Just when it seemed Lamar State College Port Arthur would gain some breathing room in the Region XIV South Zone standings, Blinn College wasn’t going away quietly.

A lead that was as large as 14 points near halftime vanished midway through the second half, and Blinn escaped the Carl Parker Center with an 87-82 win Wednesday. The Seahawks (13-7, 5-4 in Region XIV) slipped into a first-place tie with Jacksonville College, which beat Lee College 79-78 Tuesday, in the South.

“We played well in the first half,” Seahawks coach Lance Madison said. “I thought we were clicking pretty good. In the second half, we took Blinn a little lightly. They came out and scored the first couple of possessions, and then we lost focus a little bit.”

Brenham-based Blinn (15-5, 4-5) gained a game on Lamar State with a win in one of the Seahawks’ most heated rivalries. The Buccaneers outscored the Seahawks 49-32 in the second half, including a 14-0 rally midway through the second half to take their first lead since 8:32 remained in the first half.

Devaughn Thomas racked up 21 points to lead the Seahawks, shooting 6 of 10 from the floor and 9 of 14 in free throws. The Seahawks, who shot 18 of 20 from line in the first half, finished 22 of 31 and missed four crucial attempts in the final 2:37.

Port Arthur product Tevin Baker, who prepped at Kelly, had 18 points, shooting 6 of 9 from the floor and 4 of 5 at the line. Christavious Thomas added 14 points (7 of 11 from the floor), and Lamar State made 28 of 66 from the field (42.4 percent).

Baker had 12 of his points in the second half, helping will Lamar State back from an 82-74 deficit down to 83-82 with 1:52 to go.

“I was thinking in my head I have to make a play,” Baker said. “Most of my teammates would refresh me, so they were down, so I had to do my duty as a sophomore to pick them back up. Obviously it wasn’t good enough but we’re going to come back to the lab and fix things.”

A 5-second call against the Bucs gave the Seahawks a chance to retake the lead, but Devaughn Thomas missed two free throws and, after a missed Blinn jumper, was apparently fouled on a short-range shot with no call made.

A.J. Rainey made 4 of 4 at the line from that point to put away the win. He and JaQuan Morris combined to shoot 19 of 21 from the stripe for Blinn.

Morris had a game-high 26 points and three steals. Rainey finished with 18, and Kai Tease and Uriel Velis each totaled 11.

Lamar State’s biggest lead was 44-30 with 3:06 left before the half. The Seahawks went into the locker room up 50-38.

The Seahawks will host Angelina College at 4 p.m. Saturday.

I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews