JACKSONVILLE — The second day of the Region XIV men’s tournament saw the No. 1 seed stave off an upset bid while the second quarterfinal did see the underdog register a win.
Top seed Trinity Valley held off No. 9 Lamar State-Port Arthur, 81-75, in the first game on Thursday, while No. 5 Paris registered a mild shocker over No. 4 Panola, 79-68, in Game 2.
The tourney continues with Semifinal Friday at John Alexander Gymnasium. The women begin things as No. 1 Trinity Valley (21-1) meets No. 4 Panola at 1 p.m., followed by No. 2 Tyler Junior College meeting No. 3 Blinn at 3 p.m. The men’s semifinals followed at 6 and 8 p.m.
The championship games are on Saturday — women at 4 p.m. and men at 7 p.m. The champions receive automatic bids to the NJCAA National Tournament in Lubbock (women) and Hutchinson, Kansas (men).
TVCC 81, LSPA 75
DaShawn Davis hit for 29 points to help spark Trinity Valley to its 21st-consecutive win. He also had three steals and eight rebounds.
Other Cardinals in double figures were Jakevion Buckley and Anderson Mirambeaux with 13 points apiece and Trevon Fuller with 10 points. Both Tuongthach Gathek and Lathaniel Bastien had 10 rebounds.
Ty Archibald led the Seahawks (8-15) with 30 points while Kanntrell Burney added 24 points. Archibald hit 9 of 15 from 3-point land with Burney connecting on 6 of 12 from long distance. The team was 16 of 34.
The Cardinals controlled the boards, 50-31.
Lamar State was 9 of 17 at the free throw line with TVCC 13 of 23.
TVCC led 43-41 a halftime.
PARIS 79, PANOLA 68
After falling to the Ponies twice this season, Paris made sure Panola did not score a trifecta.
Da’May Jones the Dragons (12-12) with a double-double, 36 points and 10 rebounds. Nate Braden added 20 points with Kavon Freeman and Tim Moore Jr. adding 10 points apiece.
The Dragons hit their free throws down the stretch and for the game they were 19 of 22.
Panola (14-7) was led by Cody Deen with 17 points, followed by Titan Newton (120 and Sheran Breshear (12).
Breshear added 19 rebounds for a double-double.
The Ponies were 7 of 11 a the free throw line.
There were six ties and seven lead changes.
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