Buccaneers hold on to beat Houston Community College, 104-96

Blinn College able to improve in second half for a victory

BRENHAM, Texas – With strong outside shooting, Houston Community College Southwest made the game close up until the final minute but Blinn College men’s basketball was able to get just enough to come away with a 104-96 victory Feb. 18 inside the P.E. Building in Brenham.

“I didn’t think that we were very focused tonight but we did enough to win the game,” said Blinn head coach Scott Schumacher.

Jalan McCloud had a balanced night for the Buccaneers and led the team in scoring with 21 points. Vicktor Arnick scored all but one of his 17 points in the second half while Lionheart Leslie finished with 13 and Morris Dunnigan had 12 points. Ja’Cardo Hawkins finished with 12 points and Tyler Pate also reached double figures with 10.

Scoring wasn’t the problem against Houston, it was a lack of defense that kept the game close but Blinn was able to get just enough when it counted to move its overall record to 20-7 while the conference record stands at 10-6.

Blinn had a tough time getting started after the opening tip as Houston grabbed a 12-3 lead in the first four minutes but the Buccaneers would claw their way back. Eight consecutive points scored by Blinn at the 6:15 mark of the first helped to grab a 34-32 Blinn lead as Hawkins scored four points in a row.

Hawkins used his size to get buckets down low and score 12 points in the first half while Pate put together a strong first half with nine points but Houston was able to put enough into the final minutes of the half to knot the game up at 44-44 at the break.

Blinn came out more aggressive in the second half and scored 11 straight points culminating at the 12:48 mark that gave the Buccaneers a 69-57 lead. McCloud was hitting baskets early in the second half and 13 total in the latter half.

At one point in the second half, Arnick scored 11 points in a row for Blinn but Houston would just not go away quietly. Houston got within three at 96-93 with just under a minute left but the Buccaneers would have just enough to hold on for the non-conference victory.

Blinn will get back into conference play Feb. 21 when they travel to face Angelina College for a game at 6 p.m.

Story Courtesy of:

Jake Gordon
Blinn Communications & Sports Information Specialist

What’s your Reaction?
+1
0
+1
0
+1
0
Back to top button