College basketball: Navarro 80, Blinn 74

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Daily Sun photo/Ron Farmer Navarro sophomore forward James Thomas (41) goes to the basket as Blinn's Joel Wright (23) defends.

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February 2, 2012

Navarro bounces back from road loss, takes down Blinn

By Todd Wills Corsicana Daily Sun The Corsicana Daily Sun Thu Feb 02, 2012, 12:28 AM CST

Corsicana — Navarro has the protecting-your-homecourt part of things down pretty good.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs bounced back from another road loss with a decisive home win, taking down Blinn 80-74 on Wednesday night before a raucous crowd at the K. and Ida Wolens Special Events Center.

Navarro lost to Lamar State on Saturday, getting off to a hot start before losing 64-63. The Runnin’ Bulldogs got off to another great start Wednesday, and this time finished it off, even with a few anxious moments at the end.

“We played like that at Lamar,” Navarro coach Johnny Estelle said. “We just didn’t finish that game. Now we need to finish the last five minutes better.”

Navarro (14-7, 6-4) has set an expectation level at the SEC, boosting its record to 4-1 in conference at home. The Runnin’ Bulldogs are doing it with clutch 3-pointers and some acrobatic dunks.

Amos Olatayo, the sophomore from Houston, was in the middle of it again. He was 3 of 4 on his 3-pointers and finished with 13 points. He also finished off one of the best alley oop plays you’ll see all season, taking a lob from Keith Smith and flushing it with authority with two hands for a 61-49 lead with 8:33 left in the game.

DeShone MCClure also had one of the dunks of the season, putting one down with two hands after it appeared a Blinn defender got him off balance enough to prevent him from getting to the rim. McClure, who had nine points, gave Navarro a 65-55 lead with 5:32 left.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs still need to work on turnovers — they had 20, including 13 in the second half, several of which helped Blinn make the game semi-interesting in the final few minutes.

Blinn (16-5, 6-4) tightened the game up as Titus Rubles and Doward Evans made consecutive 3-pointers 10 seconds apart to make it Navarro 76-71 with :41.3 seconds left.

But Jonathan Benn and Princeton Onwas were able to make 1 of 2 free throws to help put the game away.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs had balance across the scorebook as usual. James Thomas had seven points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Navarro 80, Blinn 74

Blinn 27 47 — 74

Navarro 43 37 — 80

Blinn — Daishon Knight 9, Titus Rubles 17, Doward Evans 8, Miles Dixon 10, Rasi Jenkins 5, Shamel Williams 2, Joel Wright 7, Elijah Jones 16.

Navarro — Hyjii Thomas 9, Harrison Hawkins 5, Keith Smith 7, Jonathan Benn 9, Princeton Onwas 8, Amos Olatayo 13, DeShone McClure 9, James Thomas 7, Dema Sane 4, Terrance Syon, Tank Mayberry 4.

Records — Blinn 16-5, 6-4; Navarro 14-7, 6-4.

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College basketball: Navarro 80, Blinn 74

Navarro bounces back from road loss, takes down Blinn

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