VICTORIA, Texas – Ahead eight points in the final 1:15 to play, the Victoria Pirates weren't going to let the Blinn men's basketball team leave their gym without a fight.

Victoria sparked a late run and cut the Buccaneers' lead to a point with 3.7 seconds left, but Lionheart Leslie drew a foul and sunk two free throws and the Bucs held on for a 65-62 win over the Pirates here Friday night.

"I thought we showed a lot of character in those final minutes," coach Scott Schumacher said.

Before Victoria's comeback, Blinn got three steals that lead to six points with two minutes remaining to extend its lead to eight points.

Victoria, though, sparked its run with 1:15 remaining when the Pirates were fouled at the 3-point line, then followed up by making 2 of 3 free throws. On the miss, Victoria snatched the offensive rebound and drew another foul to pull the game within three.

Final stats weren't available after the game, but Schumacher said Macari Brooks led the Bucs in scoring.

The teams were tied 28-28 at the end of the first half.

"We had a lot of turnovers the first half," Schumacher said. "Victoria was running 25-30 seconds off the game clock with their offense, where we were running 10-15 seconds."

But Blinn's 37 second-half points were enough for the Bucs to edge out a win.

"It was a good test for us. It was a good win and hopefully we can learn from it going forward," Schumacher said.