guard Connor Sprattley buried a layup to tie the game at 59-all with 3:49 left.

Sprattley then stole away the ball during Tyler's next trip down the floor, and he turned a foul into two makes at the free throw line for Blinn's first lead of the ballgame.

Another Apaches turnover preceded a shooting foul on Jones, who hit one free throw to make it a three-point Bucs lead.

After Tyler missed two free throws, Caesar gave his team a five-point cushion on an acrobatic layup with 1:22 to go.

From there, Tyler was unable to gain ground as it was forced to resort to intentional fouls to give itself a chance. The Bucs took advantage by sinking 8 of 8 free throws in the final 49 seconds to put the game away.

"I can't say this enough: I am really proud of and really happy for our players," Schumacher added. "They went out and made this happen tonight."

Caesar was electric for Blinn as he finished with a game-high 32 points on 10-of-16 shooting. He also went 10 of 11 from the charity stripe. He finished two points shy of his season and career high.

Sprattley added 17 points.

Kamanda and Ceaser pulled down eight and seven rebounds, respectively, as the Bucs out-rebounded the Apaches 37-26.

Looking to push its winning streak to six, Blinn will battle region foe Angelina College on the road at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb.  11, in Lufkin, Texas.