The Buccaneers concluded their year with a 23-8 record.
Thursday’s matchup was the second meeting this season between third-seeded Blinn and sixth-seeded Kilgore, and came down to the ballgame’s final seconds.
After Buccaneer sophomore guard Bakari LaStrap tied the game with a layup with 20 seconds remaining, the Rangers misfired on an attempted go-ahead 3-pointer, but freshman guard Michael Miller snagged the rebound and quickly deposited a backboard layup for the lead.
With one second remaining, Blinn fired a full-court pass on the inbounds play but was unable to get a shot off.
“It was unfortunate,” Buccaneers head coach Scott Schumacher said. “We forced them into a bad shot, but they got the rebound and their guy got the putback with a second to go. That’s tough. I still thought it was a great college basketball game, and I thought our guys played really, really hard and competed until the end.”
Blinn held a 30-23 halftime advantage, but Kilgore stormed back in the second half. The Bucs trailed by five in the final minutes but were able to tie the game before taking its final lead, 60-59, on a free throw from sophomore guard Elijah Elliott.
“What it comes down to is, in that type of game, whoever had the ball last would get an opportunity to win, and they did,” added Schumacher.
Elliott had a team-high 13 points, followed by 12 for fellow sophomore guard Marco Foster. Freshman guard Masiah Gilyard had 10 rebounds while Foster pulled down nine.
The conclusion of Blinn’s season also spelled the end of the road for 10 Buccaneer sophomores who played their final junior college basketball game Thursday. Schumacher spoke highly of his second-year athletes after the game.
“Our sophomores are a great group of young men,” he said. “They’re really good guys and really good basketball players. I loved being around them every single day, and Blinn should be proud that these young men represented our college these past two years.”
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 42 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
