Panola Men Outlast TJC, 73-64

February 21, 2016 Tyler, Texas – The Panola College men’s basketball team picked up a victory over Tyler Junior College here Saturday afternoon, 73-64. The win raises Panola’s record to 20-8 and 11-6 in Region XIV play. “Other than the last four minutes of the first half our guys did a tremendous job executing our game plan.” Head Coach Grant McMillan said. “Our guys were really locked in defensively in the second half.” He added.

Panola found themselves down 28-27 with 3:31 remaining in the first half, when Tyler went on a 14-4 run to take a 42-31 halftime lead. The Ponies gradually cut into Tyler’s lead in the second half when Charles Tucker (Lansing, Michigan) nailed a three pointer to tie the game at 56 with 7:06 remain. Again,  Tyonte Robertson (Cincinnati, Ohio) drilled a three pointer to tie the ball game 61 with 4:48 remaining. Two possessions later, Panola finally took their first lead when Jonathan Wiley (Houston, Texas) chased down an offensive rebound and put back the miss to take a 63-61 lead. Panola never trailed the rest of the way.

Tucker led the offensive charge with 18 points. Chan Williams-Bey (Hartford, Connecticut) netted 14 points and Devyn Wilson (Brooklyn, New York) tallied 12 points in the win. Wiley and Robertson scored 11 points each. Tope Arikawe (Nigeria) chased down 10 rebounds and swatted away six shots. As a team, Panola held TJC to just 22 second half points.

Panola will next be in action this upcoming Wednesday February, 24th when the host their final home game of the season again Navarro College. Tip-off is set for 7:30 PM on the campus of Panola College.

Submitted by Adam Blaylock