Despite an outside shooting game led by Jamyus Jones' 21 points, the Lamar State College Port Arthur basketball team came up on the wrong end of an 88-77 decision against Blinn Collee in NJCAA Region 14 basketball action at Brenham Wednesday night.
Blinn moves into a tie with Lamar State for second in the league's South Zone, an important spot, as first-round tournament byes go to the top two teams in a zone.
Jones, a Port Arthur sophomore, drilled 5 3-pointers as the Seahawks matched their season high of 11 treys. Teammate Devaughn Thomas scored his sixth double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
The game was tied 44-44 at halftime after the hometown Buccaneers overcame a quick 10-0 advantage by the Seahawks. Blinn put together second-half scoring runs of 9-0 and 10-0, going from two points behind at 51-49 to 10 ahead at 74-64 with 7 minutes left.
The Seahawks were forced into six turnovers in the first run and missed three layups in the second.
AJ Rainey, a Blinn sophomore from Gray, Louisiana, led all scorers with 28 points. Darrell Jones scored 12 points for LSCPA and teammate Kanntrell Burney added 11 to join Jamyus Jones and Thomas in double-digit scoring.
"On the road, you've got to make plays," Seahawks Coach Lance Madison said. "I thought we had a good start, but they [the Bucs] responded and played well."
Both the Hawks and the Bucs are 6-7 in Region 14, and unlikely to catch 10-2 Angelina with only six games remaining.
"It's a sprint right now," Madison said, his club 12-13 overall. "We had a pretty good run there [winning 6 of 9 Region 14 games since New Year's]. But that's the way it is in Region 14, it's always going to come down to the last game."
The Seahawks host Blinn in the final game of the season, Feb. 29.
But first they return home at 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8 to take on Victoria College.
The Seahawks scored 12 of their first 16 points Wednesday on 3-pointers, two each by Jamyus Jones and Darrell Jones. But eventually, Blinn finished with 11 from behind the 3-point line as well.