A huge (YUGE) week for the Angelina College basketball teams, with some upsets of Top 20 teams over the past few days. The Lady ‘Runners knocked of the No. 7 Lady Cardinals from Trinity Valley Community College on Wednesday, and the Roadrunners rolled over the No. 9 Lee College Navigators Saturday in Baytown.
Add to all that excitement the looming baseball and softball seasons (baseball opens this week), and one can see there’s a whole lot of runnin’ taking place with our Roadrunners.
Following is a recap of the week, along with upcoming events.
Roadrunner Basketball
What a week for the Roadrunner men’s basketball team, which made a pair of emphatic statements in a pair of key conference games.
At home in the Palace at the Pines on Wednesday, AC manhandled a good Navarro College team in a 71-48 blowout. Eddie Evans came off the bench to lead the team in scoring with 15 points, followed by Xavier Owens with 13 points. Nehikare Igiehon notched a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Patrick Johnson distributed five assists over the night.
On Saturday, the ‘Runners posted what might be the biggest win of head coach J.J. Montgomery’s young career. AC traveled to Baytown to take on the nationally ranked (No. 9) Lee College Navigators (whose head coach is former AC coach Nick Wade) and proceeded to blow out the highly ranked Lee squad 70-53. At one point, the Roadrunners led by more than 30 points.
The Roadrunners’ Igiehon and Evans each finished with 15 points, with Igiehon adding his second straight double-double with 11 rebounds. Keddrick Mays added 14 points and Xavier Owens 12 in the win. Johnson finished with 10 assists and Chris Carpenter six in AC’s well-balanced attack.
The two wins pushed AC’s record to 13-6, 4-4. The Roadrunners get a night off on Wednesday before hosting Jacksonville College Saturday at Shands Gymnasium. Game time is 4 p.m.
Lady Roadrunner Basketball
Truthfully, the Lady Roadrunners kicked off the impressive week with Wednesday’s upset over No. 7 Trinity Valley Community College at Shands Gymnasium. AC’s ladies came out on fire, opening the game by hitting six of their first nine three-point attempts and building a 26-point lead in the first half. TVCC rallied in the second half, but the Lady ‘Runners held on for an 82-78 win over the Lady Cardinals.
Four Lady Roadrunners finished in double figures in scoring: Marie Kenembeni (21 points), Amyria Walker (18 points), India McMahon (16 points) and Jade Fry (10 points). McMahon was 3-for-3 from three-point range in the win.
On Saturday, the Lady ‘Runners hit the road against No. 20 Blinn College in Brenham, and AC wasn’t able to pull off another upset bid, falling to the Lady Bucs by a 65-57 final. Walker scored 19 points and Kenembeni 16 in the loss.
The Lady Roadrunners (11-7, 3-1) will host Tyler Junior College Wednesday at Shands Gymnasium. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
Baseball, Softball Opening Seasons
Spring has officially arrived. OK, maybe not weather-wise, but as far as baseball and softball fans are concerned, spring starts with the first pitch of the season.
For the Roadrunner baseball team, that means this Friday, Jan. 26. AC travels to Galveston College for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
Then, on Sunday the 28th, the ‘Runners host their home opener against the same Whitecaps at Poland Field on the AC campus. That doubleheader also starts at 1 p.m.
Softball’s first pitch takes place on Wednesday, Jan. 31at Tyler Junior College. The first game of the twin bill starts at 1 p.m. The Lady Roadrunners’ first home games are set for Sunday, Feb. 4 against Kilgore College with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
The 2024 Lady Roadrunner roster is now available on the Angelina College Athletics web site.
FOR SCHEDULE CHANGES AND UPDATES: Any changes to AC Athletics schedules are posted on the Angelina College Athletics web site (www.angelinaathletics.com), along with posts on Twitter (@ACAthletics) and Facebook (Angelina College Athletics).
Partnership with TSBN Sports
Angelina College Athletics has partnered with TSBN Sports to handle all our live-streaming needs. TSBN’s crew will handle all AC home games, and because of the way TSBN’s influence spreads throughout the conference, viewers will be able to catch many of our Lady Roadrunner and Roadrunner road games.
Visit the TSBN web site (https://tsbnsports.com/click-title-of-game-to-watch/) to see the group’s broadcast schedule. In addition, viewers can look for the blue “Video” link on the scrolling schedule on the Angelina College Athletics web site (www.angelinaathletics.com).
Finally, one can download the TSBN app on smart TVs, computers or mobile devices to catch all the game action.
Lady Roadrunner Softball Evaluation Session Rescheduled
The Lady Roadrunner Softball program’s scheduled “Recruiting Showcase” has been moved from its original date of Sunday, Jan. 14 to Sunday, Jan. 28. All other information remains the same.
For registration and other information, click the attached link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/prospect-softball-camp-january-14-2024-9-am-registration-772282777577?aff=oddtdtcreator
That’s it for now. It’s about to get even busier and more hectic around here, with plenty of options for our AC sports fans. As always, thanks for your continued support.
I’ll see you at the games.
Gary Stallard
Email: gstallard@angelina.edu
Phone: (936) 465-4614
