Lamar State plays pivotal game at Blinn College on Wednesday

[LamarStatesports]

The Lamar State College-Port Arthur men’s basketball team returns will play their final road game of the regular season Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Blinn College in Brenham.

Lamar State improved to 19-9 overall and 8-9 in Region XIV play Saturday with an impressive 86-69 home victory over Angelina College.

Lamar State head coach Matt Cross said his team must make better decisions in their final two games.

“We looked really good through most of Saturday’s game. But there were short stretches in the first and second periods when we made some bad decisions offensively and played poor transition defense,” Cross said. “To get to where we want to go, we must search for more consistency in all facets of the game and start putting complete games together.

After allowing critical games against San Jacinto College and Lon Morris College to slip away in the closing minutes, the Seahawks made major improvements in beating the No. 5 offensive team in the nation, Jacksonville College, on their home court Wednesday, and thoroughly controlling the Angelina game at home Saturday, Cross said.

“We don’t have a great deal of depth right now, but we still have enough to continue to win games. And that is where our focus needs to be,” he said.

Wednesday’s game at Blinn also is critical, Cross said.

Blinn (17-11) is tied with Lamar State at 8-9 in the middle of Region XIV’s South Zone. The Buccaneers won their last two games, the latest on the road Wednesday at Kilgore College, 67-62.

Lamar State topped Blinn, 88-76, earlier in the season in Port Arthur.

“Blinn may be the hottest team in the conference right now. We must play defense the way we did in Jacksonville if we want to beat them,” Cross said. “Preparation for both of this week’s games is very important because there is a strong possibility we could turn right back around and play one these teams in the opening round of the tournament next week.”

Lamar State closes the regular season at home Saturday against Tyler Junior College.

The Region XIV Tournament begins March 3 in the Herrington Patriot Center at the University of Texas-Tyler.

The top 12 teams in the conference qualify for the tournament. Bossier Parish (2-15) will not make the cut. Lee (3-14) and Angelina (4-12) are fighting for the 12th seeding. They meet Saturday in Lufkin.