BRENHAM, Texas – Blinn College men’s basketball had to shake off a little rust from the holiday break but had enough down the stretch for a 97-89 victory over the Houston Gladiators Monday night inside the P.E. Building.
With the non-conference victory, Blinn improves to 9-3 overall and stays 1-2 in Region XIV play.
James Harrison had a balanced game in the post to lead the Buccaneers with 23 points while LaKendric Hyson was right behind Harrison with 22 points. Jarius Kesee and Antione Lister each scored 13 points for Blinn in the win.
Blinn came out of the locker room a little rusty in the first half as the Gladiators led 22-12 early on. The Buccaneers were able to storm back into the game and took a 29-27 lead after a layup from Jaylen Rhone with 4:34 left in the first half.
Blinn was able to hold onto the lead for the rest of the half as Lister nailed a 3 at the buzzer to give the Buccaneers a 41-37 lead at the break. Lister and Hyson each scored 10 points in the opening half to lead the way.
The Gladiators never let Blinn pull away in the second half but the Buccaneers had enough offense to maintain the lead the entire half. Harrison came alive in the final 20 minutes with 14 points in the second half while Kesee added 13.
Blinn was able to close out the final 55.4 seconds on a 7-2 run to hold on for the victory.
Blinn will get back into conference play on Friday, Jan. 6 with a road game at Kilgore College (1-2 in Region XIV) at 7:30 p.m.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 34 NJCAA national championships since 1987. For more information, visit www.buccaneersports.com.
