East Central Texas News

Navarro and Blinn clash here Wednesday as Region XIV crossover zone games conclude.

Entering the seventh and final regular-season conference playing date, coach Grant McMillan's Bulldogs and Scott Schumacher's Buccaneers bring 4-2 records into their 7 pm matchup at Lewis Orr Court in The K. and Ida Wolens Special Events Center.

Both teams secured victories Saturday.

The Bulldogs (11-5) captured their eighth win in their last 10 games with a 103-81 thrashing of Jacksonville College, while the Buccaneers claimed perhaps their signature win of the season when they thumped 15th-ranked Kilgore, 90-73, at The Kruse Center.

Navarro bounced back from its 20-point loss to Lee by shooting 55.6 percent from the floor as five players produced b-figure scoring and surpassed the 100-point mark for the eighth time this season.  The win, combined with losses by Kilgore, Panola and Paris, enabled NC to climb back into a four-way tie for the East Zone lead

Sophomore Trevon Love drilled a team-high 25 points on 12-of-18 shooting that erased a nightmarish 0-for-8 effort Wednesday.  In addition to his third game of 20-plus scoring, the St. Louis, Mo., guard grabbed four rebounds, handed out four assists and made four steals against the Jaguars.

Sophomore guard Braelon Bush recorded his team-best 14th game of double-figure scoring by drilling 16 points, complemented by five rebounds, five assists and a blocked shot.

Freshman Trae Clayton came off the bench with 13 points from 6-of-7 shooting, and yanked down five boards.

Birmingham, Al., sophomore Zane Nelson turned in his first double-double and fourth for the Bulldogs this season.  Nelson totaled 12 points and 11 defensive rebounds with two assists and two steals.

Tarleton transfer Jayshawn Moore added 11 points, five rebounds, two assists, a steal and a blocked shot for s Navarro club that exploded for a 55-31 halftime advantage.

NC overpowered the Jaguars on the boards by a 51-31 margin.

Blinn's big upset of Kilgore was triggered by Elijah Elliott's 27 points from 10-of-22 shooting, 6-foot-10 center Alex Tsynkevich's 15 points and seven rebounds, and freshman Mason Gilyard's 9-point, 12-rebound effort off the bench.

Elliott, a 6-foot-1 sophomore from Houston Yates, scored 21 of his 27 during the first half when BC mounted a 51-40 lead. but shifted into more of a distributor for the second half. Elliott, averaging 15.6 points, has double-figure scoring in 10 of the Buccaneers' last 11 games.

Tsynkevich, from Belarus, averages 8.7 points and 6.5 rebounds this season.

Wednesday's Navarro-Blinn game will be streamed live on the Navarro Sports YouTube Channel.

Original source can be found here