The sophomore guard scored on a driving layup to put his team ahead by one, secured a steal on Navarro College’s final offensive possession, and drew a foul with 0.3 seconds remaining before hitting a free throw to seal a 70-68 victory over Navarro College on Wednesday in Corsicana, Texas.
The win pushed Blinn to 11-6 overall and 5-2 in the Region XIV South Zone.
“I thought our guys played really, really hard and competed,” Blinn head coach Scott Schumacher said. “It was a really good, really physical junior college basketball game. Both teams really guarded each other well, both teams played hard, and I was proud of our guys for pulling this one out.”
Neither team could pull away in a game that featured numerous lead changes. After the Bucs and Bulldogs went into halftime tied at 38-all, Navarro grabbed a brief six-point lead in the second half – the biggest advantage for either squad.
The ballgame came down to the final minute, with Elliott scoring on a designed play following a Blinn timeout in the final half minute. On its subsequent possession, Navarro drove the ball down the court before calling a timeout, only to have its final chance – a layup attempt – denied by the quick hands of Elliott. Elliott then went 1 of 2 at the free throw line to put the game on ice.
Freshman forward Jamine Charles paced the Bucs with a team-high 19 points, Elliott added 14, and sophomore guards Damian Watson and Jaja Sanni chipped in 11 and 10, respectively.
Blinn returns home to host Coastal Bend College (5-2 Region XIV South) in a key conference at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 14, at the Kruse Center, in Brenham, Texas. Both teams are tied for second place in the South Zone.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 42 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
