Southeast Texas has seen the gem of a team that Lamar State College Port Arthur has put on the basketball court for the 2021-22 season.

Now the nation knows.

A basket-for-basket battle against No. 8 nationally-ranked New Mexico Junior College came down to defense at the end as the Seahawks picked up their fourth consecutive win of the year with an 87-82 decision on Friday morning. The Hawks, undefeated this season, head into the second day of the East-West Challenge in Plano on Saturday as they face their second top 10 team in two days, taking on No. 2 South Plains College at 10 a.m.

Friday's game was knotted at 77-77 at the 4:01 mark after New Mexico Junior College got a layup and a foul. The free throw was good for a three-point play for a 78-77 NMJC advantage.

The Seahawks came back again to take a 79-78 lead on a Daniel Braster bucket. LSCPA would not relinquish that lead over the next nearly three minutes as NMJC could only manage to pull to within one point several times down the stretch.

Trailing 85-82 with just 22 seconds remaining in the game, New Mexico JC drove the length of the court, going up for a basket only to have big man Myron Washington Jr. block the shot into the cheap seats. The Seahawks reclaimed possession and hit all their free throws to ensure the win. Washington, who leads the nation in blocked shots, finished with five more against New Mexico JC.

A quartet of double-figure scorers led the Seahawks to their win with seasoned sophomore Kanntrell Burney pacing the offense with 21. Evan Palmquist added 20 points with Kharee McDaniel scoring 19. Braster turned in a double-double performance with 18 points and 13 rebounds.