Tominaga's 31 spurs RC to NTJCAC win

Keisei Tominaga scored a game-high 31 points on Saturday and helped the Ranger College men's basketball team get back on the winning track with a 98-91 come-from-behind victory over Collin County Community College in the Ron Butler Gymnasium.

With the victory, Ranger ran its season record to 16-1 and, more importantly, moved to 1-0 in conference action.

Ranger found itself having to battle its way back from a big deficit early. Collin County used a hot start in the first 10 minutes and built a 12-point advantage before the Rangers hit stride. Ranger's Montre Gipson hit a halfcourt three-point shot at the buzzer to end the first half and stake RC to a 43-41 lead.

The Rangers took control from there. They outscored the Cougars by a 55-50 clip in the final 20 minutes.

Tominaga led RC's offensive attack. A freshman from Japan, he hit on 16 of his 26 shots from the field, including five three-point bombs.

C.J. Roberts and Gipson also turned in big-time performances for RC. Roberts rolled up 20 points and five rebounds. He hit on 12 of his 13 attempts from the free-throw line. Gipson registered a double-double with 15 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

Jorell Saterfield also scored into double figures for the Rangers, netting 12 points.

Shakur Daniel narrowly missed become Ranger's fifth double-digit scorer. He finished with eight points and 10 boards.

Ranger will return to action on Wednesday when they host rival McLennan Community College, starting at 7 p.m.