Jamyus Jones shot 60 percent on 3-pointers (6 of 10) en route to 25 points to lead Lamar State College Port Arthur to an easy, 91-72, win over Baytown's Lee College in NJCAA men's basketball action Saturday at Port Arthur's Parker Center.
Six 3-pointers marked a season-high by a member of the Seahawks squad and enabled the team to finish with 50 percent field goal shooting for the night, a season's best against any Region 14 team besides winless Victoria College.
More importantly, the win keeps Lamar State in the running for the first-round bye in the March 5-9 Region 14 tournament in Shreveport.
With a league record of 8-9, the Seahawks trail Blinn College by a game for the second spot in the South Zone. After the Seahawks travel to 7-10 Jacksonville College Tuesday, Blinn's Buccaneers, 9-8, host 15-2 South Zone leader Angelina College Wednesday night. Blinn and Lamar State tussle in the regular-season finale Saturday, Feb. 29, in Port Arthur.
Besides Jones, four other Seahawks recorded double digit scoring against Lee College. Both Devaughn Thomas and Ferontay Banks scored 15 points while J'Son Brooks added 11 and Darrell Jones chipped in 10 points. Thomas and Darrell Jones tied for the team rebounding lead with five each.
"Jamyus Jones had one of his better games," Seahawks Coach Vance Madison said. "He shot the ball well, and we got the ball to him.
Ferontay Banks hit some 3s, which he's capable of doing, and Devaughn Thomas finally scored down on the block and made his presence known inside."
In all, the Seahawks shot 45.2 percent from beyond the bonus arc, sinking 14 of 31 3-point tries. Banks, Brooks and Darrell Jones each air-mailed a pair of treys. But Madison was happy to see 27 assists accompany his team's 31 buckets.
Banks had eight of those assists.
"We moved the ball well. I thought it was a good team win," he said. "But my guys always get up for playing against Lee. They've always got talented kids that like to run and my guys like to run as well."
While LSCPA improved to 14-14 overall this season, Lee College, 7-11 in Region 14, flashes a better overall record at 16-13. But the Seahawks have their number, having swept their two annual matchups four years in a row.
Madison's team rang up a 48-35 halftime lead and expanded it to 29 points, 74-45, with 11:54 remaining. From there, they held the ball until late in the shot clock, even going to the four-corners offense for the final 6:25.
After ties at 2-all, 9-all and 11-11, the Runnin' Rebels led by four, 19-15, midway through the first half. That's when a bucket by sophomore Xavier Thompson and a Darrell Jones 3-pointer gave the Seahawks the lead at 20-19, a lead they would never relinquish. Back-to-back 3-jacks by Jamyus Jones created a seven-point lead for the home team, 28-21, with 7:02 left in the first period.
