The Region XIV triumph was Blinn’s fifth straight victory and pushed the Bucs’ record to 16-11 overall and 9-7 in league play.
Lamar State (16-11, 8-8) built a 25-11 first-half advantage and carried a 28-21 lead into halftime, but Blinn turned the final 20 minutes of play into a dogfight before jumping ahead with 1:08 left in the game.
“I have a world of respect for (Seahawks coach) Lance Madison; he’s a very good coach in our league,” Blinn head coach Scott Schumacher said. “He had his guys ready to play today and they gave us a game, but I thought our guys battled the entire game.
“It was kind of like a pitcher who doesn’t have his best stuff, but he’s still good enough to keep going and get through the sixth or seventh inning. I thought we had a couple of really big plays at the end of the game, and I thought our defense really stepped up. We just kept battling and hanging in there.”
Blinn tied the game three times in the second half, but finally grabbed the lead for good when freshman wing Tyler Washington dished a slick pass to freshman center Alex Tsynkevich underneath the basket. Tsynkevich was fouled as he deposited a layup into the basket and converted the free throw for a 56-55 edge at the 1:08 mark.
(Pictured center: Blinn College’s Alex Tsynkevich.)
“We just needed to keep our heads up regardless of how things were going,” Tsynkevich said. “In those final couple minutes, it all came down to who was the toughest team and I think that’s a battle we won.”
After the Buccaneer defense came up with a stop, freshman guard Maurice Pinnock scored on a layup, then came away with a key defensive rebound on the Seahawks’ final offensive possession to seal the game. Pinnock took the rebound and quickly fed it to Washington, who was fouled and sent to the free-throw line. Washington made one shot from the line to seal the win.
“Coach told us to lock in and we did,” said Pinnock, who paced the Bucs with 13 points. “We practice hard for the situations we were in at the end of the game, and I think that’s why we came out on top the way we did.”
Freshman wing Jan Njock followed Pinnock with 12 points, Tsynkevich added 11, and sophomore wing Connor Raines had 10.
Blinn will face region foe Lee College on the road at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 16.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 42 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
