Top scorers Kanntrell Burney and Ty Archibald combined for 50 points Wednesday night but Lamar State College Port Arthur couldn't stop the Trinity Valley Cardinals from escaping with a 94-86 win in the NJCAA basketball game.
Burney, the nation's No. 4 scorer, turned in his third 30-point game of the season with 31 and Archibald added 19 in the first game in two weeks for either team because of last week's ice storms.
Burney, LSCPA's top rebounder with 11, collected a double-double in the loss.
TVCC had to shake off some rust early but dominated the middle of the game and won the Cards' seventh straight game to improve to 7-1. Their only loss was by two points to Kilgore College in the season opener.
The Seahawks started and finished fast in the game at the Parker Center but trailed by 14 points at halftime, 50-36, and by 25 points, 83-58, with 5:55 remaining.
LSCPA led 7-0 in the game's first two minutes and was up by 12 points, 16-4, four minutes in. With Burney and Archibald leading a strong finish, the Seahawks outscored the Cards 28-11 in the final 5:55.
Now 1-7 on the season, the Seahawks host Jacksonville College at 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27 at the Carl Parker Center.
Sophomore Kenyawn Bowie, with Burney the only Seahawk returners from 2020, finished with 8 points and 6 rebounds. Burney led the Hawks with 11 rebounds.
Adrian Caldwell II scored 7 points for the Seahawks and the trio of Nash Golaszewski, Kobi Johnson and Desmond McQuain each added 5 points.
Trevon Fuller led TVCC with 23 points, matching Burney's total of 5 treys.
The Seahawks hit 5 of their first 8 shots and outrebounded the Cardinals 6-2 in running out to a 16-4 lead with 16:03 left in the first half.
Archibald splashed a 3-pointer with an assist by point guard Kobi Johnson to open the scoring, then assisted teammate Joe Lucien, who made a nice spin move inside for a 5-0 advantage. After a pair of free throws by Burney, a sophomore from Dallas, Burney banged home back-to-back 3-pointers for a 13-4 lead. Johnson's 3-ball made it 16-4.
But the bigger Cardinals, who started only two players under 6-7 and brought 6-7, 300-pound Anderson Mirameaux off the bench, used their size advantage. And they outran the Seahawks down the court consistently in the middle 10 minutes of the first half.
Fuller, a 5-10 guard, hit 3 straight 3-pointers to end the first half and stretch a 7-point lead to 14 markers by intermission.
Burney and Archibald, who combined to score 14 of LSCPA's first 19 points in the game's opening 6 minutes, finished with 20 points – 12 by Burney – at the end of the 20-minute first half.
Burney finished the night 12 of 26 from the floor and Archibald 6 for 16. The pair scored 25 of their combined 30 second-half points in the final 6:38. Archibald got the final 8 points of the night for LSCPA.
