The Region XIV Conference championship is in sight for the third-ranked Cardinals after a 73-60 win against ninth-ranked Panola College Saturday afternoon at Cardinal Gym.

The win avenged 66-59 loss to Panola in December and gave the Cardinals, who are 25-2 on the season, a three-game lead over Panola with three games to go. The Cardinals are 17-2 in conference action, which is two games better than Angelina in the loss column.

The Cardinals have two road games on tap this week. Wednesday, they play at Tyler in a 7:30 p.m. tipoff. Saturday, they are scheduled to be in Baytown to face Lee at 4 p.m.

The Cardinals are scheduled to close the regular season at home Wednesday, Marh 5 versus Blinn at 7:30 p.m.

After a tightly-contested first half, the Cardinals seized control in the second half. With 10:46 left in the game, the Cardinals were up 50-36.

Garrett Nuckolls led the Cardinal scoring with 17 points, including two three-pointers in the first half. Zati Loubaki and Cameron Will added 16 each.

The Cardinals were 7-of-16 from three-point range and 10-of-14 from the free throw line. Panola was 6-of-25 and 10-of-18.

Panola is now 22-5 and 14-5.