BRENHAM, Texas – Blinn College men's basketball was able use its size advantage in the low post to wear down Coastal Bend College for the 79-63 victory Saturday evening inside the P.E. Building.
"Coastal Bend is a very difficult team to play against and they have been in every single game," said Scott Schumacher, Blinn head coach. "I thought we used our advantage inside very well."
Blinn guaranteed itself a winning season by beating Coastal Bend and improve to 16-10 overall and 6-9 in Region XIV play.
Blinn was led by James Harrison who had a balanced game in the low post to score 18 points. LaKendric Hyson chipped in 16 points while Antione Lister had 11 points and Curtlon Wesley scored 10 points.
Coastal Bend came out controlling the pace early on as it led Blinn 19-13 with 10:50 left in the half. Blinn did find its rhythm later on in the half and scored 12 consecutive points to take a 28-23 lead.
The Buccaneers closed the first half on a 6-0 run to lead 34-27 at the half. Harrison and Tyler Barlow found space down low and score eight points each in the half.
"We really tried to take advantage of them on the rebounding side with our size," Barlow said. "We just have to keep our intensity for the whole 40 minutes of the game."
Blinn kept the momentum going in the second half and used a 9-2 run to take a 55-39 lead with 13:01 left. Coastal Bend score six in a row to get within 65-58 with 5:06 left but that would be as close as the Cougars would get.
Blinn eight straight points that started with a jumper from Juwan Green to take a 73-58 lead. Harrison scored 10 points in the second half while Hyson added nine points and Wesley chipped in eight to help the Buccaneers hold on to the victory.
Blinn will hit the road on Wednesday, Feb. 22 to face Lamar State College – Port Arthur for a game at 7 p.m.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 34 NJCAA national championships since 1987. For more information, visit www.buccaneersports.com.
About Blinn College
With an enrollment of 19,422 students, Blinn ranks among the nation's leaders in transferring students to leading four-year universities and has received national recognition for affordable educational excellence. For more information, visit www.blinn.edu.
