College Sports

By JOE BUIE
Staff Writer

PARIS - One huge winning streak fell by the wayside Wednesday night at the Hunt Center, while another just kept on trucking.

The Tyler Junior College men's basketball team was unable to stop the Paris Dragons from winning their 28th consecutive home game, 89-78, in a battle of unbeaten teams.

Meanwhile, the Apache Ladies lost to the Lady Dragons for the first time since 1995 as Paris went on a stunning 16-2 run over the final 4 minutes, 20 seconds, to snap a 25-game losing streak in the series. The Lady Dragons scored the game-winner with four seconds on the clock.

Men

The Apaches, 11-1 overall and 5-1 in Region XIV, trailed for the final 31 1/2 minutes in losing for the first time this season.

Paris, No. 9 in the national poll, improved to 14-0 and 6-0 by shooting 54.5 percent (12 of 22) from the 3-point line. Brandon Ayers had the hottest hand as the 6-4 redshirt freshman knocked down six treys and finished with 30 points.

TJC's normally unstoppable combination of Jimmy Butler and Joseph Fulce were held in check. Butler had 15 points and five rebounds while Fulce, who picked up his second foul less than two minutes into the game, had nine points and seven rebounds.

Malcolm Thomas, a 6-6 sophomore from Karnack, tried to keep the Apaches close in the second half when he scored 12 of his 15 points. Sophomore post Jamie Vanderbeken contributed 11 points and nine rebounds, and sophomore William Kossangue scored 12 off the bench.

"Clearly, Joe's foul trouble in the first half really hampered us," said TJC head coach Mike Marquis. "That's probably not going to be the last time that happens, so we're going to have to learn from that experience.

"Paris, obviously, is very good and they just showed more resolve than we did. A loss reveals some things about people's character; now we'll see what we're made of."

The Apaches led for the final time, 15-14, with 12 minutes left in the first half. Paris countered with a 14-5 run and an eight-point advantage, part of a larger 17-6 edge that made it 39-26.

Trailing by 11 at the break, the Apaches cut the deficit to five on three occasions in the second half. It was 70-65 with 7:26 left before Paris scored three of the next four buckets to go up by 10.

Buckets from Butler and Thomas cut the margin to six with five minutes left, but that proved to be TJC's final threat of the evening.

The Apaches shot 42.6 percent from the field, compared to 48.6 percent for the Dragons. TJC shot 9-of-26 from 3-point range.

"They defended well and they made a lot of big shots," Marquis said. "We did not shoot very well. They are the only undefeated team left in our league, and you've got to earn your wins in this league.

"They were just so much more physical than we were. They kind of knocked us around the old ball yard and we didn't respond very favorably to that."

Women

The unranked Apache Ladies (12-4, 2-2), who were No. 5 in the national poll coming back from the Christmas break, lost for the third time in four games.

It was the second straight conference loss for TJC, despite a strong showing from 6-6 sophomore post April Murphy. Murphy, who finished with 22 points, eight rebounds and four blocks, scored on a putback for a commanding 61-49 lead with 4:35 left in the game.

TJC then fell apart and did not make another field goal while Paris reeled off 16 points in just over four minutes.

The Apache Ladies gave up 10 of those 16 points in the paint, including 6-0 sophomore Ashley Proctor's three-point play to give Paris a 65-63 lead with four seconds left. Proctor received a pass off a baseline throw-in after Paris had maintained possession following Jasmine King's block of a Paris shot down low.

TJC was unable to get off a desperation shot at the buzzer as the ball got loose for the Apache Ladies' 22nd turnover.

Both teams shot well from the floor in the second half - Paris at 50 percent (13 of 26) and TJC at 51.7 percent (15 of 29).

The Apache Ladies just couldn't finish the job.

There were seven lead changes and five ties in the first half. TJC grabbed a two-point lead with two seconds left in the half when Yoshica Spears converted a three-point play off a pass into the block from King.

Smoke Signals: San Jacinto improved to 6-0 in the conference with a 97-77 win at Kilgore on Wednesday night. Also, Angelina stopped Navarro, 83-73, Blinn won at Lon Morris, 81-75, and Trinity Valley beat Jacksonville, 80-74. ... The Trinity Valley women defeated Jacksonville, 67-53.

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Women

Paris 65, Tyler 63

TYLER - Chasity Shavers, 2; Kelly Stewart, 13; Brittany Roberson, 4; Monica Spearman, 9; Jasmine King, 2; Yoshica Spears, 11; Kim Laughlin, 0; Sonja Thompson, 0; Brittany Toran, 0; April Murphy, 22. FG 27-60 FT 6-8.

PARIS - Megan Lankford, 3; Jasmine Flugence, 0; Ashley Johnson, 15; Lynzi Williams, 6; Alexis Bridges, 14; Michelle Duff, 2; Inisha Daughtry, 9; Brittney Bennett, 5; Ashley Proctor, 11. FG 23-50 FT 15-23.

THREE-POINT GOALS - TJC: Stewart (3); PJC: Lankford, Johnson, Bridges, Bennett.

HALFTIME SCORE - Tyler 28-26.

TURNOVERS - TJC: 22; PJC: 20.

RECORDS - Tyler, 12-4 (2-2); Paris, 5-9 (1-4).

NEXT UP - Blinn at Tyler, 2 p.m. Saturday; Paris at San Jacinto, 2 p.m. Saturday.

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Men

Paris 89, Tyler 78

TYLER - Tyler Jefferson, 4; Reggie Nelson, 4; William Kossangue, 12; Alan Branch, 2; Randall Hampton, 6; Jamie Vanderbeken, 11; Malcolm Thomas, 15; Joseph Fulce, 9; Jimmy Butler, 15. FG 29-68 FT 11-19.

PARIS - James Livingston, 11; Raymond Sims, 2; Brandon Ayers, 30; Courtney Waters, 4; Ronnie Morgan, 8; DeCarlos Riley, 10; Eric Tramiel, 12; Charles Funches, 5; Marcus Carson, 7. FG 34-70 FT 9-16.

THREE-POINT GOALS - TJC (9-26): Nelson, Kossangue (3), Hampton, Vanderbeken, Thomas (3); PJC (12-22): Livingston (3), Ayers (6), Riley (2), Carson.

HALFTIME SCORE - Paris 46-35.

TURNOVERS - TJC: 20; PJC: 21.

RECORDS - Tyler, 11-1 (5-1); Paris, 14-0 (6-0).

NEXT UP - Blinn at Tyler, 4 p.m. Saturday; Paris at San Jacinto, 4 p.m. Saturday.

EST. ATT. - 700.