The Blinn College men’s basketball team opened play in Region XIV with a hard-fought 81-67 home win over Coastal Bend College on Wednesday at the Kruse Center in Brenham, Texas.
The Buccaneers turned to a pair of offensive runs to get past the Cougars and improve to 5-4 overall this season.
“The goal coming into the game was to get a win on the first night of region play and protect our home court, and we did that,” Blinn head coach Scott Schumacher said. “There are a lot of things we need to clean up, but this was only our ninth game with about two thirds of the season remaining, and it’s a positive thing knowing that we can still improve while we’re playing good basketball.”
The ballgame marked the beginning of the Bucs’ run in a Region XIV which has returned to a round-robin schedule format. The 22-game region slate serves as a departure from the former North and South divisions.
The region’s 12 teams will face each other twice this season, and on Wednesday, Coastal Bend gave Blinn a glimpse of just how tough region play could be.
After sophomore guard buried a perfect floater to give the Bucs a 25-9 lead with 11 minutes left in the first half, the Cougars came storming back with their first threat of the contest.
(Pictured: Blinn freshman guard Jakeel Registe shoots a jumper against Coastal Bend College on Dec. 4, 2024)
Coastal Bend buried a pair of 3-pointers to fuel a 12-0 run that had the visitors within 25-21 with about 8 minutes to go in the half.
Blinn answered with the help of freshman guard Jakeel Registe, who scored six consecutive points on a pair of free throws, an instinctive dunk on a miss off the rim, and a jumper. Miller followed with a 3 to put the Bucs ahead 34-23 with 6:26 remaining before the break.
Blinn kept rolling and finished the half on a 16-8 run to go into the locker room with a 50-31 advantage.
“We started the game well with some great defense and we were making shots, but around the midway point of the half we started taking our foot off the gas a little bit,” Registe said. “Coastal Bend played hard and willed themselves into the game for 40 minutes, but I’m proud of our guys for finding our groove again there before halftime, and we never really let up the rest of the way.”
While the Bucs maintained control for the entirety of the second half, the Cougars never made it easy.
Coastal Bend cut Blinn’s lead to 11 points in the opening minutes of the second half, and made a habit of answering a big shot from the Bucs with a timely 3-pointer or a successful trip to the free throw line.
Ahead 53-42, Blinn’s game-sealing 15-8 push started with a pair of booming dunks from Registe and freshman guard Corey Chesley and ended on a jumper from sophomore guard Jaden Andrew.
(Pictured: Blinn freshman forward Ziyade Ndancky dunks the ball during a game against Coastal Bend College on Dec. 4, 2024)
“I’m proud of our team for sticking together through the ups and downs of the game tonight,” freshman forward Ziyade Ndancky said. “It can be difficult to play with high intensity for 40 minutes at this level, but we stayed mentally disciplined and kept pushing to get the win.”
Registe paced Blinn with 15 points, followed by a pair of 11-point efforts for Miller and sophomore forward Anthony Isaac. Andrew and Ndancky added 10 and nine, respectively.
Up next for the Bucs is a region road trip to Paris Junior College scheduled for 4 p.m. on Saturday in Paris, Texas.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 49 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
