JACKSONVILLE, Texas — Jacksonville College slipped past Blinn College men's basketball down the stretch to defeat the Buccaneers, 79-65, Saturday.

With the loss, Blinn's record drops to 19-9 overall and 6-9 in Region XIV play.  

"We were within striking distance in the last four minutes and did not convert or take care of the ball down the stretch," said Scott Schumacher, Blinn head coach. "We played hard and competed, but the last four minutes we didn't finish like we wanted to which is hard to do on the road."

Tristan Ikpe led Blinn's offense with 18 points, while Kai Tease, JaQuan Morris and Uriel Velis followed with 12 points each.

Although Jacksonville jumped out to a 26-13 lead, Blinn went on a 24-11 run to even the score 37-37 at the break.

Blinn and Jacksonville alternated the lead in the second half until the Jaguars built a 64-53 lead. Blinn cut it down to six points at the 2:44 mark, but the Jaguars finished the game on a 10-2 run for the win.

Blinn will play in its final road game of the regular season against Lee College on Wednesday, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m.

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