A second-half offensive eruption paved the way to victory for the Blinn College men’s basketball team Wednesday at the Kruse Center in Brenham, Texas.
The Buccaneers scored 60 points after halftime to rally past Bossier Parish Community College for a 92-73 victory in both teams’ Region XIV opener.
“I give credit to Bossier for coming out lights out and playing really well,” Blinn head coach Scott Schumacher said. “I think in the end, our overall depth wore Bossier out a bit. Our guys just kept going and stayed positive.”
That positivity helped the Buccaneers (8-2 overall, 1-0 Region XIV) overcome a slow start which enabled the Cavaliers to build a 23-7 lead with 9:47 to go in the first half.
From there, however, Schumacher reconfigured his defense as Blinn began to trap Bossier ball handlers near the sidelines and at center court. The switch led to a handful of steals and buckets in transition and allowed the Bucs to finish the half on a 25-13 run.
The Cavaliers led the entire first half but held just a 36-32 edge at the intermission.
(Pictured: Blinn sophomore guard Nick Folk, 22, shoots a 3-pointer against Bossier Parish Community College on Nov. 29, 2023)
“Our coach kept believing in us and kept pushing us to run our offensive sets, and once we started hitting shots out of those sets, our defense picked us up on the other side,” sophomore guard Nick Folk said. “Everybody motivated each other from the team managers to our coaches to our starters and our bench and put faith in the team that we could win this game.”
Sophomore guard Jadin Johnson gave the Bucs their first lead of the night when he scored on a layup to push his team ahead 40-38 at the 17:33 mark of the second half.
Folk was also instrumental in Blinn’s second-half rally as he tallied 19 of his team-high 26 points after the break. He sank five 3-pointers, including four after halftime. His make from long distance on an assist from sophomore guard Masiah Gilyard put the Bucs ahead for good at 56-54 with 11:28 remaining.
Gilyard followed with a layup and Folk drilled another trey as the hosts seized control with an 8-0 push.
Following a Cavaliers bucket, Blinn freshman wing Anthony Isaac scored on a layup and Folk sank another 3 to make it a 66-57 Bucs advantage.
With 5:10 left to play, Johnson buried a triple to hand Blinn its first double-digit lead of the contest at 74-64.
“Our energy got us going,” Johnson said. “We went into the locker room at halftime knowing we started off slow, and the conversation we had as a team was to start the second half quickly and deliver the first punch.”
Following Folk offensively was Johnson, who also had a strong second half with 13 points to finish with 19 total. Gilyard tallied 15 points, sophomore guard Patrick Neal and freshman guard Sky Mosley added nine apiece, and Isaac chipped in eight.
Blinn’s season continues with a region road trip to Kilgore College at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 2, in Kilgore, Texas.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 45 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
