Collin College Men's Basketball has been busy early in the season, facing off against evenly matched competition and preparing for the Collin College Classic to end the month. The team picked up three wins and two losses over the last two weeks.
Coming off a win against Dallas College Brookhaven, the Cougars traveled to Murray State College, Nov. 8. The Aggies won 83-72, taking the lead in the second half. Vinny Sigona led Collin shooters with 23 points, followed by Garrett Falls who had 21 points and returner Vlad Karasev with 11.
Collin defeated an evenly matched Eastern Oklahoma State College 74-65 a few days later with Falls contributing 23 points, followed by Karasev with 17, and Sigona with 12. Geancarlo Peguero led the team in steals with four and the Cougars won the free throw battle in the physical game. The team sank 18-of-26 for 69% from the stripe.
Collin beat Angelina College 63-48 to open the annual East/West Challenge, hosted at home Nov. 15-16. Falls and Sigona again led scoring with 17 and 14 points respectively, while David Emelife, a freshman out of Houston, had 9 points in a mostly balanced scoring attack.
Navarro College went up in the first half and held on for an 83-74 win against Collin to wrap up the East/West Challenge weekend. Brady Kennison, a freshman guard out of Loveland, Colorado, stepped up to lead the team in scoring with 20 points. He was followed by Falls with 17 points and Karasev with 10 points rounding out the top three scorers. Navarro outshot Collin from the field, although Collin did perform better from beyond the arc by sinking 35.7% from three-point-land.
Six Cougars scored in double digits in the team's 104-43 win over Nelson University. The Cougars put on their best offensive performance of the year with a 48.7% field goal percentage and shooting 42.9% from beyond 21 feet. Falls again led the team in points scored, followed by Kennison and Jacob Stewart with 12 points each. Emelife, Peguero, and Charlie Hatch each had blocks.
The Cougars have two away games this coming weekend and will host nationally ranked South Plains College and New Mexico Junior College in the Collin College Classic, Friday-Saturday, Nov. 29-30. South Plains currently occupies the No. 17 spot in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) rankings, while New Mexico is ranked No. 13. The Cougar men's team plays at 7 p.m. on both days.
Collin College basketball fans are encouraged to attend two days of basketball action, featuring the men's and women's teams. Collin students, faculty, and staff get free admission with a Collin College ID, and all others pay just $10 for an all-day pass. Children 12 and under pay only $5 for the all-day pass.