The No. 21 Trinity Valley Community College Cardinals edged out a 79-70 win over No. 15 ranked Tyler Junior College to take over first place in the Region XIV North Division Saturday at Cardinal Gym in front of a huge Cardinal crowd.
With the victory, coach Guy Furr's team improved to 19-4 overall and 10-2 in region play. The Apaches dropped to 18-3 overall and 10-3 in region play.
"TJC is a great team," Furr said. "They are well coached with good players and they are very athletic. The refs did a good job and it was a hard game to call. I was proud of our guys for finishing strong and not giving up. We had spots along the way that would have been easy getting discouraged. They hung in there and we kept the winning streak alive."
The Cardinals win streak is now at five games as they return to action Wednesday at Kilgore College. The tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. TJC plays the Paul Quinn College Junior Varsity Monday in non-conference action. TVCC has now won 36 consecutive games in Cardinal Gym.
"I expect a tough game out of Kilgore," Furr said. "They have a really good head coach and a lot of tradition. When you play anyone along Highway 31, it is going to be tough. You can wipe the records out and it will be tough but we are looking forward to it."
The Cardinals held TJC scoreless for the final 1:25 of the contest. TJC scored its final basket on a jumper by Eden Ewing off an assist from Kwinton Hinson for the 74-70 deficit.
TVCC then had a 3-pointer by Hyron Edwards and two free throws from Josh Stamps to put the game away.
Stamps finished the night with 10 points, while Edwards had a game-high 25 points for the Cardinals.
TVCC jumped out to a double-digit lead in the second half as Amaad Wainright drained a jumper to put the Cardinals up 49-36 with 16:25 remaining in the second half.
Wainright finished the night with 13 points for the Cardinals.
Furr said TJC was able to claw its way back into the game due to the foul trouble with the Cardinals. TVCC had four players with at least four fouls in the second half.
The Cardinals had 12 points from Ryan Preston, six points from Adres Ibarguen and Jaime Echenique, three points from Brandon Holley and two from Jaquan Lightfoot.
Hinson and Ewing led TJC with 15 points each. Brian Warren had 14, Tajuan Agee had seven, Will Brooks and TiAndre Jackson had five and Trenton Sandifer had two.
The two teams will meet again in the regular season finale Wednesday, March 1 in Tyler.
"It is nice to be up on them but we worry about getting better each game," Furr said. "We have to take care of business and see what happens. Right now, it is going pretty good."
Article taken from Athens Review - Joe Elerson - Sports Department
