LSCPA sports information

BEEVILLE – Lamar State College Port Arthur jumped out to a big lead early and never let up as the Seahawks claimed an 86-75 NJCAA Region XIV win over Coastal Bend College on Saturday afternoon.

The Hawks, who improve to 13-9 overall and 4-9 in conference play, went up by as many as 12 points early as they put the Cougars on their heels right out of the chute. Coastal Bend, which trails the Region 14 South Zone at 1-11 and 6-12 overall, could never get their offense on cue as the Seahawks defense held tight.

“We came out and we were focused,” Seahawks head coach Lance Madison said. “Defensively, we were very sound in the first half. Offensively, we were up-tempo and we were able to get some easy buckets in transition.”

Sophomore Petar Radojicic was nearly perfect in this game, scoring 23 points with 13 rebounds, going 10 for 12 from the field in the game, 1 for 1 from three-point range and 2 for 2 from the free throw line for the Seahawks.

LSCPA roared out to a 20-point halftime lead, 50-30, over the Cougars, led by freshman guard John Comeaux’s 14 points. The Ozen HS graduate finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

“I was little worried going into halftime with a lead like that with a bunch of freshmen,” Madison said. “And it’s like we started the second half playing not to lose rather than playing to win.”

In fact, the Seahawks turned the ball over six times in the first five minutes of the first half as Coastal Bend went on an 8-2 run to cut the lead to 52-38. Radojicic turned the tide for the Seahawks with a bucket at the 14:56 mark and LSCPA was back to the races. The Hawks stretched their lead to as many as 20 late in the game and in spite of several late three-pointers by the Cougars, LSCPA held on for the double-digit South Zone win.

Silsbee freshman Tra Grubbs played a strong game at guard, finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Kelly HS graduate Cam Frank had nine points, all coming in the second half.

“It’s been great to see Tra step it up the past few games,” Madison said. “He’s strong and had good instincts. He’s really come on lately.”

The Seahawks will face non-conference foe Lone Star College-Tomball on Wednesday night as they get ready for the start of the second half of Region XIV South Zone play next Saturday at Angelina College. Wednesday night’s game tips off at 7 p.m. at the Carl Parker Center.