Roadrunners Edge Blinn College in Physical Showdown

By GARY STALLARD

AC Athletics

If the Angelina College Roadrunners and Blinn College Buccaneers had been participating in a boxing match, they'd have had to compete in different weight classes.

The 'Runners went up against Blinn's massive front line – featuring a 7'0" player and a pair of 6'10" teammates – and battled their way to a 79-74 win Saturday at Shands Gymnasium.

Earlier this week, AC head coach Nick Wade stressed the importance of his players' fighting for every rebound despite the height disadvantage. His players responded, getting 12 second-chance points off offensive rebounds to none for the Bucs.

Travis Henson led the 'Runners with 25 points, hitting four of his six three-point attempts. Kyron Gibson added 12 points and six assists.

Tristan Ikpe led the Bucs with 23 points.

The Roadrunners trailed 65-63 with 8:22 to play when Henson hit his final three pointer of the game. Moments later, Braxton Foreman added a trey, Gwarren Douglas rammed home a dunk and Darius Smith scored on a putback to push the AC lead to five points at 73-68. Smith and Gibson added clutch buckets in the final three minutes, and Henson sealed the win with a pair of free throws in the final seconds.

In the early game, the Lady Roadrunners suffered yet another heartbreak, falling to Kilgore College by a 71-70 final. The loss marked the third Lady 'Runner loss by two or fewer points in the past five games and handed AC's ladies their third straight defeat.

Lovietta Walker led the Lady Roadrunners with 21 points. Tai Porchia added 14, Tyeisha Smith 13 and Britney Thompson 10 in the loss.

Kilgore's Jada Hood led the Lady Rangers with 25 points. Sarah Matthews finished with 14 points.

The Lady Roadrunners (12-9, 4-6) will host No. 2 Trinity Valley Community College at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Shands Gymnasium. That game will be live streamed at angelinaathletics.com.

The Roadrunners (15-8, 10-2) will travel to Beeville to face Coastal Bend Community College in a game tipping off at 7:30 p.m.

The e-mail address for AC's Sports Information Director is gstallard@angelina.edu.