Freddie Williams Jr. kept hearing from the Houston Community College assistant coach Wednesday that he couldn’t shoot.
Williams proved him wrong and led the Lamar State College-Port Arthur Seahawks to an easy 95-61 win over the Eagles.
He scored a season-high 31 points and slammed home five dunks, one a thunderous-360. Williams was 13 of 18 shooting.
“We know people are going to talk,” Williams said. “Once you get a big lead, we know to maintain. We are the top team right now so we can’t risk losing our composure.”
Williams was talking about how the Seahawks have made a rise to the top of the Region XIV South Zone standings with an 8-5 mark. The team returns to conference play Saturday at 6 p.m. in Baytown against Lee College. Lee is 9-6 and the Seahawks defeated the team 95-87 at the Carl Parker Center on Jan. 20.
The Seahawks won Wednesday by jumping out to a 15-0 lead to start the game. Williams had 10 points in the stretch that doomed the Eagles.
“I told the team we should come out and go up 20-0 just to send a message,” Williams added. “Coach (Lance Madison) told us to play to our potential.”
LSC-PA (18-8) shot 46 percent and caused 22 turnovers against HCC. The Seahawks had only six turnovers of their own and had four players in double figures.
Jordon Harris had 20 points and four steals, Mambi Diawara finished with 13 points and 16 rebounds and Nederland native Colton Weisbrod put in 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The night started out on an unusual note when the game was held up for almost 30 minutes because HCC did not have uniforms in the gym. Williams sank two technical foul shots before the tipoff to give LSC-PA a 2-0 lead.
LSC-PA was in the double bonus and shooting two free throws with 10:53 left in the first half.
Madison was proud of the way his team kept its composure through all the madness and fouls.
“We have a lot of sophomores with a lot of experience,” Madison said. “We talk about staying focused and playing to our potential and not to the level of our competition. We are a very mature team and I think that showed tonight.”
Madison was also thrilled with the play of Williams whose game has risen over the last several weeks.
“I’ve said before he is our most improved player,” Madison said. “He is gaining a lot of confidence. He plays with a lot of energy. He can rebound and score.”