Collin College beat four highly ranked teams in its Thanksgiving Classic invitational tournament, including wins over two teams that were ranked in the Top 10 nationally. Collin's men are now ranked 16th in the nation.
This is Collin College's first ranking in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division 1 Men's Basketball Poll this season. The Cougars had a record of 9-0 when the poll posted on Nov. 29.
The Lady Cougars set the stage for the Thanksgiving Classic on Nov. 26 with a 60-53 win over Tyler Junior College, who occupied the No. 8 spot on the NJCAA D1 Women's Basketball Poll. Collin College outscored the Apache Ladies in every quarter, outworking the visiting team, and playing solid defense throughout the game. Tyler did its best to rally in the fourth quarter, pushing the Lady Cougars hard, but Collin's fundamentals and free throw shooting helped seal the win.
Skye Dugan sank three of her last four shots from the free throw line in the last minute of play to keep the Lady Cougars on top. Despite being keyed in on by Tyler, Dugan led the team in points with 17, 11 of which were from the free throw stripe. Dugan was followed in scoring by Dustie Obah, who made three three-pointers en route to 11 points. Caroline Glud Rasmussen and Beyonce' Lane each had 8 points to round out the top scorers. Anjanae Mueck had three blocks in the game.
That evening, the Collin men's 68-65 win was decided in overtime after the visiting South Plains College (SPC) rallied from an early deficit to force the extra period. SPC drew first blood in OT, but were denied for the remainder of the period. John Achebe had a big block, and Collin defenders harried SPC shooters throughout the extra period. Thai Elder scored all 5 of Collin's points in the final period, including a left-handed bucket over two defenders with just under two minutes to go.
Elder had 21 total points and sank 8 of 11 from the free throw line. The last two came with just under 10 seconds left in the game. He was followed by Lav Cvetkovic with 11 points and Robby Williams with 10 points, to round out top scorers. Achebe had two blocks and three steals to lead in both categories.
The Lady Cougars beat then-undefeated and No. 22-ranked Kilgore College 66-56 to start the day Nov. 27. It was another tight game until the fourth quarter, when Collin College pushed its lead and closed out the game. Nikki Green led all scorers with 22 points, followed by Dugan and Lane with 10 points each. Green made three three-pointers and sank 11 of 12 from the free throw stripe. She also had two blocks, topped only by Mueck, who had three.
Ben Joelson led scoring for the men's team's 74-66 win over No. 8-ranked New Mexico Junior College. Joelson sank five three-pointers in the game which featured a lot of outside shooting. The Cougars sank 12 of 27 from beyond the arc.
The Cougars' shooting percentages – 47.5% from the field, 44.4% in three-point shooting, and 66.7% from the stripe – topped New Mexico in each category.
Rounding out the top scorers were Cvetkovic and Alex Stoimenov with 14 and 13 points respectively.
The men's team defeated then-No. 14 Lee College 79-74 earlier in the week, with scoring spread throughout the team. Daylen Minor and Jay Wilson each had 12 points, followed by Orion Virden with 11. All but one player scored in the game. Achebe, who had 7 points, had three steals and a block in the game.