Highlanders top Collin
McLennan squeaked out the 77-72 win over the Collin Cougars.
McLennan built a five-point lead at 10-5 with 15:37 to go in the first. Collin rallied to tie the game at 12 but buckets by Chirs Pryor and Rayquan Brown put McLennan up by four, 16-12. An Antoine Smith Jr. 3-pointer pulled the Cougars within one but Pryor quickly extended that to three with a steal and bucket, 18-15. The Highlander shooting went quiet for the next seven minutes, allowing Collin to pull away with a 14-0 run. The Cougars led 29-18 with three minutes left in the half. McLennan rallied late to cut the Collin lead to six by intermission, 32-26.
The second half became the Maurice Harvey show. Harvey scored 17 points in the first five minutes of play. Add four points from Brown and the Highlander defense holding the Cougars to five points in the same time frame and you get a McLennan eight-point lead, 47-39. The Cougars heated up from behind the 3-point arc and rallied to tie the game at 55 with 9:48 to play. The two teams traded the lead for the next six minutes of play. The game was tied at 66 with 3:53 to go. Layups by Pryor and Nehemiah Nuckolls put the Highlanders up by four 70-66 with 1:35 on the clock. Pryor added a free throw with 35.50 on the clock but Collin responded with a 3-pointer from C.J. Washington in the corner to cut the lead to two, 71-69 with 27 seconds remaining. Two more Pryor free throws put the Highlanders up by four, 73-69. Diego Gonzalez added a pair of free throws and Collin's Kadar Waller made a layup. To make it 75-71. Harvey added a pair of free throws to secure the win.
Harvey led the Highlanders with 28 points and Pryor added 19.
Collin: CJ Washington 4 1-2 12; Antoine Smith Jr. 8 2-2 24; Kadar Waller 4 0-1 8; Orion Virden 4 0-0 11; Chozen Amadi 0 0-0 0; Daylen Minor 2 0-0 5; John Achebe 1 0-1 2; Trazarien White 1 2-3 4; Alex Stoimenov 1 1-2 6; Totals: 26 6-11 72.
McLennan: Dillon Gooding1 0-0 2; Maurice Harvey 10 4-5 28; Nehemiah Nuckolls 3 2-2 8; Chris Pryor 7 4-5 19; Rayquan Brown 4 1-2 9; Diego Gonzalez 0 4-4 4; Isaiah Placide 0 0-0 0; Asare Otchere 2 1-2 5; Kirk Smith Jr. 1 0-0 2; Totals: 28 16-20 77.
3-pointers: Collin 14 (Smith Jr. 6, Washington 3, Virden 3, Minor 1, Stoimenov 1), McLennan 5 (Harvey 4, Pryor 1); Total fouls: Collin 20, McLennan 14; Fouled out: Colin (Washington); Halftime score: Collin 32, McLennan 26; Record: McLennan 12-2 (6-2).