BRENHAM, Texas — Tristan Ikpe helped end a four-game losing streak by scoring a season-high 33 points to lead the Blinn College men’s basketball team (13-7, 3-6) to a 97-83 win over Jacksonville College on Saturday in the Kruse Center.
“We took our momentum from the second half of the last game that we played to fuel us and it was nice to get a win in front of the home crowd,” Ikpe said. “I was hyped to play in front of our students in the Kruse Center today.”
Pedro Castro followed Ikpe with 17 points, AJ Rainey scored 13, and Markus Vallien and Azariah Seay each scored 12 points.
“We really needed this win, so hopefully this is the start of something new and we keep the winning streak going,” Castro said.
Blinn posted an 80 percent free throw percentage in the first half and built its lead to 49-35 at the break. The Buccaneers and the Jaguars matched up evenly in the beginning of the game and were tied 22-22 with 8 minutes left until the break. Blinn finished the opening quarter on a 16-3 run led by Castro with four points to enter the second half ahead by 14.
In the second half, Rainey and Castro combined for three 3-pointers to keep Blinn ahead 76-55. Castro and Seay combined for seven points as the Buccaneers went on a 10-0 run to stay ahead 88-66 with 5:27 left. Jacksonville scored the final five points of the game before falling to Blinn.
Next, the Buccaneers will travel to Coastal Bend College to compete in a conference game on Saturday, Jan. 25, at 4 p.m.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 41 NJCAA national championships since 1987.