Published: January 08, 2009 08:27 am      

Navarro holds off Cardinals

TVCC drops 72-68 decision after being down by 23

Give the Trinity Valley Community College Cardinals credit for not throwing in the towel.

With 15:22 left in their Region XIV Conference game at home against Navarro College’s Bulldogs Wednesday night, the Cardinals trailed by 23, 59-36. They had all the appearances of being dead to the world.

But looks were deceiving.

The Cardinals hung in there and fought back to twice make a one possession game of it before dropping a 72-68 decision.

The loss sent the Cardinals’ season record to 9-6. They are 1-3 in conference play.

Navarro, which allowed the Cardinals to get back in the game when it vacated its attack mode on the offensive end, improved to 12-3 and 4-0 marks.

Third-year coach Pat Smith’s TVCC squad is scheduled to return to action on the road Saturday against Kilgore College. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

Three-pointers proved the difference.

Both teams hit 23 shots from the floor and the Cardinals outshot the Bulldogs 22-18 from the free throw line. But Navarro hit 8-of-23 shots from beyond the three-point arc — many from well beyond it and the Cardinals were 0-of-10.

Deandre Brown nailed three three-pointers, two of which were bombs, for Navarro in the first half to ignite the Bulldogs on an 18-3 run that allowed them to open up a 24-16 lead.

Navarro’s lead continued to swell as the second half got under way. When Chase Harper completed a three-point play after being fouled, the lead was at 59-36.

While Navarro became more passive and protective on the offensive end, the Cardinals went at an all-out clip.

Sophomore guard Amir Rashid’s steal and layup pulled TVCC within 68-64 with 29 seconds left. Another Rashid layup 10 seconds later made it a one possession game at 69-66.

A pair of Rashid free throws sliced the Navarro lead to 70-68 with 12 seconds left. But Brown and Paul Cosby each hit a free throw to seal the Navarro win.