Lufkin, Tx 

The Coastal Bend Cougars (17-7) traveled to Lufkin, Texas to battle the Angelina Road Runners (11-12) on Wednesday night. 

Shad's Gymnasium in Lufkin was near half capacity as they hosted the Coastal Bend Cougars on Community Night. The Cougars came in riding a 9-1 record over their last 10 games and looked to add to the win column. The previous matchup between the Conference Rivals resulted in a twenty point victory for the Cougars. The Road Runners were trying to piece together a win streak going 3-7 to start the 2023 year. Both teams opened the game a bit sluggish, battling for rebounds and playing scrappy defense. Neither team could get it going in the first half as the Cougars held a slight lead going into the break, 24-20. 

The second half favored the Road Runners as they jumped out to a 12-6 run to take the lead by the first media timeout, 30-32. Angelina would manage the lead returning fire each time the Cougars tried to fight back. Poor shooting doomed the Coastal Bend team the entire night, going a meager 2-22 from 3pt land, an area of consistency for the Cougars thus far throughout the year. Coastal Bend would battle back into the game to force an overtime session but the Road Runners caught fire late winning the extra 5 minutes 14-8 with the final score in favor of the home team, 69-63.              

Key players of the game: Sophomore Breion Powell led all scorers with 28 points along with 7 rebounds. Sophomore Malik Nash also contributed 18 points and 6 boards   

The loss moves the Cougars record to 17-8, 10-4 in conference play. They will host Blinn JC on Saturday. The win improves the Road Runners to 12-12, 6-8 in conference play.                  

(by Brandon Martinez Men's Basketball Assistant)