LamarStatesports Posted March 4, 2011 Report Posted March 4, 2011 Tyler, Tx. – The Lamar State College-Port Arthur Seahawks came close to exiting the Region XIV Basketball Tournament in their first game for the second straight year.But after trailing by 20 points, 46-26, at the 9:30 mark of the second half, the Seahawks went on a 24-4 run to tie at 50-50 at the end of regulation and take the game to overtime, where they polished off the Kilgore Runnin' Rangers, 64-58.Going into the game, LSC-PA coach Matt Cross said his team did not match up well with Kilgore, and he was right.After breaking out 7-0, the Seahawks allowed Kilgore to come back to take the lead midway through the period. Lamar State had eight turnovers and shot only 37 percent from the field to trail 33-20 at halftime.Kilgore took control early in the second half and Lamar State seemed out of the sync, turning the ball over often and taking bad shots.With nine minutes remaining, Kilgore led 46-26. But the Seahawks finally started playing tough defense and hitting their shots, holding their opponents to just four points in the final nine minutes.The Seahawks had the ball, down by two points, with 18.6 seconds remaining. Coleman missed a jump shot in the paint, but Dion Waiters got the put-back to tie the game at 50-50 with 3.8 second remaining to force overtime.Sophomore forward Roman Vaughn, last week's NJCAA Division I Player of the Week, led Lamar State with 16 points. Darrion Booker had 13 points and Coleman added 12.Milton Chavis paced Kilgore with 14 points. Lamar State (22-9) moves on the quarterfinal round at 6 p.m. Saturday, when they will face the 25-5 Trinity Valley Community College Cardinals, the North Zone champion and the No. 9 team in the nation.In earlier games, Paris Junior College defeated Angelina College, 70-64, while Blinn College stopped Tyler Junior College, 84-78. Paris (21-8) will play South Zone runner-up Navarro College (20-10) at 3 p.m. Saturday. Blinn (19-12) moves on to face the No. 1 seed San Jacinto College Ravens, who are ranked No. 4 in the nation with a 27-3 record.
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