Men's Basketball 2/4/2026 11:23:00 PM

Hatcher's buzzer-beater sends Blinn to exciting Region 14 win over Navarro

The Buccaneers have won eight of their last nine games

Men's Basketball 2/4/2026 11:23:00 PM

Hatcher's buzzer-beater sends Blinn to exciting Region 14 win over Navarro

The Buccaneers have won eight of their last nine games

Brandon Hatcher scored four points Wednesday.

He could have finished with 40 and still none of them would have been as important as his final two.

The Blinn College men's basketball team rallied from a double-digit second half deficit and completed its wild comeback over Region 14 rival Navarro College on Hatcher's layup at the buzzer as the Buccaneers prevailed 79-77 at the Kruse Center in Brenham, Texas.

With the game tied at 77-all, the Bulldogs had possession with 13.1 seconds left but misfired on a layup. After the ball lingered on the rim for what felt like an eternity, it was batted into the hands of Hatcher.

"I know I have the offensive ability – I believe in myself and the coaches believe in me – so when I got the rebound, I just took off down the court," Hatcher said. "When I let the shot go, it felt good and I thought it had a chance to go in, but you never know until it falls. I was happy to see it go and happy to help my team get the win."

Hatcher brushed off contact from a Navarro defender and banked in a layup off the glass before being mobbed by his teammates at the baseline. Nearby, Blinn head coach Scott Schumacher did a celebratory trot with his arms raised in triumph.

"Brandon Hatcher is a very good basketball player, and in a big moment he made a play that every player dreams of making," Schumacher said. "He is a perfect example of the resilience our players have shown all season long, and as a coach, it doesn't get much better than a buzzer-beater to win a region game against a tough opponent."

Hatcher's heroics capped an impressive rally that saw the Bucs (15-7 overall, 9-5 Region 14) claw all the way back from a 51-37 second-half hole.

Even after Blinn trimmed its deficit to 59-58, Navarro went on a 9-2 run and led 68-60 with 7:30 to go.

From there, freshman guard Connor Sprattley kickstarted the Bucs' game-ending, 19-9 run with a pair of free throws, and sophomore guard Dashawn Ceaser added a 3-pointer moments later.

Freshman guard/forward Ian Sedah then took over to the tune of eight consecutive points, starting with a fadeaway jumper followed by a putback on consecutive Blinn possessions. He added another putback inside the 3-minute mark to give his team a 71-70 edge, and made it a 73-72 Blinn advantage with two makes at the free throw line.

The Bulldogs would take a four-point lead with 1:10 to go, but freshman guard Desmeon Jones sank two free throws, and after a Bucs steal and a foul, Caesar hit a free throw to bring Blinn within one.

Navarro then missed the front end of a 1-and-1 free throw opportunity, and Sprattley was fouled on the other end and made one free throw to tie the game ahead of the final sequence.

"We just kept fighting," Hatcher added. "I call everyone on this team a bunch of gritters because we all bring grit to the court every game we play, and we work hard to get the job done. Tonight was my turn and it felt great to come through."

Sprattley finished with a team-high 22 points. Sedah added 18 points, Caesar had 12, and Jones tacked on 11 with a team-best six assists.

Blinn – winners of four in a row and eight of their last nine – host Tyler Junior College for a region tilt at 4 p.m. on Saturday at the Kruse Center.

Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 53 national championships since 1987.

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