Pack the Palace: AC Hosting 'Orange Out' Events for Saturday's Game

By GARY STALLARD

AC Athletics

(Photos by Emilie Doerksen and Maggie Mubuto)

The Angelina College Roadrunners have been one of the surprise stories in Region XIV this season. Not only was the team coming off a year-long layoff because of the pandemic, but the 'Runners also fielded a brand-new roster – not to mention a new head coach with no coaching experience at the junior college level. The preseason prognosticators predicted the AC guys would finish near the bottom of the conference standings.

Their predictions were wrong, as head coach J.J. Montgomery, assistant coach Ra'Kim Hollis and the Roadrunners have shown themselves as one of the toughest outs in the league.

Entering this Saturday's matchup with No. 21 Lee College, the Roadrunners sport a surprising – at least according to those early predictions – record of 11-13, 7-8. AC has kept itself in the hunt for a berth in the upcoming conference tournament; the team sits just two games out of fourth place with four games remaining in the regular season.

This surprising group of 'Runners boast several players in the mix of various league categories: Quandre Bullock is second in the league in scoring with a 17.5 points-per-game average. Errol White is third in the conference in rebounding at a 9.0 board-per-game clip; and Caleb Johnson is fourth in Region XIV in field-goal percentage, shooting at a 58.7 percent clip.

To help pack Shands Gymnasium – "The Palace in the Pines" – Angelina College is hosting several events for Saturday's "Orange Out" game. Attending fans are asked to wear orange in support of the Roadrunners, In addition, AC is encouraging all students from Angelina County school districts to attend while representing their schools. Students can sign in to earn points for their respective districts, and the school district with the largest percentage of its student body in attendance will win a scholarship for free books for giving away at respective Project Graduation/Celebration activities. All donations from Saturday's game will be donated to the winning school district.

Also in attendance for Saturday's big game will be representatives from the Angelina College Alumni and Friends Network. Members of the AFN will enjoy reserved seating, and the AFN team will be on-hand to offer information on the numerous incentives and benefits involved with both annual and lifetime memberships.

There will be plenty of other activities during half time for those in attendance.

Game time at Shands Gymnasium is 4 p.m. Admission to the game is free, and free live streaming will be available at angelinaathletics.com.

The email address for AC's Sports Information Director is gstallard@angelina.edu.