LUFKIN, Texas — The Blinn College men's basketball team (15-8, 5-7) was slightly edged out by Angelina College, 79-74, on Saturday.

"I am very proud of our guys for giving themselves a chance to win on the road against the top team in the South and one of the top teams in the league," said Scott Schumacher, Blinn head coach. "The game just came down to Angelina making a couple more shots than we did, but we are going to be okay coming down the stretch."

Tristan Ikpe led Blinn's offense with 23 points, while Pedro Castro led the defense with 10 rebounds. Azariah Seay scored 17 points, AJ Rainey totaled 13 points, and Nic Tata scored 10 points and totaled seven rebounds.

Angelina, the Region XIV South Zone Division leader, came into the game on a six-game winning streak.  

In a competitive first half, Angelina pushed ahead by five points to lead 42-37 at halftime. Blinn evened the score 48-48 with 14:50 minutes left in the second half, however Angelina scored the next four points to take back the lead. Blinn and Angelina continued to go back and forth until the Roadrunners went ahead 77-74 with less than a minute remaining. Blinn missed a 3-pointer and Angelina scored the final two points at the free throw line for the win.

Next, the Buccaneers will return home to the Kruse Center to play Lamar State College-Port Arthur on Wednesday, Feb. 5, at 7 p.m.

Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 41 NJCAA national championships since 1987.