Less than 24 hours after Blinn (3-4) earned a thrilling victory over University of Arkansas-Cossatot Community College on opening night of the Blue Bell Ice Cream Classic at the Kruse Center in Brenham, the Buccaneers were unable to corral NJCAA Division III member North Lake (5-0) in the tournament finale.
“I think we just didn’t have a very good game today,” Blinn head coach Scott Schumacher said. “Emotionally, mentally, physically … it was just one of those games where we didn’t play very good.”
The Blazers opened the game by scoring the first seven points and had a quick 13-2 advantage inside the 17th minute of the first half. North Lake was led by Gregory Crawford’s hot shooting, an effort which included 22 first-half points and 32 for the game.
North Lake led 49-29 at the break.
The Buccaneers lacked energy on both sides of the court less than a day after their impressive come-from-behind victory over Arkansas-Cossatot, and Schumacher said in the future he wants to see his team handle the emotions that come with big victories better than it did against the Blazers.
“That’s a big thing, learning how to handle a win,” Schumacher said. “But yeah, I think that did drain us last night. But at the same time, North Lake is a very good team; they’re very well-coached and they deserved the win.”
Offensively, Blinn was led by freshman forward Tyler Washington‘s 14 points. Freshman center Alex Tsynkevich and sophomore win Connor Raines added eight points apiece.
The Buccaneers will remain home for a non-conference rematch against Temple College at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Temple defeated Blinn 85-78 in overtime at Temple on Nov. 9.
“We’ve just got to wake up on Monday, go to class, do what we’re supposed to do, go to practice and work hard and try to get better,” Schumacher said. ” … then on Tuesday, we’ve got to get up and do the same thing, except we get to play a game. Tuesday’s another opportunity.”
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 42 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
