BRENHAM, Texas — Navarro College dished the Blinn College men's basketball team (9-1) its first loss of the season, 85-78, on Saturday in the Kruse Center.
"I give a lot of credit to Navarro because they played really well," said Scott Schumacher, Blinn head coach. "We fought and got the score to within four points in the second half, but couldn't close the gap. We are going to get ready for our next conference game on Wednesday night at Tyler."
With the loss, the Buccaneers dropped to 1-1 in Region XIV and 9-1 overall.
AJ Rainey and Kai Tease led Blinn's offense with double-digit points as Rainey scored 18 and Tease scored 14.
Navarro gained an early lead over Blinn to hold a 45-30 advantage at the half. The Buccaneers fought back in the second half to outscore the Bulldogs 48-40, but their rally fell just short.
Blinn will travel to face Tyler Junior College on Wednesday, Dec. 5, at 7:30 p.m.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 38 NJCAA national championships since 1987.