The McLennan Highlanders fell to the Collin Cougars 71-61 tonight in a tough battle on the road.
Collin started off strong, pushing their lead to eight at 17-9 with 13:5 to go in the first half. McLennan wasn't backing down and used back-to-back 3-pointers by Antwone Gonzales to pull within two less than a minute later. The Highlanders continued to battle, and took a two-point lead on a Nick Shogbonyo 3-pointer midway through the half, 23-21. McLennan extended the lead to five before Collin closed the gap to one with a minute to play before intermission, 39-38. Daylon Dickerson's floater for the Highlanders in the final seconds made it a 41-38 McLennan lead at the break.
The two teams kept it close throughout the second half. McLennan trailed by two, 48-46 with 11:56 remaining in the game. The Cougars used an 8-0 run to pull away and pushed the lead to 10 at 59-49 with just over eight minutes to go. The Highlanders pulled within four late in the game, 65-61, but Collin ended on a 6-0 run to secure the win.
Nick Shogbonyo led the Highlanders with 24 points and Antwone Gonzales added 19.
McLennan: Daylon Dickerson 1 0-0 2; Nick Shogbonyo 10 2-2 24; Jaden Juarez 3 0-0 8; Antwone Gonzales 8 0-0 19; Landon Anderson 2 0-0 5; Cameron Crockett 0 3-4 3; Jaden Walker 0 0-0 0; Totals: 24 5-6 61.
Collin: TJ Thomas 3 2-2 8; Jarron Drayton 1 0-0 2; Xavier Williams 5 3-4 16; Payton Chism 3 1-1 7; Zay Okoh 4 0-0 10; Matt Lewis 4 0-0 12; Tim Mikhailov 1 0-0 2; Vladislav Karasev 0 2-2 2; Kameron Johnson 3 1-2 7; Sam Barnwell 1 2-2 5; Totals: 25 11-13 71.
Halftime score: McLennan 31, Collin 38;
3-pointers: McLennan 10 (Shogbonyo 4, Juarez 2, Gonzales 3, Anderson 1), Collin 10 (Lewis 4, Williams 3, Okoh 2, Barnwell 1); Record: McLennan 17-9 (4-6).
