Calvin Carpenter drove to the basket, felt the pressure of two Bossier Parish defenders, and immediately passed to the first open teammate he saw.
Connor Raines instantly made good on Carpenter’s special delivery.
The sophomore wing turned Carpenter’s heads-up pass into a 3-pointer from the corner with 1.1 seconds left and Bossier Parish missed a full-court heave as time expired to send the host Buccaneers to a thrilling 78-75 victory in Region XIV play Wednesday night at the Kruse Center in Brenham.
“Calvin had a great pass, I was open, and we work on making those shots all the time,” said Raines, who was swarmed by his teammates as the final buzzer sounded. “It was just like any other shot, but it’s hard in those moments and I know my team has my back and has the confidence in me to make that shot.”
Perhaps no one was more confident than Carpenter.
“Connor is one of the best shooters on our team and for him to be open in that situation, I saw him and knew what I needed to do,” Carpenter said. “That was just a big moment, a big-time shot and I’m happy for him … I’m happy for all of us.”
Carpenter and Raines propelled Blinn (7-6, 1-2 Region XIV) after the Cavaliers tied the game at 75-all with a layup with eight seconds left. Carpenter then drove the length of the court before turning a would-be layup into a game-winning assist.
(Pictured right: Blinn College’s Calvin Carpenter passes to Connor Raines for the game-winning 3-pointer)
“Two years ago, Calvin would’ve pulled up on that final play and tried to take a tough shot,” Blinn head coach Scott Schumacher said. “Instead, he gave it up to Connor and Connor was able to hit that shot.”
Raines and Carpenter paced the Buccaneers with 20 and 18 points, respectively. Raines scored 15 of his points in the final 20 minutes, while all 18 of Carpenter’s points came after halftime. Carpenter was 10 of 10 from the free-throw line while Raines was 6 for 6.
Freshman center Alex Tsynkevich finished with 13 points.
Blinn trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half and didn’t take its first lead until Tsynkevich hit a free throw with 8:28 left in the game.
“I’m so happy that we were able to win that game, because in the last two games, we basically were in the same situation and didn’t come out on top,” Schumacher added. “Our guys show up every day, they go hard, they practice hard, they listen to us, and they do what we ask them to do.
“We just stayed together.”
The Buccaneers will continue regional play when they travel to face Panola College at 4 p.m. Saturday in Carthage, Texas.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 42 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
