Tyler Junior College guard Taevon Anderson (3) runs inside the paint for a layup in the first half during Saturday’s 90-79 win at home game against Jacksonville in Wagstaff Gymnasium.

A strong final 16 minutes helped the Tyler Junior College Apaches pick up their first win of the young season, 90-79 over Jacksonville College Saturday afternoon at Wagstaff Gymnasium.

The Apaches trailed 56-47 with 16:03 to play with a floater by former Longview High School standout Phillip Washington.

With 15:32 remaining, freshman Jestin Porter knocked down a three for the Apaches to spark the comeback. Former All Saints standout Scottie Turner then had an old-fashioned 3-point play.

With Jacksonville up 60-57, the Apaches got a free throw from Palestine’s Enoch Fatade, a layup by Porter and then a bucket by Tennessee-Martin transfer Isaac Aguiar to give the Apaches a 62-60 lead.

Jacksonville tied the game back up on two more occasions, the latest with 8:10 remaining at 68 following a 3-pointer by Darion Ramos.

The Apaches then went on an 8-0 run with all eight points coming from Porter.

After Jacksonville got a triple from Jerry Boston Jr. with 7:01 left, Aguiar guided a 10-0 run to put TJC ahead 86-71.

Aguiar scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half and also added 11 rebounds and four blocked shots.

“He finished around the basket when we needed him too,” TJC head coach Mike Marquis said. “He’s an extremely skilled player. When he gets his confidence going, he’s a threat. Defensively, he was a presence. In the first half, they got the ball inside and scored some layups, and I didn’t think we were very good. In fact, I thought we were more aggressive guarding each other in shootaround today than we did in the game. We pointed that out at halftime, so I thought we came out and were a lot more aggressive and played really well.”

Porter led the Apaches with 24 points, five assists and four steals. Turner had a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

The game, which was played with no fans in attendance, started with Porter getting to shoot two technical free throws, because Jacksonville’s Boston was wearing jersey No. 8, which is an illegal number. The Jaguars also had Charles Satterwhite wearing No. 6, which is also illegal.

After Porter made both free throws and before the opening tip, Fatade was forced to come off of the court because his undershirt was a different color than the Apaches’ uniform. Taevon Anderson came in to start for Fatade. Fatade made his first appearance just more than eight minutes into the contest and finished with 6 points and five assists.

Former Lindale High School standout Cody Collinsworth — a University of Portland transfer — was one of four Apaches with 5 points, joining Mason Matthews, Dominique Michael and Anderson.

“I was really excited. It was our most unselfish basketball we’ve played,” Marquis said. “We just finally relied on each other, and I was very pleased, because it is kind of our bread-and-butter of how we’ve won here over the years, not being one-dimensional.”

TJC jumped out to a 7-2 lead and later stretch its lead to 18-9. The Jaguars battled back and used a 16-3 run to go up 36-29.

With the score tied at 41, Washington turned a steal into a layup with 42 seconds remaining in the first half to put Jacksonville on top. Collinsworth then had a 3-point play to give the Apaches a 44-43 lead at halftime.

Robin White Jr. led Jacksonville (0-2) with 27 points. Keldrick Hayes Jr. had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Jaguars. Washington had 8 points, seven assists and four steals.

Jacksonville made 13 3-pointers in the contest. The Apaches connected seven times from downtown.

Tyler (1-1) will play Bossier Parish at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Bossier City, Louisiana.

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Following the game, Marquis reflected on the passing of longtime East Texas athletic trainer Travis Gray, whose funeral was on Saturday.

“It’s been a tough few days here for all of us,” Marquis said. “He was a fantastic person. The fact that he was a good trainer was a bonus. Even with my own sons’ injuries over the years, he was always there. He would come up at anytime day or night. And he had a wonderful sense of humor. He was just a terrific person.”

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Tyler 90, Jacksonville 79

Jacksonville 43 36 — 79

Tyler 44 46 — 90

JACKSONVILLE — Abdul Wurie 0; Keldrick Hayes Jr. 18; Jerry Boston Jr. 3; Pjillip Washignton 8; Robin White Jr. 27; Darion Ramos 9; Kenan Mitchell 3; Telin Porter 3; Chance Parker 4; Charles Satterwhite 0.

TYLER — Jestin Porter 24; Enoch Fatade 6; Scottie Turner 20; Mason Matthews 5; Angel Dibwa 0; Taevon Anderson 5; Isaac Aguiar 20; Blessing Adespie 0; Cody Collinsworth 5; Dominique Michael 5.