BRENHAM, Texas – Just about every time Blinn College men’s basketball would make a run at cutting away at its deficit, San Jacinto College-Central would hit a big shot and eventually went on to win 99-83 inside the P.E. Building Feb. 14 in Brenham.
Transition offense and big shots from San Jacinto were enough to thwart just about every attempted run of the Buccaneers. Blinn’s conference record fell to 10-6 with the loss and are now 19-7 overall.
“One of the things we discussed was not trying to run up and down the court with them but we weren’t successful at that,” said Blinn head coach Scott Schumacher.
Lionheart Leslie did have a big game for the Buccaneers with 26 points while Ja’Cardo Hawkins also tossed in 14 points, mostly in the low post. Jalan McCloud and Vicktor Arnick each scored 11 points in the loss.
San Jacinto grabbed the momentum going into halftime and held a 45-36 lead at the break. Hawkins did have eight points at the break.
Blinn did not give in during the second half and they repeatedly made attempts to go after the San Jacinto lead. Every time the Buccaneers would get some momentum, San Jacinto would just bury a contested shot to knock the air out of any Blinn comeback.
Leslie continued to impress offensively with 12 points in the second half and McCloud scored nine points in the latter half but San Jacinto was able to hold on for the 16-point victory on the road.
Blinn will be back home on Feb. 18 when it hosts Houston Community College at 7:30 p.m.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 30 NJCAA national championships since 1987. For more information, visit www.buccaneersports.com.
