Roadrunners Beat Lee in Conference Opener

By GARY STALLARD

AC Athletics

Photo by Clara Sonet

For the first few minutes of Wednesday's contest against Lee College, the Angelina College Roadrunners had absolutely no luck in attacking the rim, with the Navigators using their size advantage to alter or outright block several AC shot attempts.

What was the Roadrunners' solution?

Keep attacking the rim.

The 'Runners continued to push their way straight into the teeth of a strong Lee defense, eventually taking a 66-52 in the Region XIV conference opener for both teams.

With both teams grinding for every bucket, AC's Kyle Morgan came off the bench to lead the 'Runners with 18 points. Kanaan Holder drove his way to 15 points while dishing out four assists, Chris Carpenter added 13 points and Jordan Matthews scored 11 to help boost the Roadrunners' record to 7-1 on the season.

Josh Smith led the Navigators with 18 points.

A hotly contested matchup saw both teams putting forth strong defensive efforts leading to a low-scoring affair with no commanding leads. With 7:05 remaining in the contest, Lee's Smith converted a free throw to tie the game at 45-45.

Holder would drive for another bucket in the paint, and the Roadrunners would outscore the Navigators 21-7 over those final seven minutes to secure the win.

The Roadrunners (7-1, 1-1) travel to Beeville, TX on Saturday to face Coastal Bend Community College. The game is scheduled for a 4 p.m. tipoff and will be live streamed on the Cougars' YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@coastalbendcollegeathletic1020/streams).

The email address for AC's Sports Information Director is gstallard@angelina.edu.