BRENHAM, Texas — Blinn College men's basketball (19-8, 6-8) was dealt a tough loss by Lamar State College- Port Arthur Saturday in the Kruse Center. After leading the game for 33 minutes, the Buccaneers fell to the Seahawks, 78-73.

"It was a really good Region XIV basketball and I give credit to Lamar State- Port Arthur for coming out and playing really well," said Scott Schumacher, Blinn head coach. "We competed and played hard, but we need to work on our execution being a little bit better."

Kai Tease was phenomenal on the court, scoring a team-high 26 points, while leading the Buccaneers with four three-pointers. JaQuan Morris was also a hot shooter with 15 points, while Uriel Velis and Tristan Ikpe each contributed 10.

Blinn opened the game with an 11-5 run and held the lead for the entire first half. With 12:23 left, Lamar State-Port Arthur cut its deficit down to two points, however the Buccaneers' offense took off again. Tease, who led Blinn with 16 points in the first half, scored seven points during a 15-5 run for Blinn to build a 12-point lead (36-24). Morris scored the final two points for Blinn to lead 43-39 at the half.

Blinn's momentum rolled into the second half as the Buccaneers opened it with a 9-2 run led by Tease with five points. The Seahawks evened the score for the first time with 6:13 remaining, tying the game, 60-60. Morris went three-for-four at the free throw line to give Blinn back a 63-60 lead, but the Seahawks evened the score with a three-pointer with 5:00 left. Lamar State-Port Arthur built another three-point lead that Blinn was able to tie with less than three minutes on the clock. However, the Seahawks pulled away with a 7-0 run to take the lead for good. A two-pointer by AJ Rainey cut Blinn's deficit to three points (76-73) with 16 seconds left, but the Seahawks made two free throws to put the Buccaneers away.

Next, Blinn will travel to play Jacksonville College on Saturday, Feb. 23, at 4 p.m.

Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 38 NJCAA national championships since 1987.