The McLennan Highlanders made a tremendous comeback but came up short, falling to the Blinn Buccaneers 75-69 at The Highlands
Everything seemed to be rolling Blinn's way in the beginning as the Buccaneers opened on an 8-0 run including five points from Cardell McGee. An Akili Vining 3-pointer from the top of the key put the Highlanders on the board. Blinn continued to lead by eight, 11-3, with 17:29 to play in the first half. A 6-0 run pulled the Highlanders within two but the Buccaneers pulled away once again, leading by 10 with 3:38 to play before the break, 33-23. McLennan trimmed the lead to five but Blinn pushed it to seven at halftime, 37-30.
Blinn opened the second half on a 4-0 run but the Highlanders stepped up on both ends of the court. McLennan put together a 14-0 run highlighted by a 3-ponter from Tre Thomas and four points in the paint from Isaiah White to take the 44-41 lead with 12:51 remaining the game. The Highlanders led by six with 8:11 to play, 57-51. Blinn used a 9-0 run to turn the game around and led 60-57 with six minutes to go. A pair of Chris Pryor free throws put McLennan within one but the Buccaneers pulled away again, extending the lead to nine. The Highlanders got within five in the final minute but were unable to recover.
Isaiah Wyatt, Lorenzo Anderson and Chris Pryor scored 12 points each to lead McLennan. Akili Vining chipped in 11 and Claven Wilson scored 10.
The Highlanders will host the Paul Quinn University JV at 7 p.m. Thursday at The Highlands.
Blinn: Cardell McGee 5 6-6 18; AJ Rainey7 0-3 18; Markus Vallien 0 0-0 0; Azariah Seay 0 0-0 0; Tristan Ikpe 6 6-10 18; Bonke Maring 0 0-0 0; Pedro Castro 3 2-3 8; Nic Tata 5 3-5 13; Calvin Carpenter 0 0-0 0; Jacob Paske 0 0-0 0; Uriel Velis 0 0-0 0; Ryan Pollard 0 0-0 0; Totals: 26 17-27 75.
McLennan: Akili Vining 4 1-1 11; Lorenzo Anderson 5 2-3 12; Rodrique Massenat 1 0-0 2; Cameron Copeland 0 0-0 0; Chris Pryor 2 7-10 12; Rayquan Brown 1 0-0 2; Tre Thomas 3 0-0 8; Claven Wilson 4 2-2 10; Asare Otchere 0 0-0 0; Isaiah Wyatt 4 3-4 12; Tyrese Taylor 0 0-0 0; Scott Ator 0 0-0 0; Totals: 24 15-21 69.
3-pointers: Blinn 6 (Rainey 4, McGee 2), McLennan 6 (Vining 2, Thomas 2, Pryor 1, Wyatt 1); Total fouls: Blinn 23, McLennan 20; Fouled out: Blinn (Seay); Halftime score: Blinn 37, McLennan 30; Record: McLennan 4-6.
