Sophomores Devaughn Thomas and Jamyus Jones scored 24 and 16 points to lead Lamar State College Port Arthur's Seahawks to a 94-71 win over Lone Star College Cy-Fair Tuesday night at the Carl Parker Center.
Thomas was 9 of 11 from the floor and added seven rebounds as LSCPA broke open a close game with a 17-5 run in the middle of the second half to improve to 2-0 in the early season.
The Seahawks travel to Plano this weekend to play two nationally-ranked teams from Region 5 in the Texas East vs. West Challenge at Collin Community, No. 21-ranked Clarendon College and No. 9-ranked South Plains College.
"Games like those will get us ready for our conference schedule," Lance Madison, LSCPA head coach, said. "Plus, it's an opportunity for guys to get seen by four-year schools."
Cy-Fair offered its share of challenges Tuesday night, coming back from a 16-point first-half deficit to get within four points, 54-50, with 14:26 left in the second half.
That's when the Seahawks went on a tear. Thomas scored three straight baskets inside and a free throw. Jones, a Memorial High grad, tossed in a 3-pointer to make it 64-52 two minutes later.
He hit 3 of 4 from 3-point range.
"Give credit to Cy-Fair," Madison said. "They came in and their kids played hard and kept it to striking distance.
"I thought we played a little flat early. They outhustled us in a couple of stretches. But in the second half, we came out and regrouped and played better defensively."
Jaleel Steward led Cy-Fair with 20 points and 9 rebounds.
Nederland High grad Darrell Jones scored 12 points and teammates Ferontay Banks and Terrance Minor reached double digits with 10 points. Minor had seven rebounds and seven assists.
"I thought Jamyus Jones had a good game and DT [Thomas] picked it up in the second half to finish with 24 points and 7 rebounds. Remy Minor played well, too. Ten-seven-and-seven is a nice line."
In the opening 20 minutes, Thomas scored a team-high 11 points and Jamyus Jones added 10 as the Seahawks took a 46-39 lead into halftime.
Madison's team had led by as many as 16 points (31-15) with 9:06 left in the first period. But a three-minute scoreless streak saw the Falcons get the lead under 10 at 31-24.
Jaleel Steward's 3-pointer with 3:57 left in the half got the Falcons to within four points at 35-31. But Thomas scored three straight baskets to put the Seahawks up by nine, 44-35.
