Lamar State sports information

PARIS – Lamar State College Port Arthur got out front early, then fought back to tie the game late, but the Seahawks weren’t able to hold off the Paris Junior College Dragons on the road as LSCPA fell 79-63 on Monday night.

The Seahawks fall to 6-9 for the season and 0-5 in NJCAA Region 14 play with the loss, while Paris improved its mark to 14-1 and 4-1.

“This is a team that’s a threat to win the conference this season,” LSCPA coach Lance Madison said. “They’re good from the outside and they’re good rebounding. This is a tough team, especially on their home court.”

Thanks to Rodney Brown, the Seahawks jumped out to an early lead as they followed him to a 9-3 advantage with 16:33 left in the first half. That lead would disappear though as the Dragons charged back on a 6-0 run to tie the game at the 14:30 mark.

A big part of that comeback was fueled by two quick fouls on Brown that hobbled his ability to play aggressively on defense the rest of the contest. Brown scored the first four points of the game but finished with just eight. Freshman Alex Williams led the Hawks with 10 points while sophomore Tra Grubbs pulled down 11 rebounds. Tevin Baker had nine points, including three 3-pointers, and Jase Miguez hit a couple of treys to finish with eight points.

By the midway point of the first half, the Dragons pulled out the long ball to move out to a 10-point advantage at 22-12. The Seahawks managed to chip away and stay close but would not hold the lead again in the game.

Down 39-31 at the break, the Seahawks went to work with Brown and Stefan Radosavljevic while Ethan White a three-pointer to tie the game at 47-47 with 12:30 left in the game. That’s as close as the Hawks would get, though, as Paris answered with a three-pointer and a dunk to punctuate a run that would extend to double-figures throughout the final minutes of the game.

“We knew coming in that this would be a tough place to play but I thought we had a chance when we got out early and then later when we tied the game,” Madison said. “Their guards made some big threes when they needed them.”

The Seahawks return home for a Wednesday night game at the Carl Parker Center as Bossier Parish Community College comes to Port Arthur. Tipoff for that Region 14 game is at 7 p.m.