CARTHAGE – Lamar State College Port Arthur picked up its biggest win of the season when they beat Tyler Junior College on the road on November 28. After back-to-back conference losses, the Seahawks are trying to recapture that magic.

The Hawks fell 79-71 to Panola College on Wednesday night in an NJCAA Region 14 loss that now puts them at 7-5 for the season and 1-2 in league play. It's the last game before the winter break as the Seahawks head into the classroom this week and next to take finals.

"Success in the classroom is just like success on the court," Seahawks Coach Lance Madison said. "You have to play through, you have to focus and fight to the end."

It appeared that fight would bring the Hawks another conference road win in Carthage as LSCPA built an eight-point lead late in the second half, 69-61, as sophomore Devin Ellis hit two free throws.

The Ponies took off on a run, though, and went 8-0 over the next nearly four minutes to tie the game 69-69 with 1:30 left in the game.

After swapping leads, the game stayed tied at 71-71 until game-high scorer Tylan Dean of Panola hit a layup with 45 seconds left. The Ponies managed to put together another 8-0 run to finish the game.

"It came down to toughness," Madison said. "There were some rebounds we should have gotten late in the game, rebounds we needed."

LSCPA turnovers also played a role in the late offensive surge by Panola with the Seahawks finishing with 17 giveaways in the game vs. the Ponies' 13.

"I credit some of this to inexperience and youth," Madison explained. "We played a good game against a good team in a tough place to play. We need to play through and tonight, we just didn't finish it out."

The Seahawks return to action when they host their 2018 Seahawks New Year's Classic at the Carl Parker Center. The annual event has LSCPA facing Victoria College on Sunday, Dec. 30, and Lone Star College-Tomball on Monday, Dec. 31. Both games tip off at 4 p.m.