After losing two games in a row, the Cougars looked to get back in win the column on Saturday, February 17th as Coastal Bend Men's Basketball hosted Blinn College in a critical Region XIV South Division showdown.
The contest between the visiting Buccaneers, started off slowly for the Cougars. Coastal Bend managed to slow down Blinn's offensive output with their stifling defense, which resulted in 21 turnovers on the night. By intermission, the Cougars lead by one point, 35-34.
During the second half of play, Coastal Bend led by as much as seven points. Blinn would not be denied as they fought their way back into the ball game and swapped scoring runs to go ahead by four points. With 94 seconds left, sophomore guard Dajuan Madden took matters into his own hands. Down by one, he drove to the rim, drawing a Buccaneer foul. Madden converted only one his two free throws to tie the score. He then perfectly defended a Blinn pick and roll, grabbing the steal and converting the lay-up, giving CBC the two point lead. The Buccaneers quickly put the ball in play down the sideline, to a waiting BC player who was spotting up for a three-pointer. Madden blocked that shot, corralled the rebound, drove the lane and collected another Buccaneer all in a 34 second span of time. The Cougars followed and executed the schemes drawn up by Head Coach, Carliss Robinson and Assistant Coach, DJ Evans during the ensuing Blinn timeout, which allowed them to protect home court, earning their 10th win at home this season.
Malik Amos led the Cougars in scoring with 17 points. Rashon Thomas finished the contest with 16 points while making nine out of ten shots from the free throw line. Madden added 11 points to his stat line while snatching up 11 rebounds and coming within just two assists short with a triple double, with eight. Bernard Randle added 11 points and three steals to contribute to the team off the bench, while making two out of five three pointers in the game. Eric Williams also chipped in nine points to go with his four rebounds and four assists.
Coastal Bend moves to seven and eight in Region XIV Conference play with just three games remaining. The Cougars will traveling to Pasadena, TX to face against the Ravens of San Jacinto College on Wednesday, February 21st. Tip-Off is scheduled for 7:30 PM.